What an evil chore… maintain your gutters to leave them free of harmful debris and potential overflows from clogged leaves. Because a gutter could be your best friend when it comes to avoiding expensive water damage and rotting dangers.

Maintaining your gutters is a part of your home’s upkeep. Even though it can be a bit of a hassle, it’s something that must be done. Here are some tips that can help to maintain your gutters so that hopefully, you’re not having to do them so often.

Replace Any That Are Old

Firstly, it’s good to check your gutters to see how old they are and how long they’ve been part of the home. Unless you got them changed recently or the home was built within the last twenty years, they may be due an upgrade. It’s always worth checking them on a regular basis. However, it’s important to really think about how old they are and whether they’ve outlived their guarantee period of up to twenty years.

Any that are beyond that, it’s worth getting them replaced by a gutter repairs service of some sort. They can help to remove the guttering safely from the wall and to install some newer and much more functional ones that will hopefully continue to operate for the next twenty years or so. If this is your forever home or has been already for a while, keep a note of the age of your gutters.

Clear Them Out Seasonally

Gutters can tend to get clogged up with all manner of objects, from debris that’s been blown over from harsh weather conditions to next-door neighbours toys. Gutters, because of their shape and size, can make for a perfect place for animals to nest and live in.

It’s good to clear them out seasonally because if you don’t, then you could cause some serious damage to the foundations of your home. When water gets clogged up from the debris, it can end up not draining properly and therefore flooding parts of your home. That’s something you certainly don’t want!

Test For Leaks

Leaks are something that might happen to your gutters during harsh weather conditions. They may not warrant you having to replace the entirety of the guttering, but you still might need to get parts of it fixed.

When you’re having some particular heavy rain, make this an opportunity to check on your drains. Look for any obvious signs of leaks or cracks in the guttering itself so that you can pinpoint the problem areas.

Install Gutter Guards

Gutter guards are things you can put in place to actually stop any pests getting into it or debris. Of course, they might not be completely invincible to the debris and build-up of sludge and rubbish, but these guards can help significantly in reducing the amount of maintenance you have to do on them. 

By maintaining your gutters, it’s another part of the home that can really benefit from a bit of extra attention. Use these tips to help make sure that your guttering stays healthy and clean. Any signs of cracks, leaks or ageing, it’s good to get it replaced as soon as you possibly can to avoid further damage.