Introduction
Rain gutters are a critical part of your house when you live in Mornington, Peninsula. You may not have noticed how much they work, but trust us, you will once they start malfunctioning. They are the invisible horses that keep your home healthy, clean, and save you a lot of work and money. Being the owner of the house, it falls under you to keep them squeaky clean. You will get to know in this article, why.
Gutters And Their Purposes
Rain gutters are installed to save your home from the detrimental effects of accumulated rainwater. Too much water falling too close to your home and for too long can break your home’s structure – leading to uneven floors, cracked walls, and crack in the chimney. Especially if you have a basement, rainwater can flood it and rot your home’s foundation starting here at the bottom, reaching the top in no time. If your roof doesn’t have enough pathways to clear out water, the rainwater piles up there, causing rot, deterioration or mould. Water that drips directly off your roof can potentially find its way into your home through doors and windows. It can result in moist windows, sills, and interior walls; damaging and eroding them over the years. In addition, if you have a garden next to your house, rainwater can corrode the soil around it as well, causing mayhem in the area.
A rain gutter is a horizontal funnel-like structure which is open at the top, usually made out of metal, that is set up along the eave edges of your roof. It funnels the water off the roof and away from your home. It collects this water and directs it towards the downpipe, which then takes it towards the drainpipes and the water flows safely out of your house’s way.
Why Should You Keep Your Gutters Clean
While rain gutters are tremendously useful, they can get clogged with fallen leaves, branches from overhead trees. Also, if you live in an area with a really cold climate, the water collected in the gutter can freeze making it dangerously heavy. So gutter cleaning in Mornington is crucial for the health of your home as well as the health of you and your family.
Prevent Water Damage
Gutters in Mornington, Peninsula are installed to protect your home from water damage. However, if you don’t pay attention to protecting your gutter, it can cause the exact opposite effect. Gutters need to have their pathways clear in order for them to drain rainwater properly. If your gutter gets blocked, water can get accumulated in it, and it will not make any difference if the gutter is there or not, as in, all the troubles that can occur if you do not own a gutter, will happen. The insides of your home will get soaked leading to moulds, cracked foundation, and basement flooding. Living with moulds for a long time inside your house leads to damp interiors, which gives rise to a number of diseases.
Protect Your Roof
If your gutter is malfunctioning, rainwater has nowhere to run, and hence gets contained on your roof and rots it. It will damage the roof shingles and cracks will form. Thus eventually your roof will leak leading to interior damage to your property. Indoor paints will shatter and mildew will be formed. A simple procrastination in gutter cleaning can cost you hundreds of dollars in repairs.
Keep Pests Away
Rodents like mice and rats love to make a clogged gutter their home, and so do birds. Still water in your gutter can give birth to pests like mosquitoes and termites as well. These pesky creatures not only harms your gutter, they pose serious health risk to you and your family. If somehow they find a way inside your home, they can infest that as well, which can lead to health risks. So gutter cleaning in Mornington, Peninsula is an absolute necessity for staying well.
Prevent Freezing Problems In Cold Weather
As mentioned earlier, in colder climates, the water contained in the gutter can freeze and the weight can fall heavy on the foundation of your building and can crack your walls and roof. Also, a clogged gutter means your windows and walls will be moist in wintertime; and even if you have a fireplace or a radiator warming the air inside of your house, the warm air will readily absorb this moisture. Not only will you face a condensation problem inside your house, you may catch a cold very easily because of the weird climate.
Protect The Landscape Outside Your House
Malfunctioning gutters can lead to serious damage to the outside landscape of your house as well. If water is pouring out of your clogged gutters in a haphazard way, the soil around your house can be destabilized which can cause your building’s foundation to shift. This can develop a crack from the bottom of your establishment, making it weak and unstable. Your exterior doors will take the hit too. This can make your building a very unsafe place to live. A strong wind or storm, or an earthquake can completely destroy it.
Furthermore, if you have a garden, and your gutters become clogged to the point that water is spilling over the side and into your garden beds, you can damage your plants’ health by essentially drowning them.
Prevent Basement Flooding
If you have a basement and have experienced a flood there, you know it’s no walk in the park. A flooded basement can be a huge nuisance and a clogged gutter can lead to exactly that. The rainwater will overflow from the gutter and pool just above the basement. With time, it will break down the foundation there and water will leak into the basement, eventually flooding it. This not only will damage every kind of decoration or storage there, but it will also form mildew there as well, destroying the paints.
Protect Your Gutters
Just like the accumulation and overflow of water can damage your property, it can damage your gutters as well. Most gutters are made out of metals, mainly aluminium, and organic debris and materials corrode this metal. Broken gutters are similarly threatening to your home, landscape, and your health as unclean ones.
Protect Your Home’s Appearance
The appearance of your home might not be the most important reason for cleaning gutters, but it is the most obvious one. Debris buildup in clogged gutters can often be seen from outside of your house, especially trash collected on the ground. If you let the rainwater overflow for a long time, it will also stain the sides of your building and deteriorate the appearance of roofing shingles. In the end, a home with unclean gutters will appear worn down on the exterior.
Save Money
Gutter cleaning in Mornington may cost you some amount every year, but the damage caused by a clogged or broken gutter may get you bankrupt; since it may cost you a renovation of your entire house – if you are unlucky, you might have to build it from scratch. Plus you may have to shell out big bucks for health problems caused by the dampness and/or pests in your house.
How To Clean Your Gutter
Now that you understand how crucial it is for you to keep your gutter clean and properly maintained, it is time to know how to do the job. If you don’t have a covered gutter, it should be on your to-do list at least twice a year. If you have trees hanging overhead your gutters, you may have to do it every 3-4 months. You may hire a professional or do it yourself.
If you decide to do it yourself, buy a leaf-blower and a gutter cleaning kit that connects to your leaf-blower. You will also need a very sturdy ladder, a set of protective goggles, a dust mask, and heavy work gloves.
You can use a garden trowel or gutter scoop to clean it out by hand. Start at the bottom of the gutter, at the drain outlet. Then just dump all the trash collected inside a bucket.
Things To Keep In Mind:
- The best time to clean it is when the leaves on your gutter are just damp, but not soggy.
- Every time you clean your gutter, make sure you check for any sign of leaks. If they are not fixed right away, all the gutter issues mentioned above will begin.
- Even if you have learnt that your gutters are in full working conditions, you should check if the water is drained properly away from the house. If your drainage system fails to do that, a functioning gutter cannot save you from all the water damage to your foundation.
Conclusion
Keep your gutters clean and maintained and you will stay safe. Procrastination is always heavily expensive, as you may know very well from every instance in your life. Nevertheless, you may not have the time, the energy, or the right health condition for a regular gutter cleaning all by yourself – as we already stated, it can be hard work. So hire certified professional gutter cleaners in Mornington anytime you need, they will be able to give you the right advice on the proper maintenance of your gutters as well.