Cleaning your gutters is one of the most important home maintenance jobs you need to regularly do. Yes it’s difficult, yes it can in some cases be dangerous, but yes it is most definitely essential. Why? Let me explain.
Gutters have a very important roll on your roof, they carry water to the nearest drainage point, called downpipes. Leaf filled gutters, in a heavy down pouring of rain, can prevent the rain water from flowing freely and cause the rain water to back up, and run under the roof, where it can either sit in the insulation, and dampen the ceiling, or it will run through the ceiling and down the walls. Yes it is that serious!
Water can be extremely damaging to your home, in severe situations it can damage your home straight away, in less severe situations, it can damage your home over time.
Leaving the leaves in your gutter, will void any warranties should this happen to your home, in some cases it may even prevent a successful insurance claim. It is most important not to wait until you see your gutters are not draining properly before cleaning them, it is essential to be cleaning them on a regular basis.
If you are physically unable to clean your gutters, there are many handyman type people who will clean them for a reasonable price, alternatively, think of installing one of the many varieties of gutter guard. Though the gutter guard is a more expensive option initially, the pay off long term is far more favourable than having rain water running into your home.
Regardless of how you choose to protect your gutters from a build up of leaf debris, it is imperative to keep them free of congestion.
When did you last clean your gutters?
Nicole xx
I love when you talk technical and I agree with everything in this post. It’s important to point out to people that if they do use gutter guard, they still need to get the leaf matter off the gutter guard because if left to sit and rot, it will make it’s way into the gutter and down the drain. I have to replace a down pipe at my house and eventually all of them because of rust. It’s going to make a great video post. ?
Video post is an excellent idea Bec! I did not even think of still needing to remove the leaf litter from the gutter guard, thank you so much for bringing it up.xx
Oh this post actually made me laugh as my husbie was up doing the gutters on Saturday, nearly giving me a heart attack. He spent the whole day clearing them out (we live in the bush so, big job). Today we had a morning thunderstorm and, I almost hate to tell him, the gutters are STILL dripping like crazy. Poor sod. x
It really is an unpleasant job, our old house was also in the thick bush and had rooves a good 15-20 meters in the air, I couldn’t let hubby clean them out when I was home. I was just too scared to be there. Poor hubby, all that work and they’re still dripping ? xx
Awesome post Nicole. We just shared it on our Facebook page.
Keeping your gutters clean is also important in rural areas that are bushfire prone. When leaves and debris gathers in gutters, it provides fuel for fires to start when embers are blown in the wind.
So if you are living in a bushfire prone region make sure to clean your gutters out at the start of summer, if not before.
Thank you very much for sharing! I love the idea of a gutter cleaning business, so many of us are unprepared to do such a job, why not leave it to the professionals! Thanks again.
Great advice. A stitch in time saves nine. Keeping your gutters free on leaves is one of the most important home maintenance tasks. Just as a heads up if anyone is going to clean their gutters, make sure you stay safe. There are ladder brackets that you can install for safely accessing your roof. Ladder brackets stop your ladder from sliding. Alternatively you can install roof anchor points, but you do have to purchase a harness to use them. But with the money that you save by cleaning your gutters it might be a worthwhile investment in the end.
Hope that helps.
This is cool. Thanks for sharing this cleaning guide for the gutter.