Summer is the perfect time to do all-around home maintenance. Include the exterior of your house in your cleaning to-do list, as it is just as susceptible to dirt and grime as the interior. Gutters, for example, are one of the most vulnerable, gathering dust, gunk, and leaves with every passing season.
If you don’t have roof gutter protection against leaves and dirt, you should compensate by making sure your gutters are regularly cleaned and maintained. Gutters need to be clean to work correctly. Otherwise, it might collapse and result in damage to your home’s foundation, garden, or yard.
To help you with the upkeep of your gutters this summer, here’s everything you need to check and do to maintain a fully functional drain.
Visually Inspect Your Gutters
The first thing you need to do is get a ladder and visually inspect your gutters. Be on the lookout for clumps of dirt and anything out of the ordinary, like loose hanging fixtures or corroded metal. Through thorough inspection, you’d be able to tell if your gutter needs more than just a cleaning.
Remove Debris
After the initial assessment, it’s time to get your hands dirty. Remove any debris found on your gutter. You might find anything from twigs, leaves, bird droppings, pebbles, and needles to something as substantial as a bird’s nest. Take these out to clear the flow of your gutter.
Debris can clog your gutters, so you need to take these out as soon as possible. This prevents costly damages from happening to your roof or your home’s foundation due to misplaced water and flooding from clogged gutters.
Clean Your Gutters
Now that your gutter is clear of any obstruction, you can finally scrub it clean with a brush or scrub and cleaning soap. Test the detergent and brush on one part of your gutter first before continuing with the rest. Dutifully scrub off the algae, molds, or mosses that have permeated the surface of your drain.
After scrubbing your gutters clean, you need to hose the suds off with a high-pressure hose that can flush out the stubborn gunk stuck to your gutters. After a thorough rinse, your drain will look good as new.
Look for Damage
A thorough cleaning will reveal if your gutter needs any repairs. Check for leaks, cracks, or any other structural damage that might interfere with draining. Make sure the downspout and the vertical leg of the gutter system are free of any damage. Water should be drained at the end of the downspout.
Repair Leaks
If, after cleaning, you notice cracks, holes, or areas threatening to collapse, repair these right away. You can call a gutter repair professional to have these fixed, or you can try doing this yourself by affixing a small piece of metal with roofing cement over the crack. You can also use silicone or gutter caulking.
Just because summer is the season less likely to cause severe damage on your gutters doesn’t mean you can just leave them out of your home maintenance checklist. Keep your drains clean and free of debris to avoid roof and structural problems due to water damage later on.
