The purpose of gutters on a house are to protect it from rainwater. Gutters work by diverting water away from your home and its foundation. When your gutters are removed, damaged or obstructed, that water must go somewhere — and, given the opportunity, water can ruin virtually any part of your home.
Why do I need a gutter system?
Gutter systems reduce water and moisture damage to homes. But why? Won’t that water just roll off my roof? Problem solved, right?
Wrong — that’s actually part of the problem:
Modern homes are designed to conserve or “trap” energy. That’s good. But in the process, such homes can also trap moisture and that can cause big problems and costly damage.
For example, if the soil around the foundation is soaked from roof drainage water, we can assume that at least some of that moisture will find its way into the basement, crawl space or the concrete floor. Some of this moisture will then be absorbed by the air in the home.
If this occurs in the winter time, we can assume that the warmed air in the home will absorb a great deal of moisture (warm air can absorb more moisture than cold air).
If this moisture saturated air finds itself into some spaces with cold surfaces — and it will, then some of this moisture will condense against these cold surfaces…Condensation at windows may just be bothersome, but in attics and walls it can cause fungal wood-rot and that can be very expensive to repair.
A functional gutter system prevents:
- Water damage to your roof, causing rot, deterioration or mold in shingles, soffit, fascia and masonry
- Moisture in windows, creating condensation or damage sills or interior walls
- Water along the foundation, spurring erosion, damage your foundation or basement flooding