Clean Gutters Are A Must. Here’s Why!
None of us enjoy doing the mundane and sometimes dirty chores around the house. These tasks may seem to be pointless and unpleasant, but there is good reason to get them done. Sometimes understanding the reason behind a chore gives some extra motivation to get it done! Cleaning gutters is one of those tasks that we must do periodically, but why must we have clean gutters? Why is it so vital for us and our home?
Here are 7 reasons why having clean gutters is a must!
- Prevent insect infestations. Don’t allow rodents to become established.
- Prevent unpleasant odors around your home.
- Prevent disease.
- Protect your gutters from damage.
- Stop water damage
- Keep your home looking good.
Getting your gutters cleaned might seem like a mundane chore. We’re here to tell you not to lose sight of how important this is for the safety and comfort of your home!
Why Must The Gutters Be Cleaned?
Cleaning out the gutters on your home is one of those home maintenance jobs that you might put off until it’s too late. Clean gutters is a must-do.
Sometimes, understanding the benefits to be gained out of completing an otherwise thankless chore helps to give us the motivation and determination to get it done with a little more enthusiasm and feel like we accomplished a worthwhile task.
To help with boosting your enthusiasm for getting your gutters cleaned, we will show you all the benefits you get by ticking this chore off the list.
So why must we have clean gutters? Here are our top 7 reasons to get you motivated!
1. Preventing An Insect Pest Infestation
The collection of leaf litter and other vegetation debris in the gutters provides an ideal environment for many unwanted creepy-crawly pests. Vegetation in the gutters provides them with a food source, a safe hiding place, and a perfect location to breed and proliferate.
As the insect population gets established in the leaf-filled gutters, it attracts other insects that prey on the ones that have taken up residence in the vegetation.
It may start with some ants, cockroaches, moths, and flies, but these will begin to attract predatory creatures such as spiders, scorpions, and centipedes. Pretty soon, you have a whole insect ecosystem thriving in your gutters, and it is a matter of time before they look for more comfortable accommodation inside your home.
With clean gutters, you remove the environment for these creatures and prevent them from having a chance to become established in your home.
2. Prevent Rodents Being Attracted To Your Home
Rodents are another group of creatures that we do not want to take up residence in and around our homes. They can be destructive to our garden and homes, and they can bring with them health risks for us and our pets.
The leaves, sticks, and other roof-top debris in the gutters provide the rodents with a ready supply of nesting material, and the gutter gives them shelter and protection due to the height.
Rodents nesting in gutters and downpipes can further block the entire gutter system and make the job of clearing them out a much more unpleasant and challenging task.
The additional blockages they cause in the roof drainage system can lead to damage to your home when the water overflows. Not to mention the problems they pose from a health perspective and the damage they can do to your home’s electrical system if they move into the roof.
Once they move into the warm, dry area of the roof space, it is difficult to get rid of them, and they are prolific breeders. This means that once they get a foothold, their population will boom, and a few rodents will quickly become an infestation in one season.
They will also chew any electrical cables, alarm system cables, and other wires in the roof, causing significant damage that could cost you a lot of money to repair.
3. Smell Of Rotting Vegetation
If the gutters are not cleaned as part of your spring home maintenance, the gutters will fill with water and not be able to drain efficiently once the first rains fall.
This will result in stagnant water soaking the vegetation, and it will begin to rot in the water. The rotting vegetation will start to smell and may result in unpleasant odors in and around your home.
4. Prevention Of Disease
The build-up of leaves and other rubbish in your gutters not only creates a suitable environment for rodents and insect pests. But it can also harbor diseases. When water stagnates in the gutters’ vegetation, it provides an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and also for mosquitoes.
Mosquitos are an annoyance and can also bring the diseases associated with them closer to your home.
5. Gutter damage
Without clean gutters, the accumulation of organic material and the build-up of water in the gutter can create a significant weight that the gutters need to support.
The structure of the gutter material and the brackets that hold them in place on your roof were generally not designed to maintain this kind of weight over an extended period of time.
If left uncleared, the weight will increase, and the bracket fasteners may pull out, the brackets fail, or even the gutters themselves may crack and break.
For you as the homeowner, this will mean more time and expense in repairing this damage that some routine gutter maintenance could have avoided.
6. Water Damage
Water damage can be a severe problem associated with blocked and clogged gutters and downpipes. The gutter system is designed to channel excess water from the roof away from your home to prevent this kind of damage.
Blocked gutters can result in the following water damage to your home.
- Roof damage. Overflowing gutters can cause your roof timbers to become wet and waterlogged. This can cause the timbers to swell, causing roof tiles to fall off, or it can even cause the roof timbers to begin to rot and encourage the growth of mold.
- Foundation damage. If the water from the roof is not being directed away from your foundations, you could have problems with foundations being compromised structurally as the water washes away the ground support. Excessive water around the foundations can also result in rising damp issues.
- Garden damage. If you have garden beds planted around your house, the cascade of water over the top of blocked gutters can demolish your plants, erode the soil in the garden beds, and wash them away.
The simple task of cleaning out the gutters regularly will help prevent this type of damage to your home and garden, which could become quite costly.
7. Keep Your Home Looking Good
Blocked gutters that cause overflowing of dirty water will result in stains down the walls of your home and the sides of your gutters as well.
These stains, along with the unsightly sticks and leaves poking out over your gutters, detract from the aesthetics of your home.
Not only will these aesthetic problems require more work and finances to rectify, but they will bring down the tone of the neighborhood and can even end up devaluing your home.
Having clean gutters will help keep your home looking good and add to your property’s value rather than negatively affecting these values.
Take Care Cleaning Your Gutters
One thing to note when cleaning out the gutters that you should consider before embarking on the task alone is that it can be dangerous.
Working atop a ladder leaning against the roof and using both hands to clear out the gutter can be a precarious position. It is best to tackle this maintenance task as a two-person job. If nothing else, the second person can help to stabilize the ladder while you work.
Just take care not to throw wet vegetation down onto the person holding the ladder. This is one way to lose popularity quickly, and remember, your safety is in their hands!
If you don’t do well with heights or don’t feel comfortable doing this job yourself, the better option would be to hire a contractor to come out and do this job for you.
Conclusion
We hope that these reasons why you must clean your gutter have given you some incentive and motivation to get this chore done. If you can consider this maintenance task as a home improvement project, you may overcome the mental block of seeing it as a chore, and the work may be a little more satisfying!
Take the time out to complete this task before your rains start, and you will be amazed at the benefits you will gain for yourself and your home rather than procrastinating with getting clean gutters!
About Gutter Gorilla
The Gutter Gorilla has been providing superior seamless gutter installation, gutter guards, gutter cleaning, and gutter repair services to our clients in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Summerville, and the surrounding areas for years. Our commitment is to provide quality and timely service without compromise on every job, and we are proud of our high standard of service. If you are looking to protect your residential or commercial building from the harmful effects of water, have us install your gutters. The Gutter Gorilla, one of the market leaders in the industry of seamless gutters installation, gutter guards, and gutter repair.
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