Do you have gutters? If so, you’ve come to the right place! Managing the health of your gutters is a very important job that can be time consuming if you don’t act regularly. In the case of clogged gutters, prevention is the best medicine, but thankfully even the most clogged gutters can be freed with some patience, the right tools, and possibly a gutter professional.
No More Steady Flow?
You may have noticed that your gutters aren’t flowing like they used to, or even worse you may have seen water damage from overflow or leakage. Hopefully you can avoid damage when your gutters clog and watching for a reduced flow rate when it rains is the first step in checking on the health of your gutters. Generally, you can perform a check; however, if you are unsure about the condition of your gutters, contacting a professional service ensures that your gutters are well taken care of and ready to perform.
Check Your Gutter Health
Gutters clog: it’s a fact of life. It may come as a surprise to you when your gutters back up, but if you learn the language your gutters speak, you can catch the signs before major intervention has to be performed. Gutters will communicate signs of stress including leakage, slow drainage, and overflowing. You can check up on the health of your gutters by going out when it rains and observing how quickly and effectively water escapes your downspouts and if there is any leakage or overflow elsewhere.
Clear it Up
Once you assess your gutter situation, you may notice issues. If you have seen an area where there may be a clog, the next step is getting up on a ladder (once weather conditions dry up) and checking out the problem. Sometimes clogs are in the horizontal part of your gutters, but they can also be in your downspouts. If you do not notice a visible clog, it is time to check the covered components of your gutters.
The typical tools you might need to treat your gutter difficulty are a gutter scoop, a ladder, and a water hose. Using your gutter scoop to remove large debris is the first step, then once the large debris is removed, you can spray out your gutters to remove smaller particles so that they do not become anchors for future debris. If you are unable to clear your gutters by yourself, you should contact a trusted gutter professional to treat the issue as they have more experience and advanced tools and techniques for efficient and safe clog removal.
Final Thoughts
If your gutters are clogged, they will not spontaneously right themselves, and it is up to you to address the problem before major damage occurs. Taking a few hours to unclog your gutters on a sunny day or calling up a professional to do the same will save you a lot of money and hassle in the long term as clogs can result in foundation damage because of improperly diverted water as well as warped or burst gutters. If you need a professional gutter service, please contact GutterPros today for a consultation!