Cleaning your gutters in the fall is important if you want to keep your home safe and dry during the winter. But it can be hard for homeowners to find the time to clean them themselves or to have (or try to borrow) the tools they need to do so.
We’ve listed the top three reasons why cleaning gutters in the fall is so important, as well as what any homeowner can do to get the job done easily and quickly.
Leaves Are Your Biggest Challenge
If the gutters are full of leaves, they can’t do their job right. The leaves make it hard for water to flow away from your roof and away from your house. Water is also held in the gutters by the leaves. In the coming colder months, this water could freeze and cause a lot of trouble.
Your biggest problem is getting these leaves and any other junk that has built up in your gutters out. Now all you have to do is find the time and the tools to do it.
Temperatures below freezing can lead to serious problems
In the coming colder months, your gutters could freeze and water could get stuck there. This ice then turns into a solid wall that stops any other water from leaving your roof. During the winter, water on your roof can come from rain, but if you live in a place where it gets really cold, the water is likely coming from snow and ice that is melting.
If frozen water in your gutters forms a solid wall of ice, this water is trapped and will either freeze or overflow your gutter line. This is called an “ice dam,” and the water that backs up will damage your roof, insulation, ceilings, and walls.
Water and Pest Damage
Maybe your climate is a little bit milder, and the only thing that changes is that it rains more in the winter or that it gets colder. If your gutters are full of leaves, you might have trouble with both. If water doesn’t flow away from your house in a smooth way, it will get into your walls, ceilings, and foundation.
All of these things are expensive and time-consuming to fix, and you don’t want to deal with them in the winter or around the holidays. Our article about the top 5 problems caused by clogged gutters cause will tell you more about what you can expect if you don’t clean your gutters.
Pests like squirrels, mice, and birds can also be a problem when your gutters are full of leaves because they will use them as a place to nest. They will also often get into your home through any opening they can find.
How homeowners can clean their gutters in the fall
Homeowners can choose between:
- Doing nothing
- doing it on their own
- Hiring a professional to clean out your gutters
A lot of people who own their own homes, unfortunately, do nothing. They don’t clean their gutters in the fall because they are too busy, don’t have the right tools, or think it would cost too much to hire a professional.
Doing it yourself comes with a number of challenges, not the least of which is making sure you have the right tools, as we’ve talked about above. But the time it takes and the risk of working on ladders or walking on roofs maybe even more important than the tools.
In the long run, hiring a professional gutter cleaning service is the fastest, easiest, and most cost-effective way to clean your gutters in the fall. Unlike a handyman or a lawn care company, a professional gutter cleaning company like Fuquay Varina Gutters & Power Washing will be licensed and insured to clean your gutters.
So, if you want to protect your home, save time and money, and have clean, free-flowing gutters this fall and winter, you should hire a professional gutter cleaning service like Fuquay Varina Gutters & Power Washing. Use the box below to start a quote right away.
