With one job they do, rain gutters solve a lot of problems. And so, when the gutters are in bad shape, the problems wait in line to make your life difficult – to even put your home and your family in harm’s way.
So, let’s take things from the start. In order to understand how we can stop feeling concerned about our home’s gutters, we need to consider how they may affect our lives and take matters into our hands. Is there something that doesn’t go through our hands?
Problems are particularly serious due to the importance of rain gutters
It’s quite needless to talk about the usefulness of gutters and what they do. Right? They channel rainwater off the roof, with the help of the downspouts too. Their job is as simple as that – yet, tremendously important.
We only assume that it is pointless to focus – at least, extensively, on the bad effects of gutter problems on the structure, your safety, the landscape. For the sake of argument, let us just say that problems with the gutters may cause internal leaks. They may take a toll on the building’s foundations. They may ruin the garden. They may fall and cause accidents or property damage. They may destroy the external surfaces of the building. Naturally, we want to live without all these problems.
Know what makes the gutters problematic to avoid the problems
Now, how do all these problems happen, in the first place? The easy answer is when the gutters are clogged. The next thing that comes to mind is when the gutters are damaged. Yes, these are, indeed, the main problems with the rain gutters. But there’s more that have to do with the gutter installation. Or the gutters and the accessories you choose, to start with.
Since all the above – from the choice of the gutters to their installation and the frequency of gutter cleaning, determine whether or not there will be problems, you need to act accordingly to prevent them and so to never bother with the gutters at all.
The route to your peace of mind – as far as the gutters are concerned
It takes knowing the roots of a problem to avoid it. If you know that the quality of the gutters matters in your location due to the heavy snowfall and rainfall, getting high-end products is a way to avoid troubles in the future. You see the point? Let us consider all other points.
Knowing that clogged rain gutters will lead to leaks, damage, mold infestation and similar bad things, you can avoid them all by keeping the gutters clean. Now, it’s important here to consider how often the gutters must be cleaned. This is subject to the location’s climate, whether or not there are trees around the house, the slope of the roof – and similar factors. How come? Because all these factors affect the condition of the gutters. If, for example, it’s quite windy in your area, it makes sense to say that the gutters will get easier dirty than if the area didn’t experience winds often. And so, whether you book gutter cleaning once or twice a year is subject to all these factors.
Then again, you may be proactive and get some gutter guards to protect the gutters from the flying debris. Again, the guards you choose make a difference in how well the gutters are protected. And that doesn’t mean that they won’t need cleaning at all – only rarely.
You should pay attention to the fasteners of the gutters. If they are mounted well, they won’t sag and get damaged. To distance even more problems, prefer seamless gutters that won’t leak in the mid-run due to the absence of joints.
Such structural roof elements, like the gutters, will ask for your attention once in a while, whether in the form of cleaning or salting or fixing. That’s inevitable. The secret to doing only the necessary though and don’t run every now and then for the gutters or put your family & home at any stake is to do everything right, off the bat – the right choice of gutters, the right gutter service/installation company, good cleaning – the works. Only then will you have peace of mind.
