The Most Improperly Maintained Exterior Building Component

The number one, improperly maintained, exterior building component on a building is the gutter system. In particular, the most common problem with gutter systems is leaking splices. As can be clearly seen in photo #1, the gutter leak (which is at a splice between two adjacent sections of gutter) has stained the wall. You will notice toward the bottom that the paint is completely gone from the wall. Paint is not designed to be constantly wet and when that happens it fails more quickly. Failure to do a repair costing a few hundred dollars to the splices will create the need to repaint the walls prematurely for thousands of dollars (as well as still having to repair the gutter splices.) Gutter splices leak for two reasons. First, they are improperly sealed. Second reason is because the gutter moves excessively. Here, we’ll talk about the sealant issue.

Photo #2 shows a typical gutter splice where sealant was applied between the adjacent pieces as the gutter was installed. This just doesn’t hold up. It’s important to seal a splice over top of the entire splice, utilizing a sealant specifically designed to be used in a gutter where there is often prolonged periods of standing water and movement. So, as the gutter moves, the splice can flex with it.This is the right way to seal a gutter and is much cheaper to do in the long run.