If you were to ask me, “Spencer, what’s the single most common thing you see as a problem on any given inspection?”, i’d tell you the mundane answer that you were not expecting: blocked gutters.
I’m surprised now that you are even reading another sentence! Do you really care to hear about this stuff?! Well to be fair to both of us i’ll keep it direct and to the point.
When gutters accumulate debri from nearby trees and bushes, they cannot simply flush it as it were water. Instead, what happens is that the debri stays stuck in the gutter and prevents the very water that they are designed to channel from going anywhere!
So you’re probably thinking, “Ok what’s the big deal?”.
Well, this: when gutters are full, water doesn’t flow through them, but goes over them. Water spills outside of the gutter and rules the gutter null and void. Water pours over the side and then puddles at the foundation of the house. See the picture below.
Note the water spilling at the top over the side of the gutter, and then pooling around the foundation at the bottom.
The problem can compound from here by causing much larger problems at the foundation if repeated puddling occurs.
The purpose of the gutters is to keep water away from the edges of the house, and away from the foundation. You can help preserve your house for years so simply maintaining the gutters!
Spencer Brothers, CPI
Sterling Home Inspection
www.sterlinginspectionservices.com
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