Gutter cleaning is one of the most generally disregarded and neglected home maintenance duties – out of sight, out of mind. However, if your gutters aren’t maintained and performing correctly, serious water damage to your property could be an end result. If you want to know how to avoid gutter cleaning, amusingly, the answer is to keep your gutter clean.
What is gutter cleaning?
In simple terms, gutter cleaning refers to the process of cleaning out the debris, leaves and other waste material accumulated in a gutter system.
When gutters get blocked, the weight of the debris forces them to separate from the side of the house, allowing water to pass through. This can result in soffits and shingles that are damaged, rotten wood fascias, and peeling paint. Leaking gutters are also the leading source of basement water problems. Excessive water damage might cause fractures and shifts in your home’s foundation – scary. In most cases, people are advised to follow tips for gutter cleaning before proceeding further.
Now, when it comes to taking the best possible care of your gutters, people sometimes do mistakes while cleaning their gutters. These mistakes tend to make the situation worse than earlier. So, here are some of the commonly done mistakes by people during gutter cleaning that must be avoided.
Also read: Tips for Cleaning and Repairing Gutters
1: Not cleaning gutters frequently
No person loves to spend their weekend removing leaves and pinecones from their gutters, do they? As a result, many people make the error of failing to clean their gutters. However, your gutters do a lot more job than just moving the water away from your property. Dirty gutters can have an influence on the durability of your roof and foundation. They should be cleaned on a regular basis.
Gutters collect rainwater from your roof and divert it away from your home’s foundation. When gutters get blocked with twigs, leaves, or other debris, water can overflow and fall directly onto your house’s siding or foundation.
2: Standing on the roof’s ridge caps
Standing on a roof is challenging enough – the slope is sometimes quite high, and the surface is deceptively slick. But did you know that if you walk on the roof wrongly, you might damage it? This is especially true of your roof’s “ridge caps.” A ridge is the pinnacle of your roof. Ridge caps are customised tiles that go over the tops of roofs to protect them and promote water drainage.
When you stand on them, the weight might cause these shingles to fracture, causing them to shatter or leak later on. They are an essential aspect of the lifetime of your roof and should only be handled by specialists.
3: Choosing an inappropriate clothing
You obviously weren’t planning on cleaning your gutters in your favourite dress, but you might not have thought about your cleaning attire beyond that. When choosing your attire for this activity, make sure it protects you – you’ll be on a ladder high in the air, kicking up all kinds of debris.
Keeping this in mind, avoid wearing any loose-fitting apparel that can snag on something when you’re up on the ladder. Wear clothing that you aren’t tied to since it will become soiled. Wear shoes with rubber soles to improve your grip on the ladder.
4: Ignoring safety
Any kind of guttering cleaning requires the use of different types of tools and equipment including ladders. This simply means that one should maintain the utmost safety while indulging in winter gutter cleaning. So, choose the right safety gear while doing the cleaning. This would not only help you keep yourself safe but also others around you.
5: Pressure cleaning the roof
Pressure washing your roof may appear to be a quick and easy way to clean it. However, you are more likely to harm your roof than clean it properly with this procedure. When using a pressure washer on your roof, you risk loosening the granules on the shingles.
Granules are the little sparkles that may be found on shingles. These refer to mineral granules that protect the shingle against snow, rain, ice, and other adverse elements. They also help the roof shed water during a downpour. These granules also assist to absorb UV light and make your roof more fire-resistant.The more granules are shed, the sooner a new roof would be required.
The Conclusion
By avoiding these mistakes while doing any gutter cleaning job, you would not only get a fully functional roof but also a space free from several other issues caused by clogged gutters. However, if you want to hire a professional natural gutter cleaner, Sunshine Gutters Gold is a pioneering name in the gutter cleaning industry. Contact them today and get a price quote.
Also Read: 6 Signs You Need New Gutters
