The Importance of Clean Rain Gutters and Downspouts in Your Home

General home cleaning is important for maintenance of the entire house including special parts like the chimneys, and believe it or not, the rain gutters. The fact is, rain gutters are most likely to be ignored especially during summer. After all, it barely rains during summer. Out of sight, out of mind, right? NO! Not when it comes to rain gutters.

Most home owners go for months without thinking about rain gutters, leave alone checking them out for any clogging or damage. They only think about them when the rain pours and they notice an overflow on the gutters or the downspouts. This can be likened to waiting to renew your medical insurance until you get admitted to hospital. Remember, prevention is always better than a cure.

Working of rain gutters and downspouts

rain gutters cleaningGutters have a primal role of collecting rain water from the roof, channeling it towards the downspout and safely guiding it down to the ground or drainage. The implication of this is, rain water from the roof is diverted away from the delicate parts of the house like the bargeboard and the soffits. Moreover, the immediate top soil next to the foundation is protected from erosion, protecting the house in the long run.

However, it should be noted that the rain gutters are open-ended on the side it collects the water. Thanks to this, the ever-falling flowers, leaves, and twigs from trees find their way to the rain gutters. On windy days, dust is carried and may settle on the rain gutter as well. The spread of such dirt could hinder it from being completely washed down, which eventually leads to clogging of the rain gutters and downspouts.

Moreover, after each rain storm, asphalt from rooftop shingles somehow finds its way into the rain gutters. The density of the asphalt does not allow them to float, they therefore sink and settle on the floor of the rain gutter. An accumulation of such asphalt could inevitably cause the rain gutter and downspout to clog.

What clogged rain gutters and downspouts cause

It is important to regularly check and thoroughly clean rain gutters as clogging could lead to:

Flooding and possible over flow of rain water on the rain gutter

Clogging hinders rain water from being effectively directed to the ground. This will cause a jam on the downspout and collected water will “break its banks” and overflow. This goes completely the opposite of what rain gutters should be doing.

The flooding causes water to leak into delicate places, causing dry-rot in the roof itself, soffit, bargeboard and fascia boards. Leaking water may lead to paint damage together with window, door, and siding. Soaked windows and sidings will in the long run cause mold damage.

High Repair Costs

Flooding of rain gutters and downspouts causes a series of damage that in the long run, will leave you with a fat bill of repairs to make on the damaged siding, soffits, windows, and fascia boards.

Maintenance

DIY techniques like passing a broom over the rain gutters to sweep off the twigs, leaves, and asphalt will are not only dangerous, they are also not effective. Your roof gutters need professional cleaning to eliminate the dust, dirt, mud, mold, and algae that has collected on them.

 

 

 

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