Your Guide to Cleaning Out Gutters Before Summertime

As summer storms get closer, it also becomes more vital to prep your home, including its roof and gutters. After all, you want to make sure your roof doesn’t have any leaks and your home's gutters are working perfectly before rainy weather rolls into the Blue Ridge area!

Cleaning gutters should be part of your normal home maintenance. But if you’ve just moved into a new property or if you haven’t cleaned out your gutters before, you’ve come to the right place. Let us show you the best tips for cleaning out gutters safely and effectively.

How often should gutters be cleaned?

Keeping your gutters clean and clear is an important job – without clear gutters, water won’t flow from your roof to safe areas around your property or into the sewer system. Accumulating water can cause roof damage or even pool around the foundation of your home, leading to cracks and other structural instability.

To stop these things from happening, it’s a good idea to make sure you're cleaning your gutters at least once per season, although you can stretch it to once or twice per year if they don’t tend to get clogged with debris very easily. Of course, if you notice that your gutters are clogged frequently, clean them as soon as you see they aren’t funneling water properly!

How do you know if your gutters need cleaning?

It's usually easy to tell when your gutters could do with a thorough cleaning. Some of the most common signs that it's time to clean your gutters include:

• Water doesn’t flow freely out of them
• You see bending or sagging gutters
• There’s debris clearly sticking out of them

On top of that, you might need to completely replace your gutters if you see that they’re cracked, dented, or sagging off the side of your roof. Never let broken gutters stay for long – they’re potential hazards for you and any guests.

Tips for cleaning out gutters before storms

On the bright side, cleaning gutters isn’t usually too much of a hassle, even if they’re full of debris like sticks, twigs, leaves, or gunked-up ice that hasn’t thawed just yet. Here's what we recommend for cleaning rain gutters on your Blue Ridge home.

Call a contractor (most of the time)

It’s tempting to simply clean out your gutters yourself. But it’s actually much smarter and safer to call a contractor in most cases.

Experienced contractors have the right tools and expertise for cleaning gutters carefully without putting themselves or others at risk. If your gutters are very clogged, if you have a two or three-story home with tall gutters, or if you think your gutters might be weak from wear and tear, call a contracting team to take a look. That way, you won’t risk an accidental fall or further damage to your roof or gutter system.

Get the right tools for cleaning gutters

If you think your gutters are easy to clean, or if you have plenty of experience completing this work safely, you need to make sure you have the right tools before beginning. These include:

• A tough, secure extension ladder
• A garden hose and spray nozzle
• Rubber gloves
• A gutter scoop or some other scooping tool

Remove big debris by hand

When you climb up a ladder to start cleaning your gutters, use your hands or the scooping tool to get rid of any larger debris, like chunks of ice, leaves, or big sticks. Toss this debris over the side instead of flushing it into your gutters’ downspouts; chunky debris can get stuck inside and cause other problems.

Use a hose to flush your gutters

Once most of the larger debris is gone, carefully lead your hose up the ladder and have an assistant, like a family member, turn it on. Use the hose water to flush your gutters completely. A spray or pressure nozzle will help you produce enough water pressure to punch through any debris that might be stuck in the downspouts. If it all goes smoothly, you should see free, uninterrupted water flow out of your downspouts in a matter of seconds.

Check for wear and tear

If you’re already examining your gutters, take a moment to check them for wear and tear. Cracks, dents, sagging, or other signs of structural instability mean you need to call contractors to take a look and potentially replace gutter pieces.

Consider gutter upgrades

It's important to make sure you're inspecting and cleaning your gutters at least once or twice per year. But you can prevent larger debris from getting through and make your gutter cleaning chores easier if you upgrade your home's gutter system with gutter guards.

The Leaf Relief Gutter Guards, for instance, are super effective improvements to your home’s gutters. They’ll keep your gutters clear of debris, bird nests, and a lot more – all without voiding your roof’s warranty. Gutter guards of any type could be a smart investment, saving you time and money in the long run.

With the right partners, you can invest in effective gutter guards and have an experienced contractor clean out your gutters for you. Window World of the Blue Ridge has the trust of hundreds of homeowners just like you, and we’re the perfect people to tackle gutter upgrades or other projects around your property. Request a free quote or visit us in person to learn more about our gutter products and installation services!