Your eavestroughs provide water drainage for your roof and home to prevent damage to the structure. All homes have eavestroughs systems installed, but they still need to be taken care of afterward.
As a homeowner, it’s important for you to maintain some sort of regular gutter cleaning schedule in order to avoid any water damage. If your eavestroughs are not cleared out once in a while, they can quickly get clogged, leading to serious damage to the gutters and a potentially expensive repair job. So, what happens if gutters are not cleaned? What specific things can occur if you don’t maintain your gutter system?
Structural Damage
If you don’t keep up with gutter cleaning, a number of aspects of the structure of your home can be compromised, including the foundation, roof, soffit, and fascia can become soft and damaged by pooling water. Eventually, these issues can creep into your home and cause damage to your walls, ceilings, and floors.
Not only should your gutters be cleaned, but so should the downspouts. If you notice any structural damage to your home but your gutters have recently been cleaned, it may be the downspouts that are the source of the issue.
Insect Infestation
When gutters get clogged, they usually are filled with things that insects like to feed on. This can attract all sorts of pests, including termites, roaches, ants, and other unwanted insects.
Eventually, this can become a real problem once insect infestation begins. Some insect infestations can even cause significant structural damage to your home, not to mention become a real nuisance to deal with.
At this point, you may even need to resort to bringing in an exterminator to alleviate the problem. And in some cases, a few sessions of extermination may be warranted to deal with the problem.
Landscaping Damage
The landscaping surrounding your home can also be negatively affected by clogged gutters. For example, clogged gutters can cause sagging to overflowing water, and as the water starts seeping, it can cause damage to surrounding landscaping and soil.
Even bushes, flowers, and trees that are overwatered can damage foliage, erode any wood chips, and cause other types of issues with the components of your landscaping.
This is yet another reason why eavestroughs need to be cleaned on a regular basis.
How Often Should You Have Your Gutters Cleaned?
As a general rule of thumb, experts agree that gutters should be cleaned about twice a year, usually in the fall and spring. That said, you may find that you need to clean them out more often than that, depending on your situation.
For example, if you have large trees that overhang over your roof and are the foliage type, you may need to clean your gutters more often. That’s because all those leaves may fall into your eavestroughs, as well as any other debris that may fall from the trees.
How Should You Clean Your Gutters?
Some homeowners may want to go the DIY route to clean their gutters, in which case climbing a ladder is almost always required. Some may choose to try cleaning them without the use of a ladder and clear their gutters out using an extending hose or pressure washer. And others may choose to have a gutter guard installed so they can avoid having to clean their gutters, though this system doesn’t truly negate the need to clean eavestroughs.
The best way to have your gutters cleaned is to call in the professionals. Not only will you be able to avoid putting yourself in danger by climbing a ladder, but you’ll also save yourself all that time and hassle. Instead, the pros will tackle the job for you in a timely manner, ensuring a job well done.
If your gutters need cleaning, call the experts at Tip Top Trough today!
