When April showers fall upon your roof, it’s the job of your gutters to control and carry away all that water. You can pinpoint problems in your system if you take a few minutes to check the condition of your gutters and downspouts. Your annual spring inspection is a good place to start.

Put on your rain gear or grab an umbrella, and go outside during a heavy rain. Nothing else will give you such a graphic picture of how much water your gutters must handle – or how well they are doing their job. If you see water pouring out over the top of a downspout or flowing down your siding, you know you have some repairs to make to return your gutter system to working order.

Older galvanized gutters that have developed holes or are rusting out should probably be replaced. Aluminum gutters and downspouts, however, will last much longer with periodic maintenance, provided that they haven’t been crushed by a ladder or car bumper, or deformed  by excessive ice build-up.

Gutters that are otherwise sound can sag out of alignment, usually because they are no longer securely fastened in place. (A “washed-out” area in the lawn below can indicate this problem, as the cascading water destroys the ground cover.) When weather permits, climb a ladder to the gutter line and check the fascia board behind the gutter. (Read the rest….)