Your property's gutters play a hugely important role in protecting your home from water damage. They collect and redirect any rainwater which falls onto your roof away from the house, and thus prevent water-induced issues such as mould and rot, which might affect the structural integrity of the property. As such, it's important to be aware of the things that can damage your gutters. Read on to find out more.

Loose roof shingles

Roof shingles can become loose when exposed to strong winds. Older shingles (i.e. ones which were installed more than a decade ago) are particularly prone to falling off during periods of bad weather. It's important not to ignore this issue, as even a few damaged shingles could do significant harm to your guttering system.

Shingles usually have sharp edges and tend to be quite weighty; as such, if, during a bout of extremely windy weather, they detach from the roof and fall onto the gutters, the impact could cause the gutter pipes to develop a crack or a hole. This, in turn, could result in much of the rain that falls onto them dripping downwards towards the foundation of the house.

As such, it's a good idea to inspect your roof regularly for signs that its shingles might have loosened. Should you discover that some of them have started to fall off, you should contact a local roofer to repair this damage as soon as possible.

Overhanging trees

It might surprise you to learn that trees which hang directly over your property's roof can end up destroying its gutter system. In many cases, homeowners who refuse to remove trees in this type of position find themselves having to pay for full gutter replacements, due to the extensive damage the trees have caused.

Deciduous trees (such as white cedars and silky oaks), whose leaves fall off during the autumn months, can be particularly problematic. This is because the falling leaves, along with bird droppings and twigs, can create major blockages in the gutters. If the owner of the property is not fastidious about cleaning their gutters, these blockages can expand to the point where they create cracks in the plastic pipes.

Overhanging trees can also cause serious damage to gutters during storms, as their branches can snap off and fall onto the gutter pipes. The force of this impact is often enough to split apart the gutter pipe.

Given this, it's sensible to have any trees near your roof and gutters cut back, or removed entirely. Whilst this can be expensive and inconvenient, it could spare you the cost of a complete gutter replacement in the future.