How often should you maintain your gutters?

Posted on October 17, 2019 in Cleaning

When should you maintain your gutters? whether at home or for your business, is not a job we often think about. More than likely the condition of your gutters doesn’t even enter your mind until you see something growing out of them.

However the fact is your gutters need to be kept clean and clear in order for them to function properly, failure to do so can have serious consequences in the form of damage to your property.

So how often should you have your gutters cleaned?

The short answer to this question is typically we recommend you have your gutters cleaned twice a year, once in late spring time and in then in early autumn.

However, there are a few factors you should take into account before deciding how often your particular property should have it’s gutters cleaned.

For instance, if we experience a dry and hot summer you will accumulate dry leaves, small branches and birds nests in your gutters especially if you have a number of trees around your property.

If you fail to recognise the build up of debris you could get a nasty shock when the first big downpour of rain arrives in autumn and everything starts to overflow. Even worse might be if you don’t notice your gutters are overflowing at all as this can cause untold damage over time, more about that below.

The not so typical answer to this question though is… ‘it depends’.

If you live in the middle of a huge open area with no trees for miles, or you live on a brand new housing estate that has no tree growth yet, then it’s likely you will only need your gutters cleaned once a year at most.

However, if you live with long established tall growing trees around your property or lining the road outside that shed thousands of leaves daily, you may well need your gutters cleaning every few months.

Failure do so so will cost you far more in the long run.

Essentially how often you have your gutters cleaned really does depend on where you live and what kind of nature surrounds your property.

If you are still unsure, why not request a quote and we will call out to see your property and advise you on the best course of action.

Alternatively, we have created this guide on gutter cleaning to help property owners see why it is necessary to clean your gutters, how often it should be done and most importantly how to have your gutters cleaned safely and professionally.

What can happen if you don’t clean your gutters?

It’s possible you’ve wonder this very question, but when you can’t see the contents of your gutters it’s all too easy to assume they are functioning just fine. In actual fact unclean gutters can lead to complicated and expensive repairs, here are just a few of those potential problems.

Leaking Gutters & Mould

If you don’t have your gutters cleaned the first problem is that they will become blocked and start to leak or overflow in heavy rainfall.

Dead leaves will begin to decompose in your gutters and the stagnant filthy water will start to create mould.

Mould isn’t just a problem for your property if it get’s into your walls, it is also a problem for your health. In wet climates mould is common and if it does infiltrate your property it can cause health problems and it it very difficult and expensive to treat.

So the best way to deal with mould is to ensure it never had a chance to grow by keeping your gutters clean and flowing.

Damage to your Roof & Fascias

The job of your gutters is to quickly take away rain that builds during a downpour.

If your gutters are blocked and can not function the water has to go somewhere, in this case it will overflow and likely run down your brick walls rather than the downpipe, or will pour down your fascias.

Soaked walls will begin to suffer from mould, brickwork will be eroded over time and mortar can begin to soften and break away.

Fascias, especially wooden ones, will begin to rot and paintwork will peel causing an unsightly appearance to your property and require expensive upkeep or even more expensive complete replacement.

If you have a flat roof and your gutters are blocked then you have the potential to not only suffer from the same problems above, but you even risk a complete cave in of your roof if enough water builds up.

Water when it builds up is extremely heavy, so never ignore water building up on your roof is could be disastrous!

Water Erosion & Cracks in your Driveway

If you have ever seen a dripping gutter, then you will not doubt have seen the erosion it can cause on the ground the constant dripping lands on.

Block paved or tarmac driveways are an expensive purchase, don’t allow the minor cost of maintenance gutter cleaning to damage your expensive surfaces. If you clean your gutters at least once per year you can alleviate this problem and stop the damage or moss build up before it get chance to start.

Birds Nests & Bugs

Birds and creepy crawlies love to nest in and behind gutters and downpipes.

If you want to stop the early bird chirping during the morning chorus right outside your bedroom window then you need to have your gutters cleaned.

Spiders and other insects love to nest in and around your gutters, if you want to stop them getting inside your house you need to wipe their nests out by having you gutters cleaned.

So, How do you clean gutters?

It’s quite common that a property owner will consider getting out their ladders and venturing up to the gutters wearing gloves and carrying a bucket and trowel in an effort to clean their gutters themselves.

We advise you for the sake of health and safety never to do this!

Don’t underestimate the difficulty of cleaning gutters from a ladder!

Ladders are infamous for being an unsafe method of access for heights, even worse is attempting to work from them.

A 25 litre bucket filled with soggy leaves, debris and water is very heavy and can easily outbalance you on a ladder whilst you attempt to overreach into your gutters and scoop out the blockage.

Many injuries and even death has occurred by falling from ladders even if you have got two hands free to hold on, the chances of falling increase dramatically if you only have one hand to hold on and another clutching on to a heavy bucket and trowel.

Modern gutter clean methods

Modern technology means we now have much safer ways to clean gutters without even leaving the ground.

Protech Property Solutions use the latest in high powered vacuums to safely and efficiently clean your gutters whilst we keep our feet firmly on the floor.

High Level Gutter Vacs

Gutter vacs (vacuums) are now an essential tool in order to professionally clean gutters safely and at a price that fits all budgets.

A gutter vac is perfect for removing leave, twigs, bird nests and general dirt debris from gutters. Generally a modern high powered gutter vac will be able to remove 90% of blockages without too much trouble.

The Gutter vacs that we use at Protech Property Solutions also come with a wireless camera attached, this allows the operator to see that all blockages have been removed and we can show the client the finished job for complete peace of mind.

If you would like a free quote or advice on how to maintain your gutters please call us on 0845 604 1288 or for information on our gutter services please visit Protech Gutter Solutions.