Monday, February 2, 2015

How to Clean Gutters - DIY or Hire a Professional

If you’re like most homeowners, you dread the idea of having to clean your gutters. Depending on your environment, this task might need to be done every month or several times a year. The internet is filled with “do-it-yourself” videos on how to clean gutters, but which method is the safest route for you?
Before we delve into the “how to” portion of cleaning gutters, let’s first discuss why having clean gutters is functionally important to the health of your home. Gutters serve one purpose: to move water away from your home. By design, gutters clog very easily…quickly filling up with debris and standing water.
When your gutters are clogged, they prevent water from flowing away from the home. Instead water will overshoot the gutter, causing damage to the roof line and foundation of your home. As a homeowner, it is essential for you to maintain clean gutters to ensure that they function as intended. There are two ways to clean gutters: clean them yourself (NOT SAFE) or hire a professional gutter cleaning company (SAFE).
NOT SAFE
In order to clean your gutters yourself, you will need to collect the necessary tools. These include a ladder, gloves, plastic bags, a garden hose, and other various items. The tools will vary depending on how clogged your gutters are. Let’s face it, no homeowner has ever said that gutter cleaning is fun: you get on a ladder and pull wet, filthy, soggy lumps of leaves and debris out. This task has to be repeated often if you have trees surrounding the home, or neighborhood pests such as squirrels, snakes, or rats.
Cleaning gutters not only takes time, but it is also considered very dangerous. Homeowners put themselves at risk for injury when getting on a ladder. Each year, countless homeowners nationwide visit the emergency room for ladder related falls.
SAFE
Rather than cleaning gutters yourself, you might want to consider hiring a professional gutter cleaning company to clean your gutters. You can schedule a seasonal service and the cleaners will visit your home once a season to remove all debris from your gutters. This will help save you time and prevent any risk of injury from falling while cleaning your gutters. The only downside to hiring a company to clean your gutters is that you have to pay them for the service. This can quickly add up, especially if they visit your home more than once a year.
What is a better solution to keeping your gutters clean? The answer is simple: gutter protection. Investing in quality gutter protection ensures that your gutters are protected from debris year around, allowing them to perform as intended and prevent clogs. Installing gutter protection on your home gives you peace of mind that your foundation and roof are protected by clean, free-flowing gutters and this will keep more money in your pocket.
So the next time you ask “how to clean your gutters?” consider asking yourself this instead: “why not just get gutter protection?”

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