Gutters and downspouts keep water away from your home’s foundation and are essential to your home’s structural health. By taking care of your roof’s drainage system, you can extend the life of your roof and help prevent water damage to your home. Follow the steps below to learn how to effectively clean, repair and maintain your gutters and downspouts.
Did you know?
Failing to maintain your home’s gutters can…
- Increase the chances of leaks
- Ruin landscaping
- Impact your home’s foundation
- Cause the siding to stain, rust or rot
- Increase the chance of pests
If your gutters are loose, sag in random places, pull away from the roof, are rusty and have holes, or have cracked and split then it’s time to replace or repair your gutters.
Most problems are caused by clogged gutters and can simply be fixed by cleaning your gutters thoroughly. This is an easy way to maintain gutters. You can do this yourself or hire a professional to do it for you.
Tools you’ll need:
- a ladder tall enough to reach your gutters
- a pair of heavy work gloves
- a small plastic shovel or trowel
- a garden hose long enough to reach the roof
- eye protection
It can also be helpful to have a partner to hold your ladder and help move it each time you need to reach a new section. If you don’t want to throw the debris on your lawn or landscaping, put down a protective tarp or use a bucket to collect it.
To clean and maintain your gutters…
- Using gloved hands and a plastic shovel or trowel, remove debris and dump it into your bucket or onto the tarp. Work your way toward the opposite end, away from the downspout.
- Spray away remaining dirt and debris with your garden hose, equipped with a spray nozzle.
- If the water isn’t draining, your downspouts may be clogged. Double check the top of your downspout. If it has a downspout strainer, it may be covered or clogged. If your downspout itself is clogged, you will want to work from the ground up to clear it.
- Once you’re able to access the spout, insert your garden hose up into the spout. The spray should dislodge the blockage. If it doesn’t, you may need to use something like a plumber’s snake tool to dislodge the blockage.
- Reattach or tighten any pieces that were removed or loosened while working on the downspout.
- Using the hose and nozzle attachment again, flush out the gutters a final time, working from the opposite end away from the downspout.
Once you’re done cleaning out your gutters, be sure to go out the next rainy day to see that your gutters and spouts are draining properly.If climbing around on your roof or working on ladders isn’t something you feel comfortable doing, give us a call at 770-530-3095 or contact us for an appointment.
