Learn How to Clean Gutters & Keep Them Clean
4 Tips for Gutter Cleaning
Learn How to Clean Gutters & Keep Them Clean…
Gutters are great for directing water away from your home, but they also can accumulate leaves and other debris clogging them, making gutter cleaning inevitable. When the debris builds up, it can trap water in the gutters and down pipes causing gutters to rust, overflow or completely break away from the building. Others issues that may arise from blocked gutters are damages to the external walls of the building, dry rot, water leaking into the home and damages to the foundations of the building. All of these issues can be avoided from simple maintenance to your gutters.
No matter what you do, it’s a fact of life that your gutters will need to be cleaned/inspected at least twice a year if you do not have gutter guards. To prolong the life of gutters, it’s best to clean them of debris in early spring and in Autumn. Though you can’t avoid doing it unless you hire someone, you can make the task much easier by following a few simple tips that keep things cleaner. Please if you are going to do it yourself make sure you are competent in using a ladder and getting on the roof. Cleaning gutters requires you to works at heights and is dangerous and can lead to serious injuries. If in doubt please hire a professional.
1. Start With a Thorough Gutter Clean
To stay clean, your gutters need to start clean. The most effective gutter cleaning procedure is truthfully the only way to truly clean them: by climbing up a ladder and pull out the debris. You can do this by hand or purchase a special scoop from your local Bunnings store for around $10 or maybe an old serving spoon/ egg flip with a few mods from the kitchen. Although the scoop will help to keep you cleaner, it isn’t absolutely necessary for gutter cleaning.
You can either bag/ bucket the dirt you pull from the gutter as you work or drop it onto the ground and rake it up when you’re finished, so choose the method that works best for you. When performing a good gutter and downspout cleaning, be sure to clean any branches, twigs, seed pods, leaves and other debris from the roof before you begin. Anything left on the roof will wash into the clean gutter the next time it rains if you don’t sweep it up. You can also hose out the gutters depending on the amount of composite in the gutters to begin with.
2. Trim Your Trees to Reduce Gutter Debris
Much of the debris found inside a gutter is composed of decaying leaves, twigs and pine needles that fall from overhanging trees. If this matter builds up in the gutter for a prolonged period of time, it creates a fertile environment for the tree’s falling seeds/ This allows them to germinate and begin growing, using the gutter itself as a makeshift planter.
To avoid this, it is helpful to trim trees back away from the roof and gutter system so that whatever falls from them lands on the ground rather than on your home’s roofing and water drainage systems.
3. Invest in Gutter Guards
Gutter guards and gutter covers come in a variety of styles to fit your specific needs. Some cover part of the roof itself and the gutter with a solid surface, allowing water to run into the gutter underneath them but blocking falling and blowing objects from clogging them up.
Others are installed directly over the gutter and have strategically placed holes that allow water to pass through.
Other types of gutter guards are simply mesh screens built to keep debris and animals like nesting birds out of the structure. Some are hinged to allow you to easily access the gutter for a thorough cleaning when needed.
4. Contact your Local Gutter Company
Perhaps the best way to keep your gutters clean and reduce the amount of time and effort you put into gutter cleaning is by calling a gutter company near you. A trusted contractor like Eagle Building Solutions can help you pick the best guards for your home, but know that any type of gutter covers make it significantly easier to keep your gutters clean.