As with any other home, the gutters on a manufactured home catch rain and water runoff from your roof and carry it away from door and window opening. Functioning gutters are essential to protecting your roof and other areas of your mobile home from sustaining any possible water damage.
For your gutters to perform best, they must remain free from debris buildup. When gutters are clogged, water will back up and overflow. Worse is that standing water in gutters can seep under the roof surface and penetrate a mobile home’s interior causing damage to ceilings, walls, and floors. If uncorrected, this will cause mold to form and can cause rotting which will lead to structural damage.
The most common debris found in gutters is fallen leaves and branches from trees and shrubbery, however, toys, dead animals, clothing, and other surprising things can be found in gutters. Leaf fall is very heavy in wooded areas and can cause otherwise clear gutters to clog within just a few days. In northern climates, ice and snow can form ice dams which can also cause leaking.
To ensure that your mobile home will last for years to come, experts recommend that you inspect and clean gutters at least twice a year—once in the spring and once in the fall after leaves have fallen from the trees for the best and most effective results. Using a good pair of gloves, gather and scoop all existing debris—such as leaves limbs, dirt, and other matter—from your gutters and dispose of it into a garbage bag. Additionally, inspect all trees and bushes to be sure that there are no dead branches to fall and that branches are trimmed at least eight feet from your home.
If you do not want the hassle of cleaning or inspecting gutters, you can hire a gutter service to do it for you. If you are renting a mobile home and suspect you have a gutter problem, you should ask the community manager to look.
mPark Homes operates mobile home and manufactured home communities in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. If you would like information on our communities and available homes, you can visit our website at www.mParkHomes.com.