Your home’s gutters play a more important role in keeping your house in good shape than you might think. When heavy rain waters come down, your home’s gutters help control where the rainwater goes. If your gutters aren’t working properly, then they may cause some serious issues.
To ensure they’re working as they should, it’s important to know when your gutters need to be cleaned. Keeping them cleaned out ensures they’re functioning as they should. Do you know if your gutters need a good cleaning?
For seven signs that your house’s gutters need to be cleaned, continue reading below!
1. The Gutter Is Sagging
Natural debris like leaves and twigs from your yard’s trees accumulate in the gutters if you don’t clean them out regularly.
Once debris builds up inside the gutters, it blocks rainwater from draining out of the gutters properly. When the rainwater has nowhere to go, it’ll cause damage to your gutters.
When the weight of all the debris and water becomes too much for the gutters to handle, they’ll begin to sag. This is a sure sign that it’s time to clean them out.
The use of gutter guards will help protect your gutters from accumulating debris.
2. The Rainwater Is Overflowing
The purpose of having gutters on a home is so that the rainwater is drained off to the side of the house.
The gutters keep the rainwater away from the siding of the house, which would cause damage otherwise. Another good way to tell if your gutters need cleaning is if you notice that rainwater has begun to overflow from the gutter, creating a waterfall effect.
If you notice this, quickly clean the gutter out, as rainwater flowing onto your home’s siding will cause damage to the house.
3. There’s Standing Water Near Your Home’s Foundation
Be sure to look around your home for any standing water near the house’s foundation.
When rainwater overflows from the gutters, it creates pools of standing water near the house. This is extremely important to fix right away because any standing water on the house’s foundation can actually ruin it.
This is due to the heavy water causing the soil to expand, which puts pressure on the foundation. The foundation can eventually crack.
4. Birds and Other Critters Are in Your Gutters
It’s not uncommon for small insects to make their way into your gutters.
When you start seeing birds and other small critters, such as mice or squirrels, in your gutters, you know there’s a problem. The reason why these little critters would want to be in your gutters is that there is a build up of leaves, twigs, and dirt that create a comfy home for them.
They also work as a means of protection for them. So, if you see or hear these critters running around your gutters, then you know it’s time to have them cleaned out.
5. Plants Are Growing in Your Gutters
If you’ve noticed that your gutters have transformed into little gardens, then there might be a build up of dirt.
When plants and flowers begin to sprout up from the gutter, it’s time to give it a nice cleaning. Dirt can build up in the gutters when the wind carries it onto the roof and then the rain brings it down into the gutters.
This makes an ideal location for plants to grow. If you see sprouting plants, then you know your gutters need to be cleaned.
6. Water in the Walls and Stains on the Walls
Noticing wet spots in the walls of your home is a sure sign of water damage. And if the water has made visible wet spots in the walls, then there’s been a problem for quite some time now.
Also, be on the lookout for stains or streaks on your house’s sidings. This is due to water overflowing from the gutters and dripping down your house’s sidings.
You’ll need to clean the gutters out to prevent any more damage from happening.
7. It’s Been a While Since the Last Cleaning
The best schedule to follow for cleaning out your gutters is to have them cleaned at the end of each season.
With each season comes different obstacles that your gutters will have to get past. In the winter, snow and dirt will get stuck in them. During the fall, leaves are the number one concern.
As long as you clean them at the end of each season, they should remain in good shape. If it’s been a long time since the last cleaning, then there’s a good chance that you need to clean them as soon as possible. Clean them out now, and then keep to the season schedule.
And depending on if your house sits under certain trees or not, you might not have to clean them out as often.
Do Your Gutters Need to Be Cleaned?
So, do your gutters need to be cleaned?
These 7 signs are a good way to tell if your gutters are past-due for their cleaning. Don’t wait until it’s too late to prevent damage. Clean your gutters out now and stop water damage before it happens!
Also consider purchasing and installing a gutter guard to help keep out any leaves, sticks, twigs, and other debris from building up inside them.
Want to learn more about tips and tricks regarding your home? Be sure to check out our other posts under our For The Home section!
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