Autumn arrives, and the usual landscape is transformed. Welcome your new (and unwanted) companion: dry leaves! Watching the rainfall from our window, accompanied by the flight of the leaves, can be a pleasant experience. However, when they fall on our heads, the roofs can be affected by accumulating these elements (not so enjoyable, right?). In this situation, it is crucial to know how to clean the gutters to maintain the excellent condition of our home or business and if help is needed to clean the roof gutters.
The Importance of Gutter Cleaning
The cleaning gutters should not be delayed much. And it is that, like many of the tasks of the house, putting it off can produce unwanted and harmful effects; to the point of needing the performance of professionals. By collecting water from the roofs of homes or buildings, the gutters prevent the continuous impact of humidity on all exterior walls (porosity of the wall, formation of fungi and bacteria).
How to Clean Gutters: Steps to Follow
When cleaning roof gutters, it is essential to know the steps to follow to achieve effective cleaning.
#1. Verify the Scope of the Cleaning
In the first place, it is convenient to verify the scope of the cleaning to be carried out: if it is a few meters of gutters or many more. Depending on the length of the pipe to be cleaned, and if large obstructions are observed, it is more convenient to consider hiring a professional service such as QUALITY WINDOW WASHERS LLC to ensure efficient execution of the work.
#2. Examine the Condition of Drain and Downspouts
Check the condition of the drain and the downspout to rule out any obstruction. If the downspout is not obstructed, you can proceed to the simple cleaning of the gutters. For this, let’s locate ourselves with a ladder at their height, carrying a garbage bag that we can hang from the gutters’ same structure to collect the waste and garbage that we find – remove everything!
#3. Remove Debris from the Interior.
Garbage may fill your eavestroughs – this waste must also be collected for its maintenance, decomposition, and the resulting inconvenience (namely the presence of odors and bacteria). In these cases, it is recommended to pass a spatula along the area and then collect the waste with a plastic bottle cut in half, which due to its rounded shape, fits appropriately with the gutter curve.
#4. Unclog Downspouts
If the downspout is clogged, the most common procedure is to run a guidewire through the downspout and drain. This option requires the participation of at least two people. While one introduces the guidewire at one end of the downcomer, the other will receive it from the opposite side when it pops out. At this level, it is convenient to evaluate the participation of expert hands in the process.
#5. Leaf Guard Installation
It is convenient to evaluate the application of a simple instrument that acts in a preventive way to avoid the collapse of the pipe due to the accumulation of leaves: the leaf savers. The leaf guard is a kind of net -whether of a straight or tubular type-, which adapts to any pipe and acts as the first filter, isolating leaves or any other debris from falling down the drain or downspout. This installation guarantees the gutter’s structure a more significant lengthening of its useful life, always maintaining a space for the water to circulate to the downspout. Depending on the work’s magnitude to be carried out, trained professional help will be necessary to detect the best blade saver model and install it.
#6. Gutter Maintenance
Finally, when faced with bad weather, you must evaluate the maintenance of the parts that make up the eavestroughs with a particular frequency. Sun and water may have contributed to the drying out or rusting of the eavestroughs. An expert opinion can tell you whether all parts need to be replaced or whether a good maintenance process with paint and rust protection is sufficient to keep the eavestroughs operational.
