Whether you’re a homeowner in Des Moines, Waukee, Ankeny, or anywhere else in Central Iowa, keeping your gutters clean helps keep your home looking great and avoids problems. Here are some tips on how to keep your gutters from causing your home problems.
Overview
The gutters of your home are essential to keeping your home from being adversely affected by rain and ice melt. They work to prevent water from getting into the structure of your home and damaging the foundation and framing; when they’re not well-maintained, they can cause serious problems. Fortunately, you can do some simple things to keep your gutters clean and functional.
To ensure that your gutters are working correctly, you should check them out at least twice a year. You may hire a professional gutter company to inspect them or do it yourself. If you decide to do it yourself, make sure that you follow these tips:
Getting Started
- Check for damage or leaks in the gutter system before doing anything else. If there is any damage, you need to get this fixed as soon as possible!
- Ensure that nothing is blocking water flow from the roof into the gutter system (such as leaves or debris). If water cannot drain off your roof correctly and make it to your gutters, this can cause additional problems.
Preparing To Clean Your Gutters
When it comes time to clean your gutters, First things first: It’s time to gather the equipment you will need to safely and effectively clean them. See our list of recommended gutter-cleaning equipment here.
Next, if you have gutter guards installed, these most likely must be removed. The guards are designed to keep leaves and debris out of your gutters, but they can trap additional buildup and prevent water from draining correctly. So take those babies out and get ready for some serious cleaning.
After evaluating your gutter guard situation, it’s time to prepare for success! To minimize the number of trips up and down the ladder and obstacles you may run into, remove all your downspouts, move anything in the way of your ladder, and get ready to clean your gutters.
Tips
If you are not regularly on a ladder, it is recommended that you have someone assist you by holding the bottom of the ladder to ensure that it does not move as you climb up and down.
It is best to start at one corner of your house and make your way around to ensure nothing is missed.
If you are cleaning your gutters for the first time in a while, it is best to use a brush attachment on your water hose or a pressure washer and start at one corner of your house. Move around in a circular motion, ensuring all debris is removed from each gutter and downspout.
After cleaning one side of your home, move on to the next, repeating this process until you have cleaned every section. This process varies in time and difficulty tremendously, depending on your equipment, the size of your home, and the layout of your roof.
After everything is removed from the gutters, it’s time for cleanup. Bag up all of the yard waste into a compost pile or yard waste bags, put your downspouts and gutter guards back on, put away your equipment, and you have just finished cleaning your gutters.
Cleanup
After everything is removed from the gutters, it’s time for cleanup. Bag up all of the yard waste into a compost pile or yard waste bags, put your downspouts and gutter guards back on, put away your equipment, and you have just finished cleaning your gutters.
