Gutters are a significant part of your roofing system and it is crucial that you perform regular gutter maintenance. Your gutter system is designed to redirect the flow of water off the roof and away from your home. However, it is very common for leaves, branches, and other debris to obstruct water flow and cause the gutters not to perform to their full potential.
When your gutters are full of junk they fail to do their job properly. To reiterate, the job of your gutters is to drain water away from the house. If water is not properly drained away from your home, an array of issues can arise. Listed below are 5 top reasons we think you should clean your gutters out regularly.
Sagging Gutters – The number one issue we get repair calls for is sagging gutters. If you have the weight of debris in your gutters along with the weight of water you have a recipe for disaster. If you don’t take care of this issue by winter the water will freeze causing the gutters to become extremely heavy. Over time the screw in brackets will loosen and pull away from the fascia board (or rotted fascia board) causing them to sag and eventually fall of the home, resulting in you having to shell out money to get them fixed.
Rotting Wood – What happens when water has cannot drain properly off the roof? The water will back up on the fascia board. Water seeping into your fascia board will cause that board to rot. Rotting wood does not look good on any house. And if that rotted wood isn’t taken care of you can expect it to cause substantial damage to the structure of your house, which meaning big money to repair.
Mold – Nobody likes the word mold. In fact you tell any potential home buyer that your house has mold you won’t be selling it anytime soon. Again, when water has nowhere to go and sits for a long period of time mildew and mold will begin to form. After a while that mold will spread and mold is difficult to remove causing you to spend your hard earned money on something that could have been avoided.
Water Staining – When there are leaves, dirt, grime and filth clogging your gutters there is nowhere for water to drain. Water will drain over the gutters and down the gutters themselves leaving stains. The water will, in time, stain the walls underneath the gutters. Eventually you’ll end up with gutters and walls that look dirty.
Pests – I have not met one person in this world who has told me they don’t mind mosquitoes. Mosquitoes absolutely love standing water. If you haven’t cleaned your gutters in awhile I can guarantee you will have created the breeding grounds for hundreds of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes aren’t the only pest that likes standing water, ants, termites and other vermin will find their way to your roof line and maybe even into your home.
Save yourself the frustration from all these issues and clean your gutters regularly. If you don’t have the time to do this job yourself, give us a call at Alloy Gutter. We will be happy to assist you.