Did you know that your gutters are one of the most important parts of your home? You may not see them or think about them often, but they’re there for a reason. They keep water from dripping down the side of your house and causing damage to the roof, siding, and foundation. But here’s the thing: they can only do their job if they’re clean and clear.

Because you can’t easily see inside them, it’s easy to forget they’re up there collecting leaves, sticks, dirt, and debris while you’re going about your day month after month. Unfortunately, you forget at your peril: clogged gutters aren’t just messy and kind of gross (think mold, animal droppings, and more). They are dangerous for your home in a variety of ways.

To start with, a clogged gutter is a heavy gutter: the brackets may break under the pressure and your gutters could fall off your house. That’s the best-case scenario. Not only do all those leaves and debris create a lovely home and breeding ground for a variety of pests —including mosquitoes, spiders, and other nasties—but they also hide the home’s roof from the rain.

When rain hits a clogged gutter, it can’t drain away as it should. Instead, the water pools in the gutter and then runs down the sides of your house. This is bad news for several reasons:

First, that water will cause your foundation to erode or rot (which means you need to call a foundation repair contractor immediately).

Second, if clogged gutters are left over winter they can freeze and cause nasty ice damns and cause additional damage to your roof and the interior of your home.

Third, clogged backed-up gutters can cause mold to grow inside your house if water ends up making it into your home.

If you have a clogged gutter system, it’s important for the health of your property that you address this problem immediately by cleaning them yourself or calling a company that takes care of it for you. If you’re wondering how to clean your gutters, there are a few different ways that you can do this.

You can hire a professional to come out and clean them for you or if you have the time and energy, you can do it yourself with some basic tools. 

If you choose to clean your own gutters, there are a few things that you’ll need in order to do so:

  1. A ladder or some sort of elevated work platform so that you can safely reach the top of your gutters. 
  2. Safety first!  Grab some waterproof gloves and safety glasses. 
  3. A bucket and a tarp are handy to place the debris in either by placing it in the bucket or allowing it to fall the ground onto a tarp. 
  4. Help, The key is to be careful and make sure you have the ladder steady and even have someone there to support the ladder while you work.

Once you have assembled the tools and the help you need it’s time to get up there and do some work! 

Here are the 5 steps for cleaning your gutters:

  1. Set your ladder; up make sure its placed on level ground and the ladder extends several feet past the edge of the roof
  2. Work in sections; based on how far you can reach without cause in the ladder to slide. The safest distance is as far as your arm extends with you centered on the ladder. 
  3. Collect the debris; Toss the debris in your bucket or through it down to the ground onto a tarp (be careful, tossing debris can make a mess so best to use that bucket)
  4. Check the downspout; When you get to the downspout drain in the gutter be sure t clear it and make sure there s no debris stuck in the first 6-10” of the downspout. 
  5. Clean up the debris; Dispose of the debris in your compost pile or another compostable area. Try to avoid throwing it into the trash since most if not all of what comes out of a gutter is compostable.

With the above precautions and methods taking care of your gutter cleaning, you will ensure your home is safe from water damage caused by clogged gutters.

Hiring a professional ensures the job gets done properly every time. If you need some help cleaning your gutters then contact Better View Landscapes. We can ensure your clean and ready to do the job of protecting your home from damaging water. To learn more about how Better View Landscapes can help, check out our website by clicking this link.