Your roof is one of the most important parts of your home—it keeps you warm, dry and safe from the elements. And when it pouring, the only thing standing between your precious foundations and huge amounts of water is the roof gutters. These pipes are often neglected and overlooked, even though they play an important role in your home’s safety and integrity. And gutters can often fill up with dirt and debris, resulting in a clog that can completely kill their purpose. So how do you keep your gutters clean and your home protected from moisture?
Schedule regular cleaning
It’s very easy to forget about your gutters until you notice any overflow or damage to the foundation due to inappropriate drainage. To keep gutters in your mind, schedule their cleaning in your calendar at least twice a year—once in spring and once in fall. Spring cleaning will check whether your gutters survived the winter without any damage, while fall cleaning will remove any buildup of summer and fall foliage, animal droppings and insects that make their homes during the summer. Of course, if you have tall trees in your backyard or a lot of moss and insects on your roof, you might need to add one more cleaning to the schedule. Once you get in the groove, you’ll get to finish gutter cleaning in half an hour so it’s not that big of a chore.
Call professionals
If you’re terrified of climbing to the roof and can’t clean your gutters from the ground, it’s best to stay safe and call professionals to handle your maintenance. When you contact DVA domestic cleaning services, you’ll get access to great professionals ready to handle your cleaning needs. And the best thing about these services is that you can book them regularly—weekly, fortnightly or monthly—so you don’t even have to think about your gutter maintenance. They also handle other chores as well, making your life much easier and safer.
Practice safety
If you decide to clean your gutters yourself, you should carefully consider your safety. Climbing to the roof can be quite dangerous, especially if you do it alone. Also, the gutters can contain a lot of things that can hurt your fingers and eyes, like thorns, sharp branches, animal poop, live insects, and even mold that can be inhaled. To stay safe, make sure to always have a helper to hold your ladder as you climb and give you tools and buckets. Next, put on protective gloves, protective glasses and a protective mask to keep your hands, eyes and lungs safe from any dangers.
Use a hose
If you have a long garden hose that can reach your roof, this will be your best tool in cleaning your gutters. After removing debris and leaves you can see and touch in the gutters, it’s time to go deeper. Stick a hose into the gutter hole and let the water pour, using relatively strong pressure. After some time, the debris stuck inside will loosen up and run out with the water. Even if your gutters are not clogged, fresh water can help wash away residual pollen and animal droppings which can erode your gutters and cause their damage. For dry leaves, a leaf blower is a great weapon. This is a very safe and efficient way to clean your gutters without too much trouble.
Install covers or helmets
One of the best ways to keep your gutters flowing freely is to invest in gutter covers or helmets. These keep any large object or big debris clogs from reaching your downspouts and causing an issue. While these help greatly in keeping your gutters clean, they still need to be kept clean, especially if you live somewhere where pine needles, small leaves and branches are a regular occurrence. The helmet itself attaches to the front of the gutters and allows the water to drain through a cutout on the other end, while the helmet cover sits on top of the gutter, serving just like a drain. Pro tip: bees, wasps and spiders love helmet covers. These offer the best location for them to build their nests, so when inspecting your helmet covers, make sure to be careful. Always use gloves and eye protection to avoid any bites.
Tighten spikes
The weight of debris, animals walking on your roof and snow build-up can easily pull on the hangers and spikes and cause your gutters to droop or lean away from the house. In some cases, they can even break and fall, potentially causing harm to you, your family members or your pets. Whenever you get up there to clean your gutters, take some time to tighten the spikes and ensure your gutters are strong and healthy for a long time.
Gutters are much more important for your home’s stability and safety than previously thought. So make sure to keep them clean all year round so you can rest assured rain can’t harm you or your property.