Taking a Look at the Importance of Proper Gutter Cleaning After Fall

Maybe it’s not your favorite weekend project, but ignoring it could result in a homeowner’s worst nightmare! Gutter cleaning—one of the least glamorous and messiest tasks associated with living in a home.

Would you get more excited about clean gutters if you knew 1 in 50 insured homeowners file water damage claims every year? Clogged gutters cause at least a portion of those claims.

If you can master the art of proper gutter cleaning, you could save your home from water damage.

If you’re still not convinced that your home needs gutter maintenance, read on! Take a look at why clean gutters matter, especially after the fall season.

Prevent Roof Damage

Initially, you’ll only see the effects of clogged gutters when it rains.

You can’t ignore streams of water pouring over the sides of a backed-up gutter. Since the water goes away with the end of a rainstorm, most people don’t give the situation much thought. At least not until the next heavy rain.

Allowing debris to accumulate in your gutters creates the backup. You see the flood of water coming over the top of the gutter, but what you don’t see is the potential for roof damage.

The primary role of your gutter system is drainage. Water rolls off the roof and into the gutters, where it’s directed to downspouts located on the corners of your house.

In extreme situations, the ones where a homeowner ignores gutter cleaning for years, water ends up sitting on the roof. If enough water stands on the roof, the roof can’t bear the weight. Leave it to stand for a mere 48 hours, and you risk structural damage to your roof.

A flat roof is more susceptible to standing or ponding water, but clogged gutters make sloped roofs vulnerable too. By the way, if you didn't realize it, flat roofs use gutter systems also. Instead of gutters, flat roof systems use scuppers.

Compare the cost of gutter maintenance to what you’ll spend on roof repairs. Investing in routine cleaning makes sense. It makes even more sense when you look at what can happen to your foundation if you ignore gutter system cleaning and maintenance.

Save Your Foundation

As mentioned earlier, gutters drain and direct water. A properly functioning gutter system allows water from the gutter to flow to the downspouts. Installed correctly, the downspout directs water away from the foundation of your home.

If you let debris pile up, instead of flowing to the downspouts, water flows over the gutter and then pools around the foundation.

In the summertime, it’s not a huge issue. Come winter, and you may end up dealing with frozen water around the foundation. Water freezes and expands, creating the risk of your foundation developing cracks.

Foundation repairs can cost a significant amount of money, but the cost isn’t only financial. Cracks in the foundation may result in water seepage inside your home. Bad for your budget and not great for your peace of mind.

Proper Gutter Cleaning Protects Siding

Dirty gutters don’t only impact your roof and foundation. When water pours from the gutters, it tends to run down the side of your house, leaving your siding vulnerable to water damage.

Don’t forget about the soffits. Water running down the side of the house can also get under your soffits. Water follows the path of least resistance—eventually, from the soffits, it will seep into your drywall.

Are you starting to see how routine gutter cleaning matters to multiple systems in your home?

Don’t let water from the gutters travel to the inside walls. Instead of a gutter professional, you may need a drywaller and a professional painter.

Preserve Gutter System Integrity

If you’re like most homeowners, you avoid spending unnecessary dollars on home repairs. Gutter maintenance, which includes cleaning, extends the life of your gutters and downspouts.

Any debris you let accumulate creates a weight issue. Gutters aren’t made from flimsy materials, but that doesn’t mean they can bear an unlimited amount of weight.

In the fall, your trees (and your neighbor’s) drop their leaves. Leaves left in the gutter after fall, stay wet, especially once winter snows arrive.

That extra weight can cause gutters to pull away from where they’re attached. Now, you not only have water flowing freely, but you’ve also set the gutter system up for more damage. The weight of leaves and debris can cause cracks to develop in the gutters.

If you’ve ever climbed a ladder and looked into a debris-filled gutter, especially after winter, you’ve discovered a filthy mess. It’s usually not only leaves, people often find all kinds of garbage, including evidence of birds and rodents taking up residence in the gutter system.

No Pests Welcome

If nothing else moves you to clean gutters in the fall, perhaps the idea of pests will motivate you.

Anytime you leave standing water on a roof, you attract pests. Mosquitoes and flies both look for standing water. Debris mixed with water at the right depth makes an inviting environment for these nasty and dangerous pests.

You’re likely thinking, that’s fine for summer, but mosquitoes don’t hang around in the fall. True, but mice, squirrels, and other rodents don’t share the mosquito life cycle, nor do they go south for the winter.

A clean gutter system says, no pests welcome here!

Enjoy Reading about Home Maintenance?

Proper gutter cleaning in the fall makes your entire gutter system cleaner and safer. It’s a simple step you can take to protect your roof, your foundation, your siding, and your family.

If you’d like more articles on home maintenance, continue browsing our blog!

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