With summer just around the corner, many families have started making their summer to-do-lists. Many people are busy prepping their HVACs for the cooling season, while others have started setting up their pools. When preparing your home for summer, do not forget to have your roof inspected and gutters cleaned by a professional gutter repair company in Marin County.
Gutters: What Are They and Why Are They Important?
Your gutters are an integral component of your roofing system. They are designed to channel water away from the foundation of your home.
Over time, gutters get clogged with debris and dirt particles. Clogged gutters are a disaster waiting to happen and a roofing system with damaged or clogged gutters can have a difficult time keeping a home dry.
If your gutters becomes clogged, the water will spill over its side, leading to different issues such as mold, mildew, basement flooding, and foundation damage.
You may ask why cleaning your gutters before summer is important? Clogged gutters are filled with debris, dry leaves, and twigs that can easily catch fire. To reduce the risk of fire in your home, consider cleaning your gutters before summer a priority, not an afterthought.
Signs You Have Clogged Gutters
- Unwanted Guests in Your Gutters: You know your gutters are clogged when you notice pests such as mice and squirrels scurrying around them. Watch out for birds as they often build nests in gutters.
- The Structural Integrity of Your Gutters are Compromised: The weight of debris, pine needles, shingle grit, and leaves can cause your gutters to sag. If you fail to address the problem promptly, your gutters may pull away from your home.
- Water Spilling Over the Sides: Do you notice water spilling out over the sides of your gutters? If yes, you must act fast to prevent expensive repairs.
How to Clean Gutters?
Tools You Will Need: Work gloves, latex gloves, safety glasses, a garden hose (with a high-pressure nozzle), an extension ladder (for two-story homes), a trowel, gutter cleaning attachment, and two buckets with a wire hook.
Put on your safety equipment (gloves and safety glasses). Wear latex gloves under work gloves to prevent wet debris from soaking through your work gloves. Make sure your ladder is sturdy enough to support your weight. Use one bucket for collecting debris and another for carrying tools. If you carry tools in your pocket, you may lose balance and fall off the ladder.
To clean your gutters, remove leaves, large debris, and twigs from your downspout. Place them in the bucket. Use the trowel to remove packed materials and small debris particles. Flush the gutter and downspout. Once you get rid of large debris, use the garden hose to flush out the remaining dirt and dust particles.
Cleaning gutters can involve some work, especially if you do not have the necessary tools. We hear several horror stories of enthusiastic DIYers losing their balance and falling off their ladders while cleaning their gutters. Why take unnecessary risks when ARS Roofing, Gutters& Solar is here to help? We are one of the most sought-after gutter repair experts in Marin County. To discuss your project, call us at (707) 584-5900.