When it comes to maintaining the state of your home, there are few things as important as the gutters. Depending on who you ask, you can clean the gutter every fall or any other time of the year.
But most will agree that fall is the best time for doing so. Why? Well to answer that question, we will have to dive a bit deeper into the subject.
So without taking too much of your time, let’s start.
1. Leafs Fall During… Fall
This one is pretty simple and pretty straightforward. Suburban neighborhoods know all too well how beautiful the scenery gets during fall.
That’s because the leaves from the trees fall on the ground and on top of your roof. One thing leads to another and the leaves will find themselves clogging the gutter and downspouts.
While this time of the year might be beautiful, it isn’t that great when you take into consideration the potential damage a clogged gutter can cause.
2. Best Time to Run Maintenance Checks
Not every home has to clean the gutter that often. Summers and winters aren’t particularly good times to do it due to a number of reasons. For starters, there are no leaves that cause a problem during winter or summer. Sure you might find the odd one here and there but there isn’t that much work.
There is no point in grabbing a ladder and doing it as the gutter tends to stay clean during these times.
Another huge reason is because of the before-mentioned reason. Leaves from trees fall during fall, and that can cause significant damage if not taken care of.
If you have plenty of trees around your home, then you will have more work to do. Fortunately for you, doing such a choir might take some time away from your day but it won’t cost a single penny.
That’s only the case if you choose to hire pros to do it; more on that later.
So if you have plenty of trees, then expect to do more work. But even the type of tree is important when deciding the optimal time to clean the downspouts.
If you experience plenty of debris all-year-round, then you might need to clean it a few times. It’s optimal to do it once every three months, with fall being the time where you’ll have the most work on your hands.
Even if you miss out on cleaning in the summer, there will still be plenty of work to do.
That’s why suburban households choose gutter cleaning services that do all the work for them. There are plenty of pros out there that do a fine job, but we recommend the experts over at guttercleaningspecialists.
3. Save Your Self Before Too Late
While this heading might be a bit confusing, it won’t be once we elaborate on it.
A clogged gutter presents optimal living conditions for insects and small critters. Mosquitoes, termites, and ants are the sort of insects that will call your gutter their home.
Apart from insects, the sorts of critters that like to climb in a clogged gutter are squirrels, mice, and birds. While some of these sound harmful, you really don’t want animals to completely render your gutter useless once they make their home nice and tidy.
What’s even more dangerous is that these animals and insects do this right as fall starts. Since it will be a colder time of the year, birds will make their nest out of falling leaves and completely clog it up.
Also, if these critters and insects start crawling up your gutter, then it’s only a matter of time before they invade the house. If that doesn’t scare you then how about the fact that insects and critters will start chopping off and eating away any part of your home that has wood such as the roof or attic.
To make sure that this doesn’t become a problem, get up there during the fall and start cleaning.
4. Don’t Risk Clogging It
If you completely neglect fall cleaning, then you are risking the possibility of clogging the gutter and downspouts during winter. Winters can be harsh in some parts of the country, and that can ultimately make things significantly worse.
It’s smart to prevent any unwanted damages done to your home during winters, as the costs for repairs can go through the roof.
If you neglect cleaning the thing, then you are risking clogging it. If the gutter gets clogged, then you are putting more and more weight as rain and snow start to fall.
The more the gutter gets heavier, the more it becomes susceptible to potential damages. And that ultimately impacts your home in several ways.
Why You Should Clean the Gutter
Now that we’ve talked about why fall is the optimal time to do it, let us tell you about why you should clean it.
· Prevent Damage
We’ve hinted that a clogged gutter is a ticking time bomb. To make matters worse, it isn’t only this part of the home that gets damaged in the process.
As the water starts to pour, it will eventually go over the side and start dripping down your walls. This might not be an issue at first, but the water will eventually find a crack and infiltrate your home.
The basement is also susceptible to flooding if water starts running down the walls.
· Save Money
One way to save money on your home is to prevent such damages from ever occurring. As you all know, a flooded basement can be very difficult to handle. The potential damages to the exterior of your home as well as the basement cannot be measured. That’s why it’s recommended that you clean the gutter to prevent such damages from ever manifesting.
· Keep Insects and Pests Away
And last, although not least, you shouldn’t need a reason to keep insects and pests away from your home. By not taking care of this issue, you are risking pest infestation which could render your home unusable for quite some time.
