We attended a job for a real estate who had mould and dampness issues.
The real estate manager let us know they were having issues on their work order, therefore we were expecting to find very full gutters.
We could not work out why the eaves had so much mould and mildew on the underside of them.
While vacuuming the little debris in the gutters, we found that the overflow pipes had been sealed shut. Someone had silicone the flaps closed to stop the water from escaping. We concluded, the constant water from this pipe must have annoyed a previous tenant as it was over the bedroom window.
The roof was quite large and therefore filled the gutter quickly. In times of heavier rain, the overflow pipe is there to allow the water to escape. It is important for the water to flow down the pipes fast enough.
In sealing this overflow, the water has had nowhere else to go, other than the eaves and inside the cavity and down the inside walls, as it could not drain to the down pipe fast enough.
We cleaned the gutters and removed the silicone from the flap of the overflow pipe.
The damage to the eaves needs to be repaired. First you would need to kill the mould and then you could repaint. But it can be hard to remove mould and staining may show through the new paint.
