The appearance of your home’s exterior is important, with your exterior being the first thing people see, it’s vital you keep it looking sharp. The exterior of your home also plays an important part in protecting your investment and saving you from future repair costs. As exterior contractors in the Stony Plain area since 2017, we know what signs to look for to tell when it’s time to update your exterior, here are the five signs that you can look for to see if your exterior needs updating.
1. Damaged or Missing Exterior Siding
Missing or damaged siding is not only an appearance issue, but it can also lead to costly repairs down the line. Siding not only helps waterproof your home, protecting the wood that lies beneath from water damage but protects it from various critters and insects as well. Any holes in your siding, therefore provide a potential entry point for the very things it is meant to protect you from. If you have any missing pieces of siding or siding with cracks and holes, you may want to consider replacing or repairing your siding to ensure you are properly protected.
2. Nails popping out of your gutters
Older gutter systems are typically installed using spike and ferrule. This is essentially a long nail with a spacer that is used to hold up your eavestrough system. Over time the spikes tend to pull out. This can lead to your gutters sagging, becoming unlevel, and in extreme cases even falling off your house completely. Homeowners tend to try and hammer them back in themselves, but due to the nature of nails, they pull back out overtime, only faster than before. If the spikes on your eavestroughs are pulling out you may want to consider upgrading to a more modern system using hidden aluminium hangers and screws. This provides not only a more modern, finished look to your eavestroughs but the hanger and screw system is also proven to last longer than eavestroughs hung with spike and ferrule.
3. Peeling Paint on soffits or Fascia
Soffits are the underpart of your roof which expand past your wall, typically about two feet. Many older homes have wood soffits with minimal if any vents. Soffits help provide ventilation to your attic, allowing for airflow into and out of them. This prevents the overheating of your attic, improving your home’s heating/cooling bill, and helping ensure a long shingle life. Peeling wood soffits is a sure sign that it is time to upgrade to aluminium soffits. Not only do they provide much better ventilation, but they also look better too!
4. Leaking Eavestroughing
While most people dread rainfall, those with leaking gutters dread it that much more. Eavestroughs are meant to carry water away from your home, if they are leaking they are not doing their job correctly. Gutters leak for various reasons. Firstly and most commonly they leak due to rust. Most older and infill homes have steel eavestroughing, meaning over time they develop rust which ultimately leads to small pinholes, which leads to leaky gutters. The second reason is due to the sealant on the corners failing. While this is a simple fix as they just need to be resealed, rusted gutters need to be replaced completely.
5. Curing or Lifting Shingles
Your roof is often referred to as your home’s first line of defense. It helps protect it from water, snow, and hail. If your roof isn’t in as good as shape as it should be, your home could be at risk. Signs of a roof that needs to be replaced include curling or lifted shingles. Most roofs are meant to last 15-30 years depending on the quality and type of shingles you have installed. At any of these signs whether curing or getting to the end of its life, you should consider replacing them.
At Let It Flow Exteriors we specialise in all your exterior needs including eavestroughing, soffits, fascia, siding repair, and faux stone installation. We proudly serve Edmonton, St.Albert, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, and surrounding rural areas. We offer a three-year workmanship guarantee on all our services. Call 780-932-2810, email [email protected] or click here for your free, no-obligation quote today!
