Few homeowners look forward to climbing their ladders to clear the muck and debris from their gutters. But failing to do so can have major impacts on your home that could lead to even bigger messes and even expensive property damage. Especially in winter, when gutters are working overtime to shutter rain, sleet and melting snow from your roofline, keeping your gutters clean is crucial. Here’s why keeping your gutters clean is so important.
Preventing Roof Damage
A new roof is an expensive home repair. Fortunately, roofs can last for decades, provided their properly cared for. One of the best things you can do to protect your roof from damage is to clean your gutters! When your gutters are clogged, water and wet debris back up into your roofline. It can cause the roof to rot, mold and decay. If neglected for too long, clogged gutters can even cause water to back up underneath your roof, where it can cause the roof joists and support to warp or rot. Roof replacement becomes even more extensive and costly when gutters are neglected year after year. Water freezing in the gutters or along the roofline can drive water up under the roof even faster in winter months. Prevent roof damage by making sure your gutters are clear this winter.
Keeping Gutters Healthy
Like your roof, your gutters are made to last for decades. But dirty gutters will break down prematurely. Debris rotting in the gutters can cause gutters to rot and crack. The weight of debris, or ice that freezes in clogged gutters when water can’t get through, can cause gutters to sag away from your home or even break away entirely. Keep your gutters healthy by keeping them clean from debris.
Protecting Your Walkways and Driveways
Keeping water away from your home becomes even more important in the winter. Fluctuating winter temperatures can cause water to melt one day and freeze the next. When water pours from your home on a sunny day, it can do major damage to your walkways, driveways and masonry landscape features when temperatures drop again. That’s because concrete, stone, brick and other masonry materials absorb water. When temperatures drop and water freezes within the masonry material, cracks and holes form. Keeping your gutters clean can protect your walkway, driveway or masonry landscape feature from freeze-thaw damage.
Preserving Your Foundation
Just as the freeze-thaw cycle can damage your walkways, it can damage your foundation! In fact, the main purpose of gutters is to shutter water away from your foundation. Any time of year, water pooling around your foundation can cause everything from a flooded basement to a shifting foundation. In the winter, as the water around your home freezes and thaws, causing the ground around your home to contract and expand, water around your foundation can become even more dangerous. Gutters need to be kept clear year round to protect your foundation from water damage.
If you hate cleaning your gutters but want to protect your home from water and ice damage all year, The Gutterman of TN has a solution for you: SafeGuard Gutter Guards! Call us today to hear how gutter guards can keep your gutters flowing while eliminating the need for gutter cleaning.