Don’t Let Your Rain Gutters Stay Clogged

Everyone has seen a rain gutter on the roofs of your house. They are used to make rainwater collected due to rain on the roof to flow freely down to the drainage. Since they are exposed to the environment of harsh weather and rain, it is quite possible it can get damaged quickly.

Our roofs are protected by water damage by them and they also ensure that the roof remains dry and strong. But this can only happen if the rain gutters are free of clogging and allow the free flow of rainwater.

Once in the fall and once in the spring are two times in a year that you should clean the rain gutters. The frequency of your cleaning should be more if you live an area where there are lots of trees because leaves tend to get stuck in the gutters, thus obstructing the flow of water.

The most important thing that you must have to clean the gutter is a ladder. Place the legs of the ladder at a convenient distance from the wall and lean the ladder on the top of the wall, closer to the edge of the roof. Since it might break the gutter by its weight, never lean the ladder on the gutter.

Next what you need is a bucket in which you are going to collect all the debris accumulated on the roof. Hang the bucket on the first step of the ladder by a hook. Take a garden spade and scoop all the debris and dump into the bucket.

Next, check for clogs in your downspouts. Insert your garden hose into the top of the downspout and turn on the water. Compare the flow from the hose to that washing out of the downspout. A slow flow means you have a clogged downspout.

By using water pressure you can clean this clogging. You might have to disassemble the gutter pipe and clean it manually if the water pressure is not sufficient. Always ensure you do not damage the walls of the gutter in any manner while cleaning.

You can fix the gutter pipe back to the roof once you have cleaned it. Cleaning rain gutters can be quite time and energy consuming. You can save lot of time, energy and money for a later day if it is done periodically.