How Often Should You Clean Your Gutters?
Without proper maintenance, debris can start to build up in your gutters making it more difficult for water to drain efficiently from your roof. As a result of water collecting on your roof, you may begin to notice sagging gutters, rot or even mold and mildew starting to develop. Standing water is also a breeding ground for insects such as mosquitos, flies, and water scorpions. Therefore, it makes good sense to keep your gutters free of any blockages with routine cleaning. Yet many homeowners are unsure about how often to clean gutters on their house. How often should you clean your gutters? Keep reading to find out.
Gutter Cleaning Minimums
While frequent cleaning is ideal, most homeowners do not want to go through the hassle of cleaning their gutters on a monthly basis. That is understandable, but it is essential, at the very least, to give your gutters a good cleaning at least twice a year. Most experts suggest that you clean out your gutters as soon as the weather begins to warm in the early spring and then again when all the leaves have finished falling in the late autumn. If you adhere to this cleaning schedule, you can avoid many of the problems associated with clogged gutters.
Remember that these are just the minimums when it comes to how often to clean gutters. There are other times when you may need to clean them.
Additional Times You Have To Clean Out Your Gutters
Although you can try to get away with only cleaning your gutters twice a year, there are several instances throughout the year when you may have to clear out your gutters more frequently.
After a storm.
Storms can bring down a lot of twigs, leaves and other debris which tend to collect on your rooftop. When it rains, the water will wash everything into your gutters. If you don’t remove this material, it can easily clog your downspouts preventing the water from being drained correctly. This results in water either remaining in your gutters or to overflowing causing structural damage to your home. Try to clean your gutters immediately following a heavy storm.
When you have pine trees overhanging your roof.
While pine trees are called ‘evergreens,‘ that does not mean that the trees never lose their needles. Needle loss occurs in late fall and can easily overwhelm your gutters. Due to the shape and length of pine needles, they can form a cap and block the narrow openings to your downspouts. Even if you have a gutter guard, the holes allow thin pine needles to wash into your gutters. When you notice dead needles collecting around the base of your pine trees, it is a good indication it is time to clean out your gutters.
Animal activity.
Gutters make an ideal location for birds and squirrels to use as a platform for building their nests. Gutters are equally attractive to bees, wasps, and hornets to use as an anchor for their hives. Animal habitation not only adds additional weight to your gutters but can also clog them with building material allowing with the animal’s waste. This can cause a dangerous health situation. Clearing out any nests or hives immediately from your gutters is a good idea.
Annoyed about how often you need to clean your gutters? Let us do it for you. Green Acres Landscape can help you eliminate many of the potential causes of clogged gutters trimming overhanging tree branches. Call 503-399-8066 for a free estimate.