Repairs

A Clogged Gutter Does More Damage to the Foundation Than the Roof

The roof usually survives a clogged gutter. The foundation, sitting right where the overflow lands, does not.

Gutters exist to move roof runoff away from the house, not just off the roof. When leaves and grit block the channel, water sheets over the edge and lands in a narrow band right along the foundation. Repeated soaking there saturates the soil, increases hydrostatic pressure against basement walls, and is one of the most common causes of basement seepage that homeowners misdiagnose as a foundation crack problem.

The fix is unglamorous: clean gutters twice a year, make sure downspouts extend at least four to six feet from the wall, and check that the ground slopes away from the house at roughly an inch per foot for the first several feet.

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