The life of a homeowner can be quite stressful at times. Cleaning your gutter is never really a pleasant thing. But it must be done. A lot of people put this off until it’s too late. So, if you are wondering as to how often to clean gutters then you have come to the right place. In this article, I will be discussing everything related to the schedule of gutter cleaning.
A general rule of thumb is that you should clean your gutters at least twice a year. Any less than that could cause damage, clogging, and other problems. However, there are other factors involved as well and you might need to clean your gutters more frequently than two times a year.
I am very sure you still have a ton of questions. Do not worry as I will be discussing all the details you need to know about how often to clean your gutters as simply as possible here. So, let’s not waste any more time and get right on with it.
How Often Should You Clean Your Gutters?
In most cases, you will be fine with having your gutters cleaned twice a year. Every six months or so either call a professional or do it yourself. But depending on your weather or if you have too many trees around you, you might need cleaning more often than that.
What happens for a lot of people is that they forget about their gutters entirely during the dry season. They are not required during that time. And when rain or snow comes it all gets clogged up with the dirt, leaves, twigs, and other things that have accumulated there during the dry season.
So, what you should do is clean them up every six months or so. If you live in a place where it rains a lot you will need to clean your gutters more frequently. About 3 to 4 times a year is good for places with very high precipitation rates.
Another great time to clean your gutters is right after a storm. A storm blows in a lot of debris, twigs, leaves, and other junk onto your rooftops and gutters, if you don’t clean that up immediately those can cause severe clogs.
Snowing is another consideration. If your primary concern is snow then a good time to do a gutter cleaning is right before it starts snowing. And, if they aren’t clean before the snow, then the gutters will freeze and clog up.
If you have too many trees around your home then you might need more frequent cleanings too. In a lot of places leaves and twigs fly into the gutters almost all year round. In those places, you need to clean up the gutters more frequently to avoid clogging and damage.
When To Do Checkups?
Every two to three months you should do a thorough checking of your roof. You should be looking for blockages by debris, leaves, twigs and other stuff. If you see any blockage then it’s probably time to give the gutters a proper cleaning.
A roof checkup is a good practice if you want to avoid damage to both your roof and the gutters. Doing a checkup periodically will help you fix or replace things that need fixing or repairing before they fall apart entirely.
Frequent roof checkups will help you preserve your roof and gutters much better. And that will help you keep your house in much better condition too. Every two to three months take an extendable ladder and check all the sections of your roof and gutters.
You will be mainly checking for blockage in the gutters. Whether or not there’s a lot of debris, leaves, and twigs stuck on the roof and in the gutters. If there is a lot then obviously you will need to schedule a gutter cleaning soon. But there are a few other things you should keep an eye out for too.
An average gutter will last about 15 to 20 years. Look for any signs of aging and damages to see if it needs a complete replacement or not. If your gutter is deteriorating, has cracks and loose joints all over, then it might be a good time to schedule a replacement rather than cleaning.
If the cracks and joint damages are more minor then you should just get them fixed. Calling a professional is the best course of action in this case. A damaged gutter will in turn damage your roof too and cause leakages. You most definitely don’t want water leaking through your roof every time it pours from the sky.
The last thing you need to check for is pests. Oftentimes, in the dry season, birds and other animals end up taking shelter inside your gutters. These can cause severe clogging and damage in the wet seasons. If you don’t clean these pests up you are in for a very bad time up ahead.
What Happens When You Don’t Clean Your Gutters?
If you don’t keep your gutters clean they can get severely damaged. When your gutter gets clogged, rainwater pools upon them and partially on your roof too. Not only is this stagnant water a breeding ground for all kinds of pests, but this water also damages your roof too. This water will damage your roof and cause leakages. And water will come dripping down indoors.
Another thing that can happen is that it can damage your yard and driveway. A clean gutter drives all the excess water into the sewage. But, a clogged up one overflows, and all that overflowed water pools up in your yard and driveway. This can cause serious molding and damage.
In the winter this overflowed water can also cause excessive ice to form there. That could be very slippery and cause a lot of accidents. So, to prevent damaging these various parts of your home you should do frequent checkups of your gutter and keep them clean.
How To Clean Your Gutters?
Now the best solution as to how to clean your gutters is to just call a professional. There are many gutter cleaning services out there that do an amazing job and provide other services too. This saves you the trouble of getting your hands dirty. But if you want to do it yourself you can do that too.
First, you will gear up, a long sleeve shirt, work pants, rubber boots, and gloves; this is going to be a dirty task. You will need a water hose, a small plastic shovel or scooper, a tarp, and an extendable ladder.
You will scoop up all the gunk and debris with the small plastic scooper and put them on the tarp. The tarp is here to protect your lawn or yard, it keeps them clean. You should thoroughly scoop up all the leaves and twigs and whatever else is in there.
After that is done just use the water hose to wash down all the rest of the dirt and debris there is and you are done!
Conclusion
Keeping your gutter clean is an important part of being a homeowner. Depending on your situation yours might need a bit more attention than others. But in most cases in most places, cleaning gutters twice every year is enough to keep your home in tip-top shape.
Thanks for reading till the end. I hope you found this guide on how often to clean gutters helpful. Until next time, goodbye and stay safe.