Sometimes it can be obvious when work needs doing to your home – dripping taps need washers, sticky doors need plaining, creaking hinges need oiling. But larger tasks are often easier to ignore. Things like a missing roof tile, well it’s not leaking so its ok; until a storm makes it worse and you have a lot of water damage to deal with.
A dripping pipe, that’s fine just put some tape around it and a bucket underneath it; until the crack suddenly ruptures and sprays water everywhere. What about the fascia and guttering on the top of your house, that’s going to ok if it’s a bit worn isn’t it?
People often severely underestimate the importance guttering and fascia plays in keeping their home dry. It may sound obvious to say that it appropriately directs water off of your building and protects the join between wall and roof, but when the signs of age start showing, it is important to get them replaced, not put it off, and here are some reasons why.
Symptom – Sagging gutters
If your gutter has started to sag, even a little bit then it is not going to work as intended. If it sags then the water is not running out of it like it should and this can cause debris to build up inside the gutter. If this is allowed to continue then the weight will increase and cause further sagging and possibly start pulling the guttering and fascia board off of the building, exposing the vulnerable area beneath.
Symptom – Peeling paint
Now peeling paint might sound like a symptom of old paint on the walls that needs stripping and reapplying, and while this can be the case, peeling paint is more likely a symptom of a leak in either the fascia’s seal of the guttering.
The paint peels because moisture has gotten in behind it and has started to crumble the top layer of the concrete beneath, destabilising the paint and causing it to peel from the wall. Now most modern paints can withstand quite a bit of moisture and not allow this to happen, if the moisture is getting in around the paint, there’s not much it can do and it is probably a sign you need to get your fascia replaced.
Symptom – Moisture marks
If your walls have dark, streaky marks appearing down them then this is also a sign that water is getting somewhere it shouldn’t. These marks are caused by water consistently leaking out of guttering and running down the same patch of wall over and over again.
This is a sign that the guttering is leaking somewhere near the top of the mark and if it is allowed to continue the water will eventually penetrate the paint and start creating damp inside the brickwork. This could be caused by a crack or worn seals, but either wait it is more than likely time to get a company to replace your gutters.
