Tips for Repairing Your Home Gutters
Tips for Repairing Your Home Gutters
Your house’s gutters may seem like they’ll last forever, but like any other part of the home, they often needs repairs. With each heavy rain, your gutters slowly loosen and lose their ability to effectively direct water away from your home. Your responsibility as a homeowner is to protect your home by ensuring your gutters are in proper working condition. Use these tips for repairing your home gutters to get the best possible results.
Use Gutter Caulk to Seal Leaks
If your gutters only have a few leaks, simply sealing them might be a better option than paying to replace them. For these jobs, it’s recommended that you remove the gutters, let them dry, and use specialized gutter caulk to ensure the seal is waterproof and likely to hold. If you don’t like how the repairs look after the fact, you can always sand down the excess caulk and repaint to make it more visually appealing.
Re-Secure Gutters to the Roof
Once you’ve repaired your gutters, it’s crucial that you properly reposition them against the edge of your roof. Otherwise, you risk letting water slip through and potentially damaging your roof and home foundation. When you’re refastening your gutters, make sure to screw the bolts in tightly enough to hold—but not so tightly that it could damage the roof. Remember that they’ll loosen again over time and that you’ll need to retighten them occasionally to keep them in position.
Install a Gutter Apron
For increased protection from water damage, you could also install a gutter apron over the back of the gutter to keep it flush against the roof. This will direct any water that otherwise would’ve run down the siding into the gutter where it belongs. However, the installation process is best left to professionals.
Know When to Replace them
In the end, you can only fix a gutter system so many times before you need to replace it entirely, and it’s crucial that you acknowledge when this happens. Opting to fix your gutters rather than replace them when they’re clearly ineffective will only lead to more work and more expensive repairs down the road. Be sure to accept when the time comes to replace them, and hire experienced gutter installation contractors in Cumming, GA to provide you with quality results.