Recently had new gutters installed? If something seems not quite right about the installation, there are some indicators you should be watching for.
Good gutter installation service involves careful measurements of the roof and slope to the ground, ensuring all hangers are affixed and spaced properly. It also means choosing the right size gutters, installing an appropriate number of downspouts, and placing the downspouts in the right spots. How can you tell if your gutters were put up properly?
Look for Overflowing Water
The first sign that something’s wrong may be pooling or overflowing water during rainstorms. If your roof is 700″ by 330″ inches, for example, and you get two inches of water in two hours during a very heavy rainstorm, you’re looking at 462,000 cubic inches or about 2,000 gallons of water running off the roof. If you’re seeing overflowing water, your gutters are too small, you don’t have enough downspouts, or your gutters weren’t pitched correctly.
Gutters Are Too Small
If the gutters are too small, they won’t be able to hold water volume, and while they may seem to be fine during slow, gentle rains, problems will manifest once a heavy rain starts up.
Gutters Don’t Have Enough Downspouts
Even if the gutters themselves are big enough to hold the water, you still need plenty of exit points so that water has someplace to go. Generally, you need downspouts every 30 to 40 feet on a roof, but there are other factors that your gutter installers should consider, too.
Downspout placement is affected by things like a steeper slope to the roof pitch in certain areas, living in an area where heavy rains are likely, the size of the gutters themselves, and more.
Gutters Aren’t Pitched Correctly
Gutters don’t just follow the roofline in a straight line. They are angled or pitched so the water runs down the gutters in one direction towards the appropriate downspouts. If the pitch of the gutters is too shallow, the water won’t run. It will just stand there, pool up, and then start to overflow in certain spots.
Alternatively, if the pitch is too steep, the rainwater will run too quickly, and then you’ll have overflow issues near the downspouts because there’s too much water for the downspouts to take in.
You See Dripping At the Edges of the Roof
Gutters are supposed to go underneath the drip edges of your roof. This is to ensure that no water will get into the fascia. If your gutters were installed correctly, they will catch water running off the drip edge. If you look at the corners of your roof and see lots of dripping, there’s a good chance your gutters weren’t installed properly.
Your Gutters Sag After Heavy Rain or Snow
If you notice sagging after a lot of rain or snow, the problem is likely that your gutter hangers are either installed improperly, aren’t spaced properly, or there simply aren’t enough of them.
Precision Gutters understands how to install gutters and do it right. We can take a look at your gutters and let you know whether your recent installation was done correctly or not. Don’t leave your home vulnerable to water damage from poor gutter installation. We can put your new gutters on right or fix the ones you have now. Contact us at Precision Gutters & Roofing today for a free quote.