Gutter Cleaning – Why It’s Important
Cleaning your gutters is not a fun thing to do. It can be very dangerous if you have high peaks on your property, and try to do it from the rooftop. Without the proper safety tie off gear, you could fall off the roof and break something. Unfortunately, gutter cleaning is a task most people ignore until it’s too late. Ignoring your gutter cleaning can cause damage to your property, causing you to have to pay a lot of money to have repairs done.
In this blog, I will talk about the importance of gutter cleaning, downspout cleaning, how to clean your gutters yourself, and having a professional clean your gutters. We at Kingwood Pressure Washing, LLC., always recommend having a professional perform a service like gutter cleaning, because we know how dangerous it can be. We are on roofs every day dealing with clogged downspouts, dead animal carcasses, animal feces, and stinging wasps, just to name a few. It’s not something that every homeowner can handle while cleaning out the gutters.
Why Should I Clean My Gutters?
Why should I clean my gutter you ask? You should clean you gutters, because if you don’t, it will end costing you a whole lot of money. The whole purpose of having gutters on your property is to carry the rainwater down the house, and away from your foundation. The more water around your foundation, the worse it can become for your property. Too much water can cause many things to go wrong with your foundation. It can cause flooding inside your property, in turn can create mold inside of your property. Mold can lead to health problems, and on and on it go. Having your gutter cleaned on a regularly scheduled maintenance program is a lot cheaper than the doctor bills that can build up from mold in your house.
Insects In Gutters
Guess what happens when your gutters are full of dead leaves and moisture? It creates a breeding ground for insects. Mosquitoes, wasps, worms, spiders, snakes, and much more can start living in your gutters. Eventually they can also end up inside your property. Most homeowners are not that fond of a bunch of insects inside their house. I can’t tell you how many times I have found dead mice, snake skins, and other critters inside of gutters. It’s also a breeding ground mold, bacteria, and other fungi. Again, you do not want mold growing on the inside of your property, so why let it grow on the outside of your property?
Other Items Found While Cleaning Gutters
Insects, animals, leaves, and mold are not the only things found clogging up gutters. Do you have kids? If the answer is yes, then I can almost bet there is a ball in your gutters stopping your downspouts from working properly. I find balls of all types on a regular basis not allowing your gutters to drain properly. So if you think your gutters are clogged, but don’t think there are too many leaves in them, take a look if possible to see if something simple is stopping the flow of water to the downspouts. It could save you the trouble of contacting a gutter cleaner to come out and fixing the problem in 15 minutes.
How Often Should I Have My Gutters Cleaned?
The frequency of having your gutters cleaned depends on a few factors. If you have trees all around your house, then you will want to have them cleaned at least on a quarterly basis. It’s kind of a decision that you as the property owner will need to make since you are there to see how often it builds up. You, as a property owner, DO want to have it done too often, rather than not often enough. Empty gutters are much better to have than over filled gutters. If trees are not all around your property, then we usually recommend once, to twice a year.
Can I Clean My Gutter Myself?
You, the property owner, can clean your own gutters…usually. It’s not difficult if you have the proper tools, and aren’t afraid of heights. You need the following items: ladder, gloves, small hand rake, water hose and a garbage bag.
Set up the ladder close to the gutter. I do not recommend placing the ladder on the gutter, as this can cause damage. Once you’re within reach of the gutter and wearing your gloves, begin removing the debris.
If you’re uncomfortable with heights, you can throw the debris out of the gutter and collect it up once you’re off the ladder, or you can put the debris in the garbage bag as you go. If you find any objects that are stuck to the gutter, use your hand rake. Be careful not to cause any damage to the gutter, as that could cost you money in the long run. Once a section is complete, get off the ladder and move it to another section that needs to be cleaned. Just repeat this process until all of the gutters are cleaned out. Cleaning gutters with this method can be slow and tedious, but it will get the gutters cleaned out.
Once everything is complete, use the hose to spray down the gutter to get anything you may have missed. This step will also show you if you have any leaks that need to be fixed. If so, you’ll want to apply some sort of sealant to fix for the time being. If you decided to throw debris from the gutter to the ground, clean up all debris.
Hiring A Gutter Cleaning Contractor
You would think hiring a contractor to clean out your gutters would be simple. It can be, but only if you pay attention to the details. Don’t hire an amateur to try to save a few bucks. We recommend you hire a professional that has been performing gutter cleaning services for a long time. A professional will know the ins and outs of protecting your property from damage, while still achieving an accurate, and dependable service. The kid down the road could rip one of your gutters off, and then you’ll wish you hired the professional.
Hire only a contractor that carries the minimum requirements of general liability and worker’s compensation insurance. Let’s face it, being on a roof or ladder increases the odds of a work related injury. If an accident were to happen on your property, and someone were to get hurt on your property, you would be responsible for their medical bills, and time off work. A company that has the proper insurance will cover these costs if one of their employees are hurt.