Cleaning the gutter at home is often a routine job which should be completed each spring and fall time to ensure the structural integrity of the property is fully maintained. If not cleaned as required, the gutter isn’t able to work as intended. Once a gutter is clogged up with leaves or similar debris, damage might well be caused to the actual roof and fascia (area behind the guttering) as well as a home’s foundation (crawl space or basement) if water is allowed to pour over the side of the gutter and down one of the wall.

Cleaning the guttering and downpipes is quite a simple process without a need for any special tools, although if damage is found with home’s gutters, you might come across one of these common problems –

Holes – a hole might appear in a particular section of the guttering system due to a build up of debris. Common causes of damage to a home’s gutter is due to debris falling from trees which get caught up and don’t clear by themselves. A simple technique to repair holes includes the use of specific roofing cement. If a hole in the gutter isn’t repaired in the short-term it has the potential to grow a lot larger, which is likely to result in significant damage. Roof cement appears like a caulk and easily fixes a hole of this type.

Standing Water – a guttering system that is pulled away from the house might sag which could cause water to build up and not drain as desired. Guttering systems need to be angled or pitched in the direction of the downspout for optimum drainage potential. If is often suggested that a straight gutter running at a length of 8-ft or so is made to angle at ½-inch and the side that pitches is at least ½-inch above the height of the side with the downspout. Re-attaching any loose sections of the guttering should help with eliminating this type of problem.

Blockage – a blockage or clog in the gutter system is quite common and results from the build-up of leaves, twigs, or similar debris. A blockage in the drainage system is more noticeable after heavy rain or harsh weather, and seems to appear at the mouth or the elbow of the downspout. Every area is quite easy to reach and can most often be cleaned by lifting the joints apart and clearing out the debris. A simple solution to avoid possible blockages is by installing gutter protectors to keep out debris.