7 Signs Your Eavestrough And Sidings Need Repairs

Your home’s exterior, primarily your eavestrough and sidings, needs proper maintenance and regular checks. As the first point of contact for harsh elements, these sections help protect your home by keeping water away from your property. The eavestrough re-routes water away from your roof and foundation. Installed along the sides of your home, sidings likewise prevent water and pests from entering your property.

Below are the signs that indicate it’s time to call experts to check and repair either of these exterior sections in your home.

4 Warning Signs Your Eavestrough Needs To Be Repaired

Under normal circumstances, your roofing can last for several years. However, in some places like Ontario, Canada, the weather can be pretty humid, with cold winters and warm summers. This means an eavestrough may have a shortened lifespan. In situations where this home exterior needs fixing, it’s best to find and contact the best provider of eavestrough repair Oakville has to offer or other firms if you’re not around the area.

Otherwise, regularly cleaning the gutter system, especially after heavy rainfall, can help extend its lifespan. While doing maintenance checks, look for the following signs which could mean that you need to repair your eavestrough.

1. Leaking

This is one of the most common problems facing homeowners—water seeping through the roof. Your roof system is supposed to keep water away from your property. If it enters inside your home, it means there’s something wrong.

After a storm or heavy rain, inspect the gutters and the eavestrough for any problem if you found water that found its way inside your property. Even better, call roofing professionals to perform checks and preventive maintenance work.

2. Deformed And Sagging Gutters

Two of the telling signs of a weakened eavestrough are sagging and deformity. As with other materials, gutters can bend or warp because of normal wear and tear. Often, installing a gutter improperly or choosing the wrong size can lead to these issues.

Aside from that, placing the support too far apart from each other and the accumulation of dried leaves and other debris can also ruin your gutter. When these things happen, the affected section of the gutter struggles to bear the weight of the obstruction and water buildup. Eventually, it could sag and might get separated from the roof itself, causing further problems.

No matter the cause, sagging and deformed gutters can compromise your property’s main foundation. Water may leak or spill from your eavestroughs and find its way into your siding, basement, and foundation.

To prevent this from happening, always check your gutters for obstructions. Sometimes, the sign could be as glaring as a gutter that’s pulling away from your roof.

3. Missing Or Damaged Fasteners

Your eavestrough is often fastened securely to your home. Over time and with exposure to severe weather disturbances, the materials used to fasten your eavestrough—screws and nails, for instance—can become loose.

When that happens, water can enter the gap, no matter how small. The water can eventually flow to the fascia boards located along your roofline.

4. A Rotting Fascia Or Soffit

Your soffit and fascia are also worth looking into if you want to ensure that your roof system is in good shape. These two parts are located next to each other.

The soffit can be found underneath the roof’s overhang and made from materials like aluminum, wood, or vinyl. On the other hand, the fascia is the exposed section that’s visible when you look at your roof’s overhang. It’s directly above the soffit, and the area where the gutters are attached.

Sometimes, a problem with the eavestrough can manifest in physical damages in your fascia and soffit. Improper drainage is often the main culprit, where, water gathers and soaks these portions.

3 Signs Of Damaged House Siding

Like your roof, your house siding requires proper maintenance and repair, too, to extend its lifespan.

As a maintenance measure before seeking professional help, check for the following signs in your house siding.

1. Dry Rot

This is one of the most common severe siding problems you may encounter. The biggest concern with this is that you won’t see any visible signs of it until it’s too late. And when you do see signs of dry rot, you’ll be often left with replacement as your only option.

What happens in dry rot is that a type of fungus or an organism devours the inner siding while leaving the outer section intact. To prevent that from happening, tap sections of your house siding with the handle of your screwdriver or other tools with a rubber handle. A siding affected by dry rot will produce a hollow sound.

2. Loose or Damaged Siding

Unlike dry rot, any physical damage in the siding can be more visible to homeowners. There are several causes of siding damage—pests, improper installation, and more commonly, a severe storm.

It’s normal for your siding to become loose, get cracked, or ripped off due to inclement weather. And, as any homeowner knows, any minor issue that’s left addressed, can lead to major problems.

In addition, watch out for any signs of bulging or warping. This can mean bigger problems in your home, and any gap can cause water to seep into your property.

Generally, it’s best to rely on professionals to get your sidings replaced. If you think you can do it yourself, you might want to get yourself familiar with the basics of installing sidings.

3. A Sudden Spike In Electricity Bills

If you’ve experienced a higher-than-normal power bill and you haven’t changed your consumption patterns, it can be due to a damaged siding.

Your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can take up to 40% of your monthly power costs. To ensure that you can maintain a comfortable temperature, your siding should be able to provide much-needed insulation and keep your home cool or warm.

If your siding is damaged, it’ll be hard for your home to keep the temperature, as both heat and cold air escape more easily.

Final Thoughts

Keeping the eavestrough and siding in good condition should be a priority for every homeowner. Apart from looking more visually pleasing, a well-maintained exterior can also prevent major problems from turning into structural problems in your home.

An intact and damage-free eavestrough can effectively prevent water damage, while a flawless siding can promote energy efficiency and prevent pests and moisture from getting into your property.

Knowing the danger signs to look for, coupled with maintenance checks can ultimately prolong your siding and eavestrough’s lifespans.