gutter maintenance – Home Siding Information

How Chicago’s Weather Impacts Your Home’s Siding

Living in Chicago means dealing with extreme and unpredictable weather. From blistering summers to frigid winters and everything in between, the city’s climate poses unique challenges to the exterior of your home—especially your siding. As a key protective layer, siding shields your home from the elements, but prolonged exposure to Chicago’s weather can take a toll. Here’s how the city’s climate impacts your siding and what you can do to protect it.

Temperature Extremes

Chicago’s weather is known for its dramatic temperature swings, from freezing winters to sweltering summers. These fluctuations cause siding materials to expand and contract. Over time, this movement can lead to warping, cracking, or buckling, especially in materials like vinyl or wood. Fiber cement and engineered wood siding are often better equipped to handle these shifts, maintaining their integrity through harsh conditions.

Heavy Rain and Snow

Chicago receives significant precipitation year-round, including heavy rain in spring and summer and snow in winter. Moisture can infiltrate damaged siding, leading to mold, rot, or even structural damage if left unaddressed. Wood siding is particularly vulnerable to water damage, while materials like fiber cement and vinyl offer superior moisture resistance.

Ice and Freezing Conditions

During the winter months, ice formation can pose a significant threat to siding. The freeze-thaw cycle can exacerbate small cracks, turning them into larger issues. Icicles and ice dams can also strain siding and gutters, potentially pulling them away from the home. Proper insulation and gutter maintenance can help mitigate these risks.

Strong Winds and Storms

Chicago’s nickname, “The Windy City,” is no joke. High winds during storms can loosen or detach siding panels, leaving your home vulnerable to the elements. Certain materials, such as engineered wood or fiber cement, are designed to withstand high wind speeds better than others. Regular inspections can catch loose panels before they become a problem.

UV Exposure

While Chicago isn’t known for year-round sunshine, the summer months bring intense UV rays that can fade and weaken certain siding materials over time. Vinyl siding, for example, can lose its color and become brittle under prolonged sun exposure. UV-resistant coatings or selecting durable materials like fiber cement can help maintain your home’s appearance.

Hail Damage

Hailstorms are a common occurrence in Chicago, particularly in the spring and summer. Hail can dent or crack siding, leaving it susceptible to further damage from moisture and temperature changes. Metal and fiber cement siding tend to be more resistant to hail than vinyl or wood.

Tips to Protect Your Siding in Chicago’s Climate

Choose the Right Material: Opt for siding materials specifically designed to handle Chicago’s weather, such as fiber cement, engineered wood, or high-quality vinyl.
Regular Maintenance: Inspect your siding seasonally for signs of damage like cracks, warping, or loose panels. Address issues promptly to prevent them from worsening.
Invest in Proper Installation: Ensure your siding is installed by professionals who understand the challenges of Chicago’s climate. Poor installation can exacerbate weather-related problems.
Upgrade Your Insulation: Proper insulation can reduce the impact of temperature fluctuations and help your siding last longer.
Keep Gutters Clear: Well-maintained gutters prevent water from pooling near your siding, reducing the risk of moisture damage.

Chicago’s weather is as tough on homes as it is on residents. By understanding the challenges posed by the local climate and taking proactive measures, you can ensure your siding stands the test of time. Whether you’re considering new siding or looking to maintain what you already have, choosing the right materials and staying ahead of repairs will keep your home protected and looking great, no matter what Chicago’s weather throws at it.

Exterior Gutter Maintenance for Year Round Protection from Water Woes

After gutters guard your home from moisture mayhem for many seasons, they begin to look a little war-torn. And when your gutters start looking war-torn, your house will look worse. Sagging, rusty-looking gutter pipes overstuffed with leaves that drip with staining dirty water do nothing to add to the aesthetics of your home. If you’re not one to worry about what the neighbors think, keep in mind that if you don’t maintain your gutters, the condition of your house will start deteriorating from the outside in. Moisture problems will start seeping in, bringing in contagious mildew and rot with it.

Maintaining your gutters should be a part of your yearly maintenance plans. If you’ve ignored your sagging gutters for a few seasons, it’s time to get up on your ladder and bring your gutters back to life.

The first thing you need to do is clean your gutters. Use your hands and a putty knife to wipe out all the leaves and twigs that have accumulated over the years, and rinse the pipes and downspouts out with a garden hose. Once it’s cleaned out, you can take a look at the damage.

Take a look inside the trough at the joints between connecting pieces. You don’t want water dripping through these joints instead of being fully focused on the diverting downspout. Fill the seams with a caulking compound – you’ll find some labeled as “gutter seal” at the hardware store. After you clean and dry the seam area, squeeze on some caulk and smooth it in. There are also aerosol sealers on the market that can make the job easier.

If you have rusty galvanized metal gutters, you can fix up the rust holes with a few layers of foil paper and roofing cement. Scrub the area clean with a wire brush, then liberally brush on some roofing cement. Then press on some heavy-duty foil paper. Apply a second layer of roofing cement over that piece of foil paper, press on another sheet of foil paper, then add the last and final layer of roofing cement over the second piece of foil paper. Smooth out the final layer with a putty knife. If you have wood gutters, you should be treating your wood with a preservative every five years.

If it’s been a particularly windy fall or heavy winter, you might have ended up with sagging gutters. Basically, you just need to push them up and snap them into place. Remove the hangers or spikes that are keeping your gutters up. Snap the gutter back up to its original height, then refasten the hanger or spikes to keep the gutter pipe in its proper position. If your gutters are supported with hanging brackets, you might just need to loosen the bracket, reposition the gutter pipe, and tighten the bracket back up. Inspect your gutter line for broken hangers, brackets or spikes and replace any that look like they’ve had a rough season of holding things up.

If you don’t have a screen or leaf guard on your gutter covering the water trough, now is the time to put one on. You can fasten on a homemade screen, or buy easy-to-install mesh guards or aluminum leaf guards. The aluminum leaf guards are more costly, but they are angled so leaves fall to the ground instead of collecting on the wire mesh.

Plan on a dry day or two after the autumn season to get your gutter work done. Keeping your gutters from entering a war-torn state will keep your house from being a constant battle to repair. Gutter maintenance is time consuming, but by investing only a couple days a year, your gutters will work year-round to guard your home from water woes and moisture mayhem.