How to Maintain Your Rain Gutters
How much time do you spend thinking about your rain gutters? If you’re like most people, the answer is not much. However, gutter maintenance is an essential part of your home’s overall exterior seasonal maintenance. Did you know that your rain gutters can directly impact the performance of your roof, siding, and foundation?
At Powers Premier Contracting in Minnetonka, we offer a complete range of exterior remodeling services including gutter service. In this post, we’re sharing essential tips for gutter maintenance. To have a gutter contractor inspect your gutter system or learn about seamless gutters, give us a call today!
The Importance of Gutter Maintenance
If you don’t already, it’s a good idea to consider gutter maintenance as an essential part of your seasonal home maintenance. As a seasoned gutter contractor, we see far too many home exterior repair issues that arise from simple gutter negligence.
These are just some of the risks of overlooking gutter maintenance:
● Insect Problems
These days, mosquitoes are much more than a minor nuisance with potential health problems like West Nile virus. Standing water in warm weather is an ideal environment for mosquitoes and other insects to thrive. When homeowners have mosquito problems, standing water is often the first thing to check for. If you’ve removed every source of standing water around your home from flower pots to puddles but you still have mosquitoes, there’s a good chance you’ve got clogged gutters.
● Flooded Basement
When your gutters aren’t draining properly, water lands at your home’s base rather than getting directed away. This causes water to pool and collect near your home. It also means there’s a greater risk that water can seep in through cracks in your foundation and infiltrate your attic.
If you’ve ever seen a dank basement, you know that the last thing you want is to have standing water down there. Water in your basement creates a breeding ground for unpleasant mildew and dangerous mold. Once mold has taken root inside your home, it is incredibly difficult to remove and could lead to serious health problems for your family.
● Foundation Damage
Your foundation is actually one of the primary reasons homes have a gutter system. Gutters move water away from the home to keep it from eroding the soil near your home’s base. Water that collects near your home can cause serious damage to your foundation over time, leading to settling and other serious issues. Foundation damage is also one of the most costly home repairs.
● Damaged Pavement
When too much water pools near your sidewalk, patio, or driveway, the soil can end up eroding and shifting, damaging the pavement. Cracked driveways and sidewalks can be costly to repair. It’s much better to stay on top of gutter maintenance.
Essential Gutter Maintenance
Gutter maintenance begins with regular gutter cleaning. You should plan to clean and inspect your gutters at least twice a year. Typically, homeowners schedule their gutter cleaning once in the spring and again in the fall.
Fall is a good time because it gives you a chance to remove all of the twigs, leaves, and debris that collect during the fall months. When left to decay in your gutters, they can prove inviting for small animals to nest in, leading to serious clogs or damage. Likewise, spring gives you a chance to remove all of the pollen and greenery that collects in your gutters before animals and insects become too comfortable there.
How to Clean Your Gutters
Cleaning your gutters is easy if you plan ahead and have the right tools for the job. Try to choose a sunny day when anything that’s collected in your gutters will be dry—otherwise, it can be difficult and unpleasant to remove.
First, you’ll need to gather the following:
● A bucket for collecting debris
● A bucket for holding your tools
● A trowel
● A good set of gloves
● A garden hose
● A sturdy ladder
Carefully remove all debris with the trowel. For anything that’s left, simply flush it out with a garden hose when you’re through. While climbing the ladder, never step on the top rung or try to hang onto too many items.
Inspecting Your Gutters
While you’re cleaning your gutters, you should also check them for signs of damage in case you need to schedule gutter repair. Look for damage near the joints, bent gutters, unattached gutters, and rust. If you see any areas of concern, call a gutter contractor at Powers Premier to have them repaired.
Contact a Minnetonka Gutter Contractor
If you’re tired of cleaning your gutters and you’d like to worry less about gutter maintenance, our gutter contractors can install seamless gutters or gutter guards. With gutter guards, leaves and debris stay out of your gutters so you never have to worry about gutter cleaning! Contact our remodeling contractors at 612-710-7283 to find out more, or contact us online for a free estimate. Give us a call today!