Everything Depends on Your Foundation…
Many house-dwellers might be surprised that the main purpose of their home’s eavestroughs and and downpipes is to protect the building’s foundation. If water poured straight to the ground from the roof, it would pool around the house perimeter, eventually compromising the stability of the entire structure. So your eavestroughs and downpipes are designed to move that water away from the foundation wall.
Whether your home has a basement or stands on stilts, whether it’s built to withstand hurricanes or frost-heaving, it needs to be maintained to ensure it is protected from all sorts of weather and climate fluctuations that threaten its integrity. As a homeowner, you are responsible for providing ongoing protection that last beyond the initial building code applied when it was first constructed.