Water – Should I replace fallen gutters

guttersroofwater

This past winter a heavy snow fall ripped two sets of gutters off our house, and I haven't had a chance to re-hang them yet. One is over our back door and it's really annoying having the running off hit you when you step out the back door, so they will be replaced as soon as I can.

The other set was over top of a flower bed at an inset corner (so there is a steady stream of water during a heavy rain formed where the two sections of the roof come together). The only place the water seems to go is into the bed, about a foot from the base of the house. If I can avoid replacing them, I'd like to, but I don't want to risk a bigger issue down the road.

Do I need to replace this second set? Am I risking long-term damage to the foundation or some other issue I'm not thinking of?

Best Answer

You could be risking damage to the foundation. It depends if the bed is properly graded or not. If the bed is graded properly, the water will run away from the house and the foundation. If not, the water could run towards the house.

After a heavy rainfall, see if the foundation concrete close to the dirt looks wet. If it stays wet looking for long after the rest of the foundation has dried, it could mean that water is running towards the foundation.

If that's the case, you have 3 options:

  1. Fix the gutter.
  2. Regrade the bed.
  3. Run the risk of your foundation possibly being affected.