Fall Gutter Cleaning
Fall is a lot of people’s favorite season for a variety of reasons. The weather’s starting to cool down, there are all sorts of great fall activities to do, and, depending on where in the country you live, you could get treated to some incredible colors from the leaves changing.
Although fall means that the leaves are changing into pretty colors, it also means that those leaves are falling and can start clogging up your gutters. If you’re not proactive and don’t take the proper steps to clean these leaves from your gutters, you could run into a lot of trouble. Regular fall gutter cleaning can help prevent any long-term damage to your gutters.
Falling Leaves and Damage
Leaving leaves in your gutters can lead to some serious problems. Gutters have the extremely important role of funneling and removing rainwater from your roof and home. If these gutters can’t do their job, there is a possibility that your home could suffer water damage. At a high enough volume, wet leaves do a great job of acting like a dam, preventing any rainwater from funneling through and down your downspout.
As the water continues to back up, more serious damage can occur. The backed-up water will eventually overflow out of your gutters and can push underneath your roof shingles. This will cause damage to your roof deck over time. This is a very serious and expensive problem to have, as fixing it will require the work of a professional contractor.
One additional problem that can happen from not partaking in fall gutter cleaning will occur when the weather gets cold. Wet leaves can freeze, and since water expands when it turns into ice, this extra pressure can cause your gutters to crack or warp.
Importance of Fall Gutter Cleaning
Fall gutter cleaning, especially when the leaves are falling off their trees frequently, can help save your gutters and home from the potential issues we’ve detailed above. Although it may not be a fun chore, it is undoubtedly one of the best ways you can protect your home and make sure that your gutters are working properly. Even if you don’t live somewhere with a lot of leaves falling, your home and gutters will still benefit from somewhat regular gutter cleaning.
How to Clean Your Gutters Safely
Gutter cleaning can be an extremely dangerous activity, especially if you aren’t properly trained or don’t know what you’re doing. Often, cleaning your gutters requires either the use of a ladder or going onto your roof. If you don’t know what you’re doing, there’s the potential that you can slip or fall and end up with a serious injury.
Therefore, it’s extremely important to learn how to clean your gutters safely. Down below, we’ve shared a few different methods that you can use to make sure that you’re staying safe while doing your fall gutter cleaning.
Option A: Hire Experienced Professionals
In truth, the way for you to be the safest while getting the leaves removed from your gutters is to hire an experienced professional. This might be the only option you’re comfortable with, especially if you have a two- or three-story home.
This option ensures that you won’t be in danger, and will also ensure that you are getting top-quality gutter cleaning. Depending on the size of your home, physical health, and whether or not you have a fear of heights, this might be the best idea for you.
Option B: Do It Yourself
Performing gutter cleaning yourself is a good way to learn how to take care of a crucial part of your home and to do so while saving money. Down below, we’ve listed out the steps you should follow.
1: Determine what you will need.
Typically, most people will clean gutters by going on a ladder, as opposed to going onto their roof and walking around. Therefore, you’ll want to get a properly sized ladder for the height of your gutters. You’ll also want work gloves, yard debris bags, a garden hose, and gutter sealant in case you find any leaking seams or joints.
2: Practice ladder safety.
If you’ve decided to take fall gutter cleaning into your own hands, it’s imperative that you understand how to safely use a ladder. Typically, this means that you’ll want to have someone else holding and stabilizing the ladder as you’re on it. Additionally, you need to be aware of what angle to set the ladder to the home so that it’s not too vertical or too horizontal. It’s important to move slowly and deliberately while going up and down the ladder, in addition to having the ladder firmly secured.
3: Clear debris from your gutters.
This step is really the main part of the process. Essentially, you will need to go around all of your gutters and use your hands to yank any debris, such as leaves and dirt, out of the gutter. It’s a good idea to wait a couple of days after rain to do this since dry debris will be much easier to remove than wet debris.
4: Flush the gutters.
Once you’ve removed most of the debris, you should use a garden hose to flush the gutters. This way, you’ll get all of the smaller particles out, and your gutters will be nice and clean. It’s important to have someone checking the downspouts as you’re doing this. Check if the water is flowing freely to ensure that there’s no clog in the downspout, either.
5: Complete your gutter cleaning.
Lastly, you’ll want to check for any leaking seams, joints, cracks, or any sort of further damage to your gutters. Depending on the severity of these issues, you could either apply some gutter sealant. If the damage is extensive or severe, you may need to hire a professional to repair your gutters.
B&M Roofing: Colorado’s Top Roofing Company
Cleaning your gutters regularly is a good way to extend the life of your roof. However, roofs, just like anything else in your home, will need to be repaired and replaced eventually.
If you’re interested in installing a new roof for your home or business or having your roof repaired, look no further than B&M Roofing. B&M Roofing are true experts in roofs, having skillfully provided reliable roof coverings since 1947. They can give you a free estimate, & will work with you every step of the way, from determining which roof (metal or not) is best for you, installing your new roof, and providing regular maintenance.
