By channeling water and wet debris away from your roofline and the foundation of your house, the gutters on your home protect it from damage. Though, in order to keep them running correctly, you will need to regularly vacuum them out and insure the downspouts and other pieces do not spill or flood.
This is a job that requires a lot of care and attention, and every year hundreds of homeowners are wounded trying to do this. Because cleaning is better done at least twice a year-usually in the spring and fall-you can consider hiring skilled gutter companies to take care of the job for you. Keep in mind the following suggestions from prominent gutter firms if you choose to do the job yourself.
Gutter Companies Offer Seven Tips For Proper Cleaning
- Sweep and check the gutters twice a year to eliminate leaves and other litter matting or clogging.
- Have a friend with you all the time. He or she should secure the ladder while you work and keep an eye on you. One of the most popular fatal home injuries are dropping from ladders!
- Do not be tempted to blast debris with a garden hose because it can damage or loosen the hardware used to securely attach it to your roofline.
- Wear protective professional gloves always to keep the hands from being stuck on rough edges or coming into contact with broken glass or other accidental objects.
- Use a small spade or garden trowel to pick out seeds, soil and dust carefully, and softly clean with a garden hose using a low level spray nozzle.
- Then attach a garbage bag to your ladder or use a S-hook to pick up the debris while you brush it out. It eliminates the clutter and helps you to wash up and down with less visits.
- Seek to clear it softly with the garden hose if the downspout becomes clogged. Next pump water from the base of the spout, then seek to clear the rest of the clog. Use a garden snake to remove the clog and push it out if no method works.
Four Reasons To Invest In Gutter Guards
When you keep in mind the advice above, when cleaning the gutter network of your home you can minimize the risk of a serious accident, but there is no assurance that something will not go wrong. The three most common injuries during gutter cleaning are:
- A drop from a ladder
- Falls because something
- entangled your clothing.
This is why most gutter companies prefer you to employ a specialist to clean them up for you.
An even better idea is to have guards or barriers mounted so that leaves and dust are held out and liquid can flow freely.
Installed gutter guards can save you from the difficult and hazardous job of cleaning them up and ensuring that they will continue to protect your home from potential water damage.