Rain gutters, and proper ventilation of your eaves are so important because:
Rain Gutter problems, Rain gutter falling off, icing up, clogged up, or the water leaking behind the Facia board can create very expensive remedial bills or major problems for you down the road.
The in’s and out’s of Raingutter and proper ventilation:
To put it most simply they are necessary to protect your home from its worst enemy – water.
If your gutters are old, damaged, sagging, missing parts or improperly installed, it is likely exterior damage to your home is sure to follow. A gutter that is missing, or that drains too close to the house will saturate the ground. This wet saturated ground can produce a variety of problems.
It is a breeding ground for Mold and Mildew. It will eat away at foundations and basement walls. Leaks and cracks will develop and will worsen quickly in the winter months when the ground freezes and expands.
Driveways and walkways will sink and rise; interior and exterior walls and floors can warp, bow, or become wet, molded, or stained. Entire homes have been destroyed due to water damage, which could have been easily and affordably prevented with a quality gutter system
From Dave’s Custom Siding & Rain gutters
Gutters are not glamorous. However, unless there are long overhangs on your roof and your property is steeply graded, they are essential for routing roof runoff away from your home. Installed properly, gutters keep basements and crawl spaces dry, preserve topsoil, protect siding from backsplash stain, rot, and shield windows and doors from water infiltration and damage.
Poor rainwater drainage can lead to costly repairs It is extremely important that roof gutters and down pipes clear away rainwater quickly and efficiently from the roof of a house. Poor rainwater drainage, if ignored, leads to the probability of very expensive remedial bills – which cannot be ignored!
If water overflows over the back of the gutter, damage to exterior and interior (via the cavity) walls can occur and damp can result. The gutter should be checked for debris and blockages and the fascia brackets checked as they may have been damaged, causing the gutter to sag.
If water overflows over the front of the gutter, this can be very annoying, both to walk under and because of the noise it can create. This is generally due to broken brackets or the gutter not being installed correctly to catch the rainfall from the roof tiles.
If joints are leaking, the rubber seals inside the joint will probably need replacing, or sometimes the joint itself should be renewed. You will find this job a lot easier if attempted in hot weather, as the plastic is much more pliable
Ice dams are barriers that lead water to runoff at the roof edge, just above the gutter, in cold, snowy climates. They form when snow melting on warmer areas of the roof, usually near the ridge, runs down and refreezes at colder roof overhangs. Warm spots on the roof are caused by the heat that escapes from the attic and by the sun. Eventually a barrier is formed, trapping the snowmelt and allowing it to flow up and under shingles. Here’s what can happen as water begins to penetrate sheathing, insulation, wall cavities, and sheetrock or plaster:
Paint can begin peeling on both inside and outside walls, roof coverings, fascia, and gutters. All can be damaged. Structural damage can result from the weight of the ice dam as well. Homeowners usually blame their gutters, since that’s where the problem appears to be. However, newer, wider, deeper gutters will not solve the problem. Nor will additional layers of insulation alone. What will solve it is adequate ventilation combined with proper levels of insulation.
Cold Roof System
The key to solving the problem is to create a cold roof, with the temperature of the inside roof sheathing near that of the outside air temperature. To create such a condition, large volumes of outside air must enter at soffit intakes, sweep along ridge rafters, then exit at vents near the ridge. To prevent trapping warm air in the attic, an equal balance must be established between intake and exhaust air volumes.
Since such a ventilation system is bringing cold air into an attic, the insulation must minimize heat loss at the attic floor (See the CertainTeed Insulation home page for more information on insulation). As an added precaution, use waterproofing shingle underlayment. It provides a waterproof-barrier beneath roof shingles, which pooled water from melting ice dams and driven rain cannot penetrate (See the CertainTeed Roofing home page for more information on roofing)
