Cleaning your gutters several times a year is a chore most homeowners dread. Without Leaf Gutter Guards, leaves and other debris quickly accumulates into clogs that damage your home’s foundation and cause flooding. After installation of leaf gutter guards, it will be necessary to remove any debris trapped on top of them so that water flows accordingly.
How to Keep Your Leaf Gutters Clean
Here are a few steps to keep your leaf gutters properly maintained to prevent any issues from occurring.
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Gather Cleaning Supplies
To clean your leaf guard gutters properly, you need to gather a ladder, gloves, goggles, bucket, garden spade, and garden hose so that you can test the gutters and guards for proper water drainage. You also need a large piece of plastic or drop cloth on the ground to throw the debris upon as you remove it from the gutters. It makes clean-up an easy task to accomplish as you will not have to rake up the yard afterward.
Keeping the Gutter Guards Clean
Gutter guards, while highly effective, will likely have buildup during the springtime as pollen, seed pods, buds, and leaves fall on the roof during storms. It is also a good idea to check during the fall as trees begin to shed their greenery. Without a mesh, small debris will also clog guards, which will cause water to freefall onto the ground and cause rising damp and soil erosion.
Safety is the most important step when cleaning your gutter guards. Each year, more than 10,000 construction workers fall off roofs making it one of the highest rated fatalities in the workplace. When cleaning your gutters, you need to ensure you use proper safety protocols including the use of harnesses and ropes to tie down the ladder so that it does not fall sideways.
Remove Debris
After securing the ladder, put on your gloves and goggles and climb on the roof. Begin by sweeping off the roof as tree limbs, pine needles, pollen, pinecones and trash that around during storms. Next, remove the leaves and debris that are atop the guards or inside the gutters. Use either a bucket or throw the debris off the roof onto plastic sheeting or drop cloths.
Begin to remove one section of the leaf gutter guards and place them on the roof. Some have clips or attachments that keep the guards in place, so be sure you make an assessment before removing them so that you know where and how to replace them in their proper spaces. It is helpful to use a garden spade to get any hardened or sticky material stuck inside the gutters.
After thoroughly checking the roof, gutters, and guards, you are ready to reattach each gutter guard carefully. You next want to make sure that there are no leaks in the gutters. Also, check for clogs in the downspout which is easy to do using a garden hose with a pressure grip. If any clogs exist, the high-pressure water can unblock any obstacles and wash it downward.
With regular maintenance and cleaning, your gutter guards will last decades and will ensure you have a proper water drainage system in place to protect your home’s structural integrity.
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