Are Gutters a Necessity for Georgia Homes?

As a homeowner with a long list of home maintenance necessities to keep up with, you may be asking “Do I really need gutters?” While a smooth gutter system wrapped around your roof’s border presents your home with a clean-cut look, gutters have far more important functions than design. Let’s take a look at why gutters are so important.

Why Are Gutters So Important?

In Georgia, an average of 48” of rain falls each year. This water can quickly cause problems if it’s not given a safe place to go. Without gutters, even a gentle rain falling down your roof can build up to a lot of water falling around the border of your home. This causes foundation and other water damages down the road. According to Consumer Reports, runaway rainwater is the #1 home repair you can’t afford to ignore. Gutters help prevent this water damage.

Water damage isn’t limited to your home, either. Depending on the structure of your land and neighborhood, this runoff rainwater could flow to other places  nearby creating ditches and flooding in inconvenient areas. In other words, over time, this water could restructure your property and the land around you.

How Do Gutters Work?

When gutters are installed correctly, they create a trough or modern moat of sorts to capture all rainwater that falls onto your roof. Water flows through these channels around your house and down designated downspouts which are designed to lead water away from the home safely and into an acceptable area.

In short, gutters redirect water away from the home. Without gutters, you will run into water damage. And fixing this damage will be more expensive than hiring a professional to install your gutter system. Gutters are a home necessity.

When Should You Replace Your Gutters?

Many homes come with gutters already installed. You may have recently bought a home that has gutters, or maybe you installed gutters years ago. How can you identify whether your gutters are working properly? How can you tell when it’s time for an update?

You know it’s time to hire a professional to install new gutters when your existing gutters are no longer doing their job. Like anything else, gutters will go through wear and tear and no longer be able to fulfill their purpose. When you look at your gutters, you may see this as cracks or splits in the gutters, rust or chipping paint, or the gutters may be physically drooping or pulling away from your home.

There are other signs you can follow to conclude a faulty gutter system as well. Is your basement flooding when it rains? Can you find channels along your home where rainwater flows like a little river when it rains? Do you find puddles around the outside of your home after a good storm? If you’re encountering any of these signs, it may be time to replace your gutters. Keep in mind that the most rainfall in Georgia occurs between January-March each year, so it’s best to get your gutters installed or replaced before these heaviest months of rain arrive.

Installing or Replacing Gutters for Your Home

Do you need to install new gutters for your home? Are you wondering if your current gutters need replacing? The professionals at Ned Stevens are here to help. We install and replace custom gutters that fit the needs of your home and your personal design preferences. Contact us today!