WHY GUTTERS OVERFLOW – FAMILY ROOFING

Posted on by David Reid

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WHY GUTTERS OVERFLOW

Gutters and downspouts collect and move rainwater away from your home’s foundation.  But if they don’t work efficiently, it can lead to water damage to your roof, fascia, and even your home’s foundation.  There are several reasons your gutters may be making a bit too much of a splash, including clogs or poor positioning.

An Abundance of Rain

Even though the purpose of gutters is to handle the rain, if water pours down in extreme volumes, it could cause an overflow.  It can also lead to sagging and breaking, which are signs to install new gutters.

Too few gutters and downspouts

If gutters don’t line your roof on all sides that are parallel to the ground, they may overflow.  This is also the case with downspouts, the vertical pipes that send the water out of your gutters and into the ground away from your home.  Too few downspouts can also lead to overflow because there aren’t enough of them to pick up the slack.

Debris clogging up the gutter and/or downspout flow

Leaves, shingle granules, sticks from broken tree limbs, even plastic bags — all of them frequently find their way into your gutters.  It’s the most common reason for overflowing gutters. And, thankfully, it’s relatively easy to fix (more on this topic below).

Your gutters aren’t positioned correctly

The pitch and tilt of your gutters make all of the difference.  If the gutter is tilting away from your house, it could be causing an overflow (particularly during heavy storms).  The pitch of gutter — heading towards a downspout — can also cause overflow if it’s too steep. Same goes for lack of pitch, which causes the water to gather in one spot, rather than flowing toward an exit.

Your gutters aren’t big enough to handle the rainfall

Sometimes the gutters you’ve installed are simply too small.  They can’t handle the amount of rainwater flowing down the roof.  Let’s say you’ve inspected the roof and found no debris and you’ve measured the pitch and tilt and everything looks well-balance.  Do your gutters often overflow during heavy rain? If so, you may need bigger gutters installed on your home.

Fewer Downspouts

When there are no necessary downspouts in the gutter system, it may be unable to empty water in a fast way during heavy rain.  Houses with evitable distance will be requiring at least a single downspout for every 20 feet of gutters.

Solutions to Overflowing Gutters

As the reasons for overflowing gutters are very evident, here are some solutions to all the mentioned problems:

1. Gutter Guards

Storms can get mitigated by the installation of an L-shaped splash guard as they would be limiting water.  Moreover, mesh screens can be installed on top of the gutters so they can trap leaves and other trash from entering the gutters.  By installing gutter guards, it would be very easy for the rainwater to pass from there.

2. Cleaning Gutters

Cleaning the downspouts and gutters before storm season helps in restricting damage to the system and the house.  Still, if there are trees nearby or particularly for rainy conditions, cleaning should be done on a frequent basis.

3. Using Proper Gutters

While rain is a natural act of nature, it becomes impossible to control it.  But, homeowners can opt for some strong quality gutters, which can handle the amount of rain.  Also, splash guards can be installed if the house has a steep roof, so water doesn’t overrun during heavy storms.

To sum up, as there are problems, there persist solutions.  Moreover, it’s essential to contact a gutter expert about the problem that arises.

Keep Your Gutters in Great Shape

You can prevent overflowing and other problems by keeping up with regular maintenance.