Adding gutters is an important step to consider when installing a new wooden garden building. When the next torrential downpour comes down on your newly installed shed or veranda, there will be pools of water swimming around it without an effective drainage system.
Even though the eves of your wooden building may extend off the sides, that won’t prevent major damage from taking place when water is left to run off the building and into the soil around it.
Why should you be worried about water pooling around your wooden garden shed? With any building on your property, especially a wooden building, rot, erosion, and interior damage are reasons for water concerns. Let’s take a closer look at the damage water can cause when there is no gutter system to lead water away.
Table of Contents
Soil erosion
As with any other structure on your property, soil erosion is a major concern when it comes to a wooden garden building. When water runs off the rooftop of your garden and onto the ground below, it can cause serious damage to the landscaping and soil around the shed without a drainage system.
Eugene from Plasticine House has built several outdoor buildings. He advises anyone with an outdoor structure to install gutters to prevent any soil erosion and further damage to the building that might occur.
When too much water cascades from the roof of your garden building, it can saturate the earth around the foundation and the roots of plants. Eventually, this will become a structural problem and an eye sore in your garden.
Standing water
When there is water pooling around your garden building, it indicates that there is no drainage around it. Protecting the foundation of your building is of critical importance when retaining the structure’s integrity.
Unchanneled rainwater will pool around the base of your building, seeping in around the foundation and underneath. Moisture can travel up through the concrete slab if it doesn’t have a way out and cause the building to become unstable.
Your lovely new garden building will wear and tear and quickly fall apart without proper drainage.
Health hazard
Although standing water has major effects on the structural integrity of a wooden building, there are several health hazards associated with water that doesn’t drain away.
Mosquitoes breed in standing water, but so do other insects and bacteria that can have more harmful effects. Creating a drainage system with gutters on the building prevents these health hazards from becoming an issue.
Interior water damage
Gutters can prevent interior water damage to your wooden building from happening. If there are no gutters on your wooden building in your garden, then water can drip or drain freely into the interior of the wooden building.
When your shed is made of wood, the timbers at the base can easily become rotten. The interior can also be covered in stains and streaks, thanks to the water damage. This further decreases the structural soundness of your building.
Gardenia Organic recommends a gutter installation to prevent water damage because once you’ve noticed it, it’s definitely too late to repair.
Damage to storage
The purpose of having a wooden shed in your garden is to store the things you don’t want lying about outside your house and to keep them from getting damaged by the elements.
When water seeps into your storage area, the result will inevitably be ruined goods. Water damage, rot, mold, and rust are just a few concerns anyone would have if water drains into your storage area.
Be prepared and add gutters to your wooden garden building to prevent your storage from growing mold or rotting.
Mold
If there is excess water around your wooden shed or draining through it, there is a high risk of mold. Unfortunately, once the mold has set in, very little can be done to prevent the damage to the building.
Mold is a difficult pest to contain and treat, and effective guttering can help prevent it from setting in. Once there is mold in the interior of your wooden garden building, then the stuff you are storing inside is susceptible to damage from mold too.
Recycle rain water
Adding gutters to your wooden garden building is the perfect way to encourage water runoff and save money on your water bill at the end of the month.
Setting up a catchment area is easy by diverting your downspout into a barrel and attaching a hose to the bottom. Nature provides water for free, so you may as well make the most of it and save it for later.
It’s surprising how quickly a large container of water can be filled to the brim with just a few torrential rainfalls.
A gutter installation will prevent obvious water damage around your wooden garden buildings and keep everything inside nice and dry. Keep your gutter cleaning up to date so that there are no blockages when the rain comes pouring down.
Regular gutter cleaning prevents stagnant water from building up and becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
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