When water overflows a container and flows into unwanted areas, not only does it create a huge mess that can take time to clean up, but it also opens up the possibility of damage to the surrounding environment. An overflowing toilet can damage your bathroom floor. A clogged sink can push water onto the counters and ruin them. And a floor drain that backs up can wreak havoc on walls and furnishings.

Overflows are never good.

Watch Out For Overflowing Gutters

The concept applies to overflowing gutters on your eaves. The gutters are designed to channel runoff water toward your downspouts, but if something prevents that from happening, the water will simply run from the roof and then spill over the sides of your gutters. When this happens, there’s a whole list of problems that can be created, including:

• damaged or discolored siding

• rotted fascia boards on your eaves

• eroded or destroyed landscaping

• cracked sidewalks or pavement (or ice patches if the temperature later drops below freezing)

• flooded basements

• buckled, cracked, or shifted foundations

How to Stop Overflowing Gutters

That’s why it is vital that homeowners do whatever they can to keep their gutters from overflowing. Here are five ways to prevent this from happening.

A clean gutter is a happy gutter.

1. Clean out your gutters and downspouts. At least twice a year, you need to climb up on a ladder and scoop out all the leaves, pine needles, twigs, and other debris that may be sitting in your gutters. Then take a water hose and run water through your gutters to make sure it comes out of your downspouts. If not, you may have to use a plumbing snake or a high-pressure water sprayer to break up a clog inside your downspout.
2. Check the pitch and tilt of your gutters. If your gutters are clog-free and water is still spilling over onto the ground, then your gutters may be improperly positioned. First, lay a level across the mouth of your gutters to make sure that they aren’t tilting forward or backward. Next, check the slope of the guttering runs. If it’s too flat, then water won’t move toward the downspouts; if it’s too steep, running water may splash over the sides during a heavy storm
3. Install splash guards. Sometimes, runoff water in roof valleys can travel too fast to train into gutters and instead splash over the sides onto the ground. A splash guard is an L-shaped piece of metal that is fastened at the corner of a gutter where the roof valley is. Just drill holes through the splash guard and the gutter and install rivets inside the holes to affix the splash guard to your gutters.
4. Buy bigger gutters. In a few cases, the existing gutters on a home are simply too small to handle the amount or pace of the runoff water that comes from the roof. This is more prominent with homes that have roofs which are steeply-pitched. Most home improvement or hardware stores carry larger-than-normal gutters which are made to handle larger volumes of runoff water.
5. Install gutter guards. These are products designed to keep solid debris out of gutters while allowing runoff water to drain into them. They can be mesh-type screens that fit across or inside your gutters, or hard metal slats with holes or vents that are fastened over your gutters. Just make sure the openings don’t get clogged with debris and allow water to flow over the gutter guard onto the ground.

Gutter Helmet Prevents Gutters From Overflowing

The Gutter Helmet gutter protection system is vastly superior to other types of gutter guards. The gutter cover, which fits on top of existing gutters, is solid and curved with a special coating that helps water adhere to the surface. The water flows over the cover and into the gutters through an opening on the underside, while leaves and pine needles are repelled and fall harmlessly to the ground.

Gutter protection is a good thing!

Moonworks is a certified installer of the Gutter Helmet system, so if you would like more information about getting Gutter Helmet for your home, fill out this form or call Moonworks at 1-800-975-6666 for a free, on-site inspection. Protect your home by keeping runoff water inside your gutters instead of letting it overflow onto the ground below!