Not every home has gutters, but many do. If you bought a home recently and discovered it has no gutters, you may wonder if gutters are needed. Gutters keep your home dry, so it's important to have them if you live in a rainy climate and rain often puddles around your house. Here are some signs that you should consider gutter installation for your house.

1. Your Siding Is Damp And Moldy

If rain drips from the edge of your roof and rolls down your siding, you might have problems with mold growth outside or inside your house. The sheathing behind the siding could have moisture damage and start to rot.

When gutters are installed, they're positioned under the edge of your roof so rain rolls off and lands in the gutter trough to be carried away. This helps your siding stay dry so you can avoid problems with mold and rot on your house.

2. Your Basement Has Moisture Problems

One of the most important functions of gutters is to keep your basement dry. Without gutters, rain rolls off of the roof and lands near your home's foundation. Rain then seeps into the ground where it can seep through the concrete walls of your basement to cause issues with moisture damage, mold, and a wet basement.

Gutter installation can prevent this problem by stopping rain from landing near the foundation of your home. Instead, rain is collected in the troughs and sent through the downspout to empty far from your home. An important part of gutter installation is choosing gutters that are the right size and sloping them properly so the rain won't back up or overflow.

3. Your Crawlspace Has Water Puddles

Another reason to have gutters installed is to help keep your crawlspace dry. When it rains and you don't have gutters, rain can roll under your home and get trapped in the crawlspace. This causes the space to stay damp and moist. That leads to mold growth, the rot of wood building materials, and an increase in bugs and foul odors.

Drying out your crawlspace is important since air from the crawlspace wafts into your living space above. However, you probably don't want to invest in waterproofing your crawlspace if water comes back every time it rains.

One of the best things you can do to keep your crawlspace dry is to install gutters. Then rain rolls away from your house instead of falling nearby and rolling into the crawlspace. Keep in mind that gutter installation is the first step in keeping your home dry. You must also maintain the gutters by keeping leaves out of them or the leaves might make a dam that causes rain to overflow the sides of the gutter troughs. For more information on gutter installation, contact a company near you.