Gutters are designed to collect rainwater from the roof and divert it away from your home. When clogged, however, they can cause leaks and other structural damage. Clogged gutters are a common cause of roof leaks, especially if you have trees near your house. Branches, twigs, leaves, and other debris can fall into gutters year-round and fill them up.
Storms and wind conditions can also throw debris into gutters, creating an obstruction. When gutters become clogged with debris, water will settle until it begins to seep through the ceiling and walls. As this happens, you'll notice leaks inside your home, as well as cracks in the roof due to water. As time goes on, leaks will worsen until you remove stagnant water and clean the gutters. Your gutters and roof live side by side outside your house. Although the gutter keeps water away from your home, a clogged gutter will fill with liquid and overflow onto nearby structures, including the roof.
Since the water will move from the gutter to the roof, you can expect water to enter. You may have a blockage in gutters or downspouts if water flow decreases dramatically, so it's important to clean them regularly. If you can't do that, debris will build up in the gutters and overflow. This could cause damage to your home. If you have a blockage in your gutters, rain could flow over and around them to the pipes that go to the roof, leading to leaks in the pipes or directly through the roof shingles. The only way to confirm this is to have Gutter Helmet remove dirt from the gutters so they don't damage other parts of the house.
The best way to clean gutters is to hire professionals to ensure that the gutters are properly cleaned, unclogged and free of any debris that could cause future damage. Stains on the lining or on the downspouts and gutters are a telltale sign that the gutters have been overflowing due to an obstruction. The fasteners that hold the gutters in place may loosen over time, especially if you have an older gutter system. When you don't clean gutters regularly, organic matter tends to build up in the gutter system. If you notice a leak, find out where it came from and if the gutters are clean of debris before continuing work on your home or call a gutter company.
The problem is that most people don't notice leaks until there's an inch of water on their living room floor, and so they're forced to call a roofing company right away, which is fine, but why not avoid unnecessary damage by first cleaning the gutters twice a year? Fallen gutters alone aren't particularly harmful to your overall property, but as they begin to separate from the roof, the gutter could come off and take with it part of the outside of your home. If water spills quickly over the gutter, this probably simply means that the gutters are clogged and need cleaning. Cleaning the gutters in your house may not be the way you want to spend your free time, but if it isn't fixed, a clogged gutter could cause you to spend a lot of time and a lot of money fixing the many more problems they caused. Homeowners often clean their gutters every three years to ensure that debris doesn't obstruct rain gutters or downspouts. Gutter joints must be properly sealed so that water moves through the gutters instead of spilling out the sides or joints.
