28 Oct Why are Gutter Cleanings Necessary?

Dear Patron,

Maybe, at some point, you have asked yourself: why is it necessary to have 2 to 3 (or 3 to 4) gutter cleanings per year? It seems harmless enough, the leaves, pollen and twigs that pile up throughout the year, but when left unattended these dirty gutters can cause major headaches. Did you know that for every thousand dollars you spend on your gutter system, it saves you ten thousand dollars in water damage repairs over time? When clogged and dirty gutters overflow and fail to move rainwater away from your home, like they’re supposed to, that water floods your yard, destroying your grass, soil, and even threatens the physical foundation of your home. Don’t overlook the simple remedy of a gutter cleaning because you think it may not be necessary or worth spending that extra hundred dollars or so.

To better understand your gutter system we will start with the basics. Gutters are those long aluminum (steel, copper, wood, etc.) pieces that run horizontally along the edge of the roof of your home. They are there to collect the rain water that slides off of your roof. Depending on which way the gutters are pitched, they guide the water towards the outlet which is the hole that connects the gutter to the downspout, or leader, which runs vertically downward to the ground. These are important because they funnel rain away from your foundation walls. Years of rain water collecting at the base of your home can often lead to large fractures in the walls of your basement. Some leaders go directly into the ground, into underground drains that dump the water out into the street. These drains can get clogged as well, but can be snaked or cleared with hydro jetting. You can tell when an underground drain is clogged when rain water backs up or leaks where the leader and drain connect. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if a drain is clogged or has been punctured by tree roots but they can be inspected with underground drain cameras.

Gutters function best when they are clean and empty, from the gutters on the roof to the opening of an underground drain at the curb. Clutter in any section disrupts the entire system and puts your home at risk. Gutters are built seamlessly into homes which can make them easy to ignore, but ignoring them for too long will inevitably lead to damage that will be hard to miss.