Keeping Your Gutters in Shape – Part 1: Gutter Installation Mistakes to Check For

Gutters can fail due a variety of reasons, but one of the most common is mistakes made during installation. One of the worst enemies of any construction material is standing water. Hence, if there are mistakes in the installation of your gutters, there’s a good chance that water may not drain properly, putting your home and landscape in danger. Standing water can affect the integrity of the gutter material and construction, causing it to fail.

Gutter Installation Mistakes

Fortunately, you don’t need to be an expert to spot some of the most common gutter installation mistakes. In some cases, you may not even need to climb onto your roof to check the gutters.

Below are some common gutter installation mistakes you can easily spot:

• Incorrect spacing of hangers. You’ll notice that most gutters have flat or thin strips of metal connecting the gutter to the roof. Called hangers, these metal strips help hold the gutter in place. They need to be evenly spaced to prevent portions of the gutter from sagging. Incorrect spacing can leave wider areas between the hangers, which can result in sagging and the unwanted collection of water.
• Incorrect pitch of the gutter. If you stand a short distance from your home, you’ll notice that the gutter is usually pitched towards the downspout. The pitch is to ensure that water flows towards the downspout and doesn’t collect, as it would if the gutter was flat or pitched the wrong way.
• The gutter has too many seams. Seams are created when two or more gutters are attached together to form one long gutter. Unfortunately, when you attach two gutters, you’re actually creating a weak link. If you notice that your gutter has too many seams, then this is an installation mistake that will need to be fixed.

There are a number of other gutter installation mistakes, but these are the most common and the easiest to spot. If your gutters show signs of those mistakes, then there’s a good chance that there will be other faults as well.

Even if your gutters are free of these installation mistakes, they still need regular maintenance to perform properly. In the next post, we’ll share with you some of the best gutter protection options. Stay tuned!