How do I know if my home needs new gutters?

 The weather we've been having....do you have ice cycles hanging from your gutters? Or did the large snow amount pull your gutters away from their edge or totally fall off?

Gutters are very important to a home because they deliver the water collected from the roof  to a safe or positive place away from your home. If you can visually see that you have ice cycles hanging from the gutters then that means that water runoff, melting snow, and ice may not be delivered to the gutters properly. Your gutters may be old enough that its attachment method is compromised allowing the gutter to fall away from the edge of the shingles. Your gutters my be rusted on the inside and not very visible but leaking through the gutter itself. Or it is possible the seams on your gutters may have their caulking seal deteriorated. Another problem may be that your gutters are simply clogged up. All of these problems will need inspected and fixed by a qualified contractor such as Moe's Masonry.

A qualified contractor will schedule an appointment with you (normally a sunny and warmer day) to inspect your gutters and provide you with an estimate. You should always ask the contractor for a seamless gutter which will inhibit leakage through seams. The gutter contractor should be able to guide you to a website for you to be able to pick out your color or even provide you with a color guide. Upon the inspection your contractor may also find rotten fascia boards that need replaced. Normally we will recommend to replace those and wrap with metal giving the customer a maintenance free gutter and fascia. NOTE: If you notice interior ceilings having brown water marks that this is most likely caused by gutter problems and should be addressed immediately.

Thank you for visiting Moe's Masonry Blog and come back soon for more tips on all of your Masonry and Gutter needs.

Why is there water in my basement?

Hi and welcome back to Moe's Blog. Today we want to address the issues of why water may be in your basement or evident inside your home. We will look at the most common problems and ways to detect them.

To start off we need to look at the very top of your home...the roof and its drainage system. Roofing and its periodic inspection is very crucial to a home's maintenance. The roof and its cover is very important as they may deteriorate in time, even without you knowing. For instance if you have a shingle roof that is getting old or improperly installed the edges of your shingles may not protect the edges of the home below. Worn or improperly installed shingles may not deliver water to the gutter system designed to deliver the water runoff  away from the home.

Now lets look at the next part, the water runoff delivery system otherwise known as your gutters and downspouts may have problems. If water is present in your home on the interior or the basement then you will need to perform visual inspections ans unfortunately this will need to happen during a rain or performing a hose test. What you may discover by these inspections is that the water is not being delivered from the shingles to the gutter system and leaking down the walls of your home or simply leaking from the back of your gutters on the overhang. These are potential problems of why you may have interior leaking in your home. Some other important things to remember are: that if your gutters have water spilling over the front or the back, then they may simply be clogged and need cleaning, a rather inexpensive remedy for water problems; or incorrect fascia board or cover (aluminum).

As we are working our way down from the top of your home we will look at the next easily noted problems of water leaking into your home or basement. This will be what is called ground water runoff. We look for positive ground water runoff. Negative runoff can be noted by water pooling around the sidewalks and/or foundation of your home. If noticed, most likely these pools are running to the base of your foundation causing hydrostatic pressure against your foundation and putting weight pressure on the basement walls causing them to crack or bulge and compromising the structure of your home. These issues are very important and should be addressed by a professional contractor.

Another important cause of water leaking, is gutter downspouts that deliver into piping systems that travels down the exterior of your basement walls. These are called drainage piping systems and may also be improperly installed or deteriorating causing the water to leak into your basement. This type of a problem is one that we as contractors do not like to see for our customers as it can be costly for the repairs.


We hope we have given you valuable information from Moe's Masonry concerning why your basement may be leaking or other apparent water damage in your home. Thank You for your interest in our blogs  and please join us next time for our informational blog on basement sealing and waterproofing.
Thank You: From Moe's Masonry.

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