Picture this: you’re driving home in a torrential downpour, pulling up to your house. You notice large amounts of water pouring over near your roofline and discover your gutters overflowing. After the storm, you go outside to investigate your overflowing gutters further and step in soggy, muddy water underneath your gutters where stormwater has collected. Though this sounds like a nightmare, overflowing gutters are a common issue.

 

Overflowing gutters can lead to flooding and extreme water damage to your home and landscaping. Continue reading as we unravel the mystery of overflowing gutters and discuss what causes them and how you can prevent them in the future.

 

What Causes Gutters to Overflow?

Several things can cause gutters to overflow. The number one reason? Clogged gutters. Even the slightest debris can impede water flow, blocking it from traveling through the gutter and into the downspout. Rainwater and meltwater are forced to spill over the sides of the gutters, resulting in overflowing gutters. These other things can also cause gutters to overflow:

• Sticks
• Pests
• Damaged Gutters
• Improper gutter installation
• Sagging/damaged gutters

 

Other factors can contribute to overflowing gutters, but these are the top things we’ve seen here at K-Guard / One Stop Home Improvement Shop (and we’ve seen it all!). When gutters overflow, it can be a nightmare for homeowners; costly damage can occur due to water flowing over the sides of the gutter instead of being diverted away from the home.

 

What Damage Do Overflowing Gutters Cause?

A gutter system working correctly to collect and drain water away from the home is helping prevent water damage. However, a gutter system with overflowing gutters can cause all sorts of costly damage that requires repairs by a professional:

Landscape Damage

You take pride in your home’s exterior looks, keeping up with yard work like mowing the lawn and pruning the garden beds. Overflowing gutters can ruin your landscaping by overwatering your garden beds, shrubs, grass, and anything directly underneath or near the roofline and gutters. Fixing your lawn and garden beds because of overflowing gutters can cost you hundreds, even thousands of dollars, depending on the damage.

Foundation Damage

A foundation is what a home is built upon; a foundation needs to be strong and in great shape to keep the home’s structure in good shape. Unfortunately, overflowing gutters can cause foundation damage, like cracks in the foundation walls. How? The water that spills over the gutters creates a trench around the foundation, allowing water to sit and collect and seep into the walls.

Rust/Damaged Gutters

Traditional half-round gutters are prone to rust and corrode over time, especially if they’re overflowing. If not made from heavy-duty material, gutters will rust if they’re overflowing and won’t be able to properly drain water.

Wood Rot

The last thing you want to do as a homeowner is to discover your home’s siding, soffit, and fascia, and the roof’s rafters have wood rot. Wood rot occurs when the wood is introduced to too much moisture, say an overflowing gutter. Wood rot can spread quickly to the rest of the home, traveling through the rafters, siding, soffit, fascia, and more.

 

How Can I Prevent Overflowing Gutters?

Now that we’ve unraveled the mystery of overflowing gutters, you’re probably wondering how you can prevent them. Luckily, you can stop them if you take a few measures to keep your gutters in great shape. For one, if you have half-round gutters without a gutter guard, you must clean them at least two times annually. Doing so will remove debris and hopefully reduce the chances for clogs to form and gutters to overflow.

 

Another way to prevent overflowing gutters? If your gutters aren’t in good shape and are getting older, you’ll want to replace them. Replacement gutters help protect a home from water damage and are always a great choice if an existing gutter system is older, damaged, or isn’t working well. There are plenty of options when it comes to installing a new gutter system, but you’ll want to select one that will prevent overflowing gutters.

 

Installing gutter guards from K-Guard / One Stop Home Improvement Shop is an excellent option for homeowners in Lynchburg and surrounding areas. Our gutters and guards will block all debris from entering the system, only allowing water to flow through the gutters and downspouts, never allowing them to overflow.

 

If you want to eliminate the chance for overflowing gutters, opt for installing our K-Guard Leaf Free Gutter System. K-Guard has a curved hood that prevents all debris, like pine needles and leaves, from entering the gutter system and forming clogs. K-Guard is 100% maintenance-free, so you’ll never need to perform the daunting task of cleaning your gutters again or hiring a professional gutter cleaning service. With K-Guard, you’ll relax knowing your gutter system is performing at its best while keeping all debris out of the gutters and maintaining excellent gutter flow, never overflowing.

 

If you’d like to install gutter guards or the K-Guard System, we’re happy to give you a free estimate. Contact us today to get started!