Your gutters are an essential part of your roof, as they are the drainage system for all precipitation and runoff that ends up on your roof. Clogged, leaking or otherwise improperly functioning gutters can cause all sorts of problems not only for your roof but for your garden and the interior of your house as well due to improper drainage.
In order to prevent water damage occurring on your roof, in your home or in the landscaping areas around your house, you need to properly clean and maintain your gutters. Here are a few things that you can do to ensure proper drainage off your roof.
General Cleaning
General cleaning of your gutters is a straightforward process. Simply use your hands (wear a pair of gloves) or a common garden trowel to scoop out as much gunk and debris that has accumulated in your gutters as possible.
Once you’re done removing the majority of the debris in your gutters, you’ll want to run a garden hose up the ladder and into the gutters, using a high-pressure spray setting to wash out the length of each section of your gutter.
Watch how the water flows out of your gutters: if there are any breaks where your sections meet or where holes have developed, you’ll have to have your gutters repaired or replaced (get in touch with a gutter professional to see what the best option in your situation is).
Cleaning the Downspouts
Beyond leaks, you should also watch to see if water is coming out of your gutter downspouts. If no water is leaving your gutter system, you likely have debris clogged within the downspout, which can pose a threat to your entire gutter system.
If water is allowed to build up behind a clog in your downspout, it may eventually hold too much weight to be properly held in place and can fall over, tearing sections of your gutters off with it.
To prevent this from happening, you’ll want to remove the elbow joint from the downspout and see if you can locate the blockage. If it’s close to the bottom or top of the downspout, you can simply reach in and remove it by hand.
However, if the blockage is large and in the middle of your downspout, you may have to make use of certain tools to remove it. A broom handle will work, provided that you use a moderate amount of force, taking care to not damage the structure of your downspout. Simply use the broom to shift a blockage enough so that it falls down on its own.
Alternatively, you can use a drain snake, commonly used to eliminate blockages in toilets and tubs, to break apart the blockage. Feed it into the downspout and move it around once it comes into contact with the blockage to break it up.
Installing Gutter Guards
In order to reduce the overall amount of maintenance that you have to do, and to also cut down on the amount of time that you have to spend on a ladder (which can be a safety concern), you may want to install gutter guards on your gutter system.
Gutter guards are a cover that goes over the top of your gutters, with small holes or other pathways that still allow for water to flow through while blocking debris from getting caught in your gutters.
For any questions or concerns that you might have about your gutters, you can contact us at D & B Continuous Guttering, Siding & Soffits LLC. Our team of experienced contracts will be more than willing to get your gutters functioning as good as new again in no time.