With spring and early summer comes the rainy season. Too much water always creates the potential for damage. For example, without well-fitted gutters, rainwater runoff can rapidly deteriorate your roofing, siding, foundations, and nearby landscaping elements.
The first sign of trouble will often be water dripping between the gutter and the fascia, which are the vertical boards directly under the edge of your roof behind the gutter. Let’s look at the various causes of this problem and why you should promptly have a good roof and gutter repair service fix it for you.
Flattened Drip Edge
The drip edge is an aluminum or vinyl element that runs along the lip of your roof, specifically designed to protect the fascia from runoff water. To be effective, the drip edge should lean outward, channeling the water away from the fascia into the gutter below.
If a portion of your drip edge is lying too flat, it can’t serve its purpose properly, and water will drip directly down over the fascia and siding, damaging your property. You’ll need to have a new drip edge installed.
Improper Gutter Height
Optimally, a gutter should be two or three inches below the roof edge or shingles. Any lower than this allows heavy rain to cascade off the roof, missing the gutter. And the water runoff from light rain may drip back from the shingles against the wall of your house without a well-placed gutter to collect it immediately.
When the gutter is too high, a similar effect can happen: runoff water is allowed to drip and splash back against the fascia, especially when the gutter fills up during a storm. This will start to rot the fascia and also stain your siding
Loose Gutter Brackets
When a gutter comes loose, either because of age or poor workmanship, you’ll soon see water dripping back over the fascia. You might be able to tighten the brackets to solve the problem, or it might be time for new gutters. Either way, it’s best to have experienced roofers do the job for you to avoid a repeat of the original problem.
Ice Dams
With 43 inches of snowfall each year, Hayden and Coeur d’Alene get their fair share of wintry weather. When ice forms in your gutters, the water flow is interrupted in all kinds of unpredictable ways.
Sometimes, ice dams push the water runoff back onto the fascia. If this lasts for a while, it can cause serious damage to your home. You’ll need to have the ice dam broken. It’s usually best to have professionals do this tough task for you.
Poor-Quality Roof and Gutter Repair
Unfortunately, the number one cause of water dripping back over the fascia board is low-quality gutter installation or repair. Always hire the best gutter service you can find. And after you have new gutters installed, you can always double-check the workmanship with this handy list of problems to look out for.
Contact Precision Gutters & Roofing today to have your gutters repaired or replaced by experienced roofers. Our family-owned and operated business has been keeping the homes of local residents dry and safe from water damage for over 20 years.