When water pools over your gutters, it can gather around the foundation of your home. As the water sits there, it begins to eat away at the material and makes the walls weaker.
Clogs can also cause broken gutters and damage your ceiling. As you can imagine, this can lead to expensive home repairs. All it takes to avoid these repairs is by preventing clogged gutters.
You’ve got to keep them clean or at least install guards that can keep unwanted debris out. Of course, these aren’t the only ways to prevent clogs. Keep reading for a list of methods that you should try.
Perform Regular Maintenance
The first and most crucial step in preventing clogged gutters is to perform regular maintenance. Every once in a while, grab a ladder and remove any leaves and debris that’s accumulated.
If you don’t feel comfortable cleaning it yourself, consider hiring a company to do it. They’ve got the experience and tools needed to get the job done in the safest manner possible.
Whatever you decide to do, your gutters need to be cleaned twice a year or so. They should be cleared out more often if you have any trees hovering around.
If you do want to clean your gutters yourself, there quite a few ways for you to do it. You can put on a pair of goggles and take a leaf blower to it. You can also put on a pair of gloves and do it by hand.
Trim Your Trees
Keep your trees pruned away from your gutters. If you have any branches hovering above the system, it will clog it up by dropping leaves and flora.
Even if you prune the trees, the wind can still carry debris into the gutters. Regular tree maintenance will at least stop quite as many leaves from gathering, though.
Make Regular Roof Repairs
There’s more to keeping your gutters clean than doing regular maintenance and trimming your trees. Leaves aren’t the only thing that can clog them up. When it rains, the debris from your roofing material will trickle down with the water droplets.
Shingles can also fall off the roof and end up in the gutters. The only way to prevent this from happening is by having your roof inspected. If you notice any of your shingles are folding or curling, call someone out to make repairs right away!
Prevent Airborne Debris
If you have anything in your yard that isn’t tied down, there’s a chance that the wind can pick it up and transport it into your gutters as long as it’s lightweight enough. Birds also have a habit of carrying stuff around and dropping it into your gutters.
Keep your yard as clean as possible. If you have outdoor garbage cans, never fill them so high that you can’t close the lid. Otherwise, the trash will find its way into your gutter system.
Gutter Screens
Gutter screens aren’t that hard to install. You can honestly do it yourself. They’ll keep any large debris such as leaves from making their way into your gutters. They can also work with pretty much any type of roof.
The only problem is that small stuff such as pine needles can still wind up in and clog up your system.
Surface-Tension Guards
Surface-tension guards will allow any rainwater to flow through your gutters like normal. That will be the only thing that will be able to get into your system, however. Any leaves or other debris will run right off the guard.
They are a bit harder to install than gutter screens. You have to make sure that the guard slope matches your roof slope exactly. They’re also pretty visible. So, if you want discretion, you should consider another guard option.
Mesh Gutter Guards
If you want to sort of install a guard and forget about it, fine mesh gutter guards are for you. You’ll need to clean it every now and again, but it’s not hard. All you have to do is run a brush over it.
They can catch more than a traditional gutter screen. Seeds and pine needles are no match for it. Still, anything smaller than a seed might be able to make itself inside.
Keep in mind that mesh guards don’t work well with all gutter materials. They pair the best with stainless steel.
Leaf Catchers
Having a leaf catcher will make your life a little easier than having a mesh or traditional gutter guard. Instead of catching leaves closer to the roof, it sends them toward the downpipe.
Since the leaves are caught closer to the ground, you won’t have to climb a ladder to remove them. The other benefit is that leaf catchers are so easy to install that you can do it yourself.
All-in-One System
Some gutter types can get clogged easier than others. If you’re planning on replacing your old gutters anyway, consider getting an all-in-one system.
You’ll have both gutters and a cap that can keep leaves out. We will tell you that all-in-one systems are more expensive than others, but it’s completely worth it.
Prevent Clogged Gutters and Keep Them Clean
If left unchecked, clogged gutters can cause your home foundation to crumble and cost you tons of money in repairs. You can climb a ladder and clean your system yourself. The problem is that it can be dangerous.
That’s where we come in. We have all the knowledge and tools needed to clean your gutters. Contact us to ask about our services and set up an appointment.
