Homeowners examine gutter seams for wear and tear, but forget about the corners. It’s especially important for those who have seamless aluminum gutters to check the corners, since this is the only place where leaks will occur. Here are some signs that gutter corners have sprung a leak.
To see whether or not a gutter corner is leaking, look at it typically one to two hours after a consistent shower or heavy rainfall. This will help you differentiate between water escaping as a result of compromised caulking and rainwater running down the sides of the gutters. If the corner needs resealing, you will find water dripping from the underside of that particular corner.
When it’s not raining, look for these other signs that the gutter corners are leaking. These include:
- mold, moss or mildew growing on the outside
- pooling water and/or obvious soil erosion on the ground directly beneath
- discoloured fascia board behind the corner
- rotting soffit around the immediate area
- paint peeling off the fascia and/or soffits
If the dripping corner isn’t causing problems such as creating a sink hole or a slipping hazard, it’s really not that big a deal, right? Bottom line, leaking gutters don’t work properly. Unchannelled rain water goes places you don’t want it to, like behind fascia boards and soffit panels. Corners that leak need to be fixed. Fresh caulking or sealant has to be applied to the inside of the gutter channel. When recaulking is not possible, the sections of gutter where they are joined together will have to be replaced.
