Gutter Problems On A New Home

For new homes, problems with gutters are usually associated with poor gutter installation. Oftentimes, builders were in such a rush to get the property built that they often had to cut corners to meet their time and cost deadlines. Instead of securing a roofing shingle with 4 or 5 nails, they might have used 2 or 3. Instead of adding gutter supports every couple of feet, they installed them every 10+ feet. It is the little things like what was described that can shorten the lifespan of a house and increase its maintenance costs.

For tall buildings, special scaffolding is sometimes required for proper rain gutter installation. Scaffolding costs money and takes up valuable laborer time. Sometimes, construction companies might try to install them directly from the roof, bypassing such scaffolding. Not only is it a safety risk, but the lack of accuracy and quality of the installation cannot be compared.

Other times, the roof drainage system is an afterthought. I visited one house recently, as part of my quest to purchase an investment property. It is amazing what I found. This property had a menagerie of gutters running in different directions. There were entire sections that were missing. More important, those that were in place were clearly put up as an afterthought. Here is an example. The roof of this residence had a couple of different levels with different pitches to begin with.

Instead of a consistent flow for the water, the building's owner had purposely set up a "waterfall" affect, whereby the top gutter dead ended. The liquid would then overflow that section and fall down about 3 feet onto the next section. This waterfall continued to more times until it got to the lowest sections. From the lowest section, the liquid would fall directly onto the cracked concrete patio. Amazing! It is no wonder that both the foundation and roof needed serious repair. I can imagine, based on the damage that this hacked solution was in placed at least 5 years. The net result is that the building was on the market for over 200 days with monthly price drops.

If you are a new home owner and think you are the victim of shoddy work, the first thing you should do is go back to your home owners warranty to see if you are covered. You should also check your sales contract to see if there are any clauses in there regarding warranties, both explicit and implied.

If you are not covered, do not wait around feeling sorry for yourself. The longer you wait to fix the problem, the worse it will get. Go out there and start the process of looking for a reputable contractor who will stand behind the repairs they make.