Home Rehab Essentials: Rain Gutters
I purchased a home in NY to fix and flip knowing that the property needed a bit of cosmetic updating and other upgrades to bring it to current standards. However, I didn’t notice that there were no rain gutters on the home. Why is this important?
The primary purpose of rain gutters is to catch rainwater and direct it away from your foundation. Water can cause foundation and structural issues in a home. In my situation, the rainwater seeped into the crawlspace under the house.?This wasn’t noticed until the heat was turned off and the home winterized.?It was then that the moisture started to show its destructive power.
The house sat empty for a couple of months and when the team went in to start work, we found that the hardwood floors had buckled and cupped. We looked under the house and found excessive moisture and only then realized what had happened.?Dehumidifiers and fans were placed in the crawl space as we prepared to install rain gutters and down spouts to direct water away from the house.
Fortunately for us the wood floors settled back into place when the moisture was abated. We then had only minor repairs to the flooring, and they looked spectacular after being sanded and finished. Also, while the block foundation had absorbed moisture, there was no serious damage to the foundation or the structure.
The home is now beautifully restored and on the market waiting for a family to make it their home.?