Cleaning the gutters out is one of those chores that no one really wants to do and yet is one which needs to be done relatively frequently. If you neglect to clean your gutters, then it is ultimately you who will suffer. What starts off as a minor problem can rapidly snowball out of control. A clogged gutter is liable to flood and cause damage to your property.
Still, cleaning out a clogged gutter is hardly the ideal way for anyone to spend a weekend. As tedious a task as it is, it does need to be done. It is therefore a good idea for any homeowner to know exactly what is involved in cleaning their gutters.
Keeping your gutters clean and well maintained will protect your home, your garden, and even certain species of local wildlife that can be affected by clogged gutters. When water pools in blocked gutters, it provides the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and algae. Both of these things can present a danger to you and your home.
Gutter cleaning is an essential skill, do you need to know what does gutter cleaning involve? If so, this article is for you.
Assess the Situation
The first thing that you need to do is to ascertain exactly what’s going on and how bad the blockage you’re dealing with is. There are a number of reasons that a gutter can become blocked, in the majority of cases it is due to leaves falling from trees and is generally expected by the homeowner. However, there might be occasions where there is something else creating a physical blockage; it is not unheard of for small animals to become lodged inside drainage pipes.
If you are faced mostly with leaves and other similar debris, you should be able to handle the problem yourself. If the problem is very severe, you cannot locate the blockage, or you believe there might be hazardous materials involved, you need to contact a professional gutter cleaning service.
Break up Blockages
Your garden hose should be able to provide you with a powerful enough water stream to dislodge smaller blockages. For more stubborn blockages, you might need to take more drastic methods. There are various chemical solutions you can use which will dissolve and break apart larger blockages in your pipes.
Vacuum the Leaves
If you find yourself facing a bunch of dry leaves, you might find it easier to use a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner to remove them. If there aren’t too many of them, removing them by hand is usually not nearly as time-consuming a task as it looks. It is worth investing in some large heavy-duty bags to put the leaves in, otherwise you might just end up with a worse mess somewhere else.
Cleaning your gutters out should be a simple and painless process. It becomes difficult when it is neglected for long periods and debris is allowed to accumulate. Try to make a point of checking on your gutters every week and get into the habit of cleaning them out before the leaves build up.
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