Gutter Cleaning

As you may or may not know, Best Home & Property Services offers handyman type services. From bathroom remodeling to carpentry work, if it's broke we can fix it! Another type of service that comes with that is gutter cleaning. Why clean your gutters? I'm glad you asked!

Is It Time to Clean Out Your Gutters?

A debris-clogged gutter can cause a leaky roof or water damage to the interior or exterior of your home.

Gutters are an integral piece of your home’s well being. They serve to control the flow of rainwater to protect your roof, walls, foundation and landscape.

But when neglected, experts say gutters can turn from a necessity to a nightmare. A gutter clogged with leaves, sticks and other debris can cause a leaky roof or water damage to the interior or exterior of your home. Contractors say gunked-up gutters also make nice homes for pests, rodents, mold and honeycombs from bee infestations.

“If you let gutter cleaning go by the wayside, it can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars," says Jeff Lambert, a supervisor with The Gutter Man in Houston.

“Gutters are a potential bomb above your head full of insects and critters, if you let them stay out of sight, out of mind,” Lambert added.

How often should they be cleaned?

It depends largely on where you live and, most importantly, how many trees are in your yard. Bob Vecchio, owner of The House Doctors in Cleveland, recommends having gutters maintained in the spring and fall.

“I recommend people calling me in the fall when all of their leaves are down or almost down, Vecchio says. “In the springtime, maple trees get those little helicopters that go everywhere, including into your gutter.”

Vecchio says it’s important to have a professional clean the downspouts as well because a clogged downspout "makes it hard for the rain to go down and that causes them to back up and overflow the gutter, which can cause damage to your home.”

 “It should be on everyone’s to-do list about every four months, depending on the tree climate,” he says. “In a high-yield environment, leaves fall all year-round. You can’t wait until the last leaf falls.”

Gutter covers reduce debris

Leaf guards significantly decrease the need for gutter maintenance, but they don’t eliminate the need completely.

Instead of every four to six months, you may only need to maintenance gutters with covers or screens every one to three years. The frequency of maintenance will depend on the quality of the cover and the type and quantity of trees in the yard.

Vecchio says a guard will not keep all the debris out, adding: “Up to 15 to 20 percent can still get in, and you still have to remove the guard. Sometimes you need a professional to do so.”

It’s important to purchase quality covers and screens if you want to effectively limit the need for gutter maintenance.

Do the job yourself or hire?

Although cleaning gutters is a task most homeowners can do themselves, it can be dangerous work. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, falls from ladders sent more than 240,000 Americans to hospital emergency rooms in 2009 (the most recent year available).

“I had a customer once that smashed both hips from falling off a ladder and received permanent injuries from it,” Curcio says. “That's one of the biggest things; safety. The second thing is a professional knows what they're looking at and can stop the problem before it gets worse. Gutter prevention is measured in pennies, and repairs are measured in dollars.”

*Source: Angieslist.com

Gutter Cleaning is a service that Best Home and Property Services proudly offers. Don’t put this important task off and don’t risk falling off a ladder because you tried to do it yourself! Call us to get the job done before it causes extra interior or exterior damage to your home!