A wet basement or crawl space can be a frightening ordeal for any homeowner. Moisture leads to mold and mildew, which can lead to health problems for your family. And an actual leak or standing water can create long-term structural damage.
Faced with these issues, some people will tell you about expensive encapsulation solutions or crawl space dehumidifiers. But you’ll be relieved to know there’s probably a very simple — and affordable — answer to your problems.
If your basement is wet, you may just need to clean your gutters.
Gutters: The Quiet Hero of Your House
Clogged gutters are one of the most common reasons for wet basements or crawl spaces. When rain falls on your roof, it builds up into a high-pressure flood before streaming over the edge. Without clean gutters to catch the water, it hammers into the ground around your house.
This powerful force can cut pathways in your yard, kill your flowerbed, and erode the soil guarding your foundation. As the water collects around your foundation, it can seep into the pores of your walls. Over time, the shifting soil can create cracks in your foundation. These new cracks give water even easier access to your basement or crawl space.
Before you know it, that slight moisture problem can turn into a full-on flooded basement. And in the long-term, this can cause serious structural issues for your entire house.
Fortunately, homebuilders have found a simple solution to this problem. When that flood of water comes pouring down your roof, gutters divert it into a downspout. And with the proper extensions, the downspout will divert the water away from your foundation.
So, if you already have gutters, why is your basement still wet?
Why Your Gutters Aren’t Working
If your gutters aren’t working, it’s possible that they’re damaged or weren’t installed properly. One of the most common issues we see, though, is gutters that are clogged.
Leaves, branches, and grit from your shingles all gather in your gutters over the year. You may even find small critters building nests there. With enough buildup, your gutters become obsolete. When it rains, the water flows over the clogged gutters, hits the ground and seeps into your foundation.
This misdirected water can also hurt the top of your house. Buildup in your gutters can trap rainwater on your roof. This can lead to wood rot in your fascia boards, the wooden boards that hold your gutters onto your house. It can also create leaks in your roof.
How to Fix Your Clogged Gutter
You’re probably ready to order gutter guards for your whole house at this point. But gutter guards can actually cause the same problem they hope to solve. That surprises a lot of people, but it makes sense when you stop to think about it.
Gutters need to be a certain width to catch all the water flowing off the side of your house. When you cover it with a gutter guard, the water has a much smaller space to fall into. That can be disastrous during heavy rain. You’ll see water flowing right over the gutter guard, just as if your gutters were clogged. Plus, gutter guards aren’t able to stop shingle grit from falling into your gutters, which means they can still become clogged.
The best solution is to clean and inspect your gutters at least once a year. It’s the only thing that lets you use the full width of your gutter to protect your foundation and basement.
This is a job you can do with a ladder and gloves, but it can also be dangerous and time-consuming. Instead, we recommend giving this job to professionals.
A gutter-cleaning team like O’Healy Professional Services can thoroughly flush your gutter lines and downspouts. We’ll also inspect your system as we go and reseal problem areas. The whole process takes a couple of hours (or less, depending on the size of your house). We also take care of cleanup, bucketing all trash and removing it from your property.
Let O’Healy Restore Your Gutters!
Before you invest in waterproofing your basement, let O’Healy take care of your gutters. We’ll restore them to working order and give you a free, in-depth maintenance plan for the exterior of your house. Connect with us today for a free quote!