Winter is fully upon us, and if you haven’t taken the time to prepare your gutters, now is the time! Winterizing your gutters can help protect your gutters from damaging ice dams. In addition, it can help protect your home, your home’s foundation, and even your landscaping and driveway from water damage.
Why should you winterize your gutters?
The primary goal in winterizing your gutters? Making sure that gutters are free from any debris or blockages that will prevent water from flowing freely through your gutters. If water can’t find its way out of your gutters, when temperatures drop below freezing, the water will turn to ice. The ice can cause your gutters to crack, sag away from your roof-line, or fall off entirely.
The heavy, damaged gutters can cause damage to your roof that can lead to roof leaks. When spring hits, the ice and snow melt from your gutters. In turn, the damaged gutters won’t be able to whisk the water safely from your home. This leads to flooding and damage along with your foundation or in your landscaping beds. Consequently, it can also cause water to back up within your roof-line.
How do you winterize your gutters?
Gutter “winterization” begins with a good gutter cleaning. While it’s a job few people enjoy doing – clearing away leaves, animal nests, twigs and other debris – its the only way to ensure that water will flow freely through your gutters. Guaranteeing water won’t be able to freeze in place and cause damaging dams this winter. Even if you have installed gutter screens or other gutter contraptions to keep leaves from piling up in your gutters, you still will need to get up on a ladder and manually clean out the gutters. Even with gutter screens or brushes in place to keep out leaves, debris can still become trapped and cause dams within your gutters.
Another key component of gutter “winterization” is a good gutter inspection. While you are up on your ladder clearing away debris, check your gutters for cracks, holes, separated seams, or other damage. Check downspouts to make sure they are debris free and securely in place. Make sure that your gutters have not pulled away from your home’s roof-line or started to sag. Also, you may want to complete a visual inspection of your gutters when it’s raining. Cracks, holes, and loose downspouts that aren’t apparent may become very obvious, once water starts pouring down. If you do notice any damage in your gutters, make sure you repair it immediately. That means patching holes and cracks, re-affixing downspouts, and securing sagging gutters to your roof-line.
What should you do if you find badly damaged gutters?
If you notice that your gutters are badly damaged as you winterize your home, call The Gutterman of TN to schedule a consultation! We can help to repair or replace your damaged gutters to keep your home safe from water damage this winter. Do you want gutters that don’t require regular cleaning and semi-annual maintenance? Talk to The Gutterman about seamless gutters and SafeGuard Gutter Guards!