Gutter cleaning may seem like one of those dull routine jobs, but it really is essential. Many seriously damaging and expensive property problems can stem from clogged and overflowing gutters, including:
- Foundation damage. The last place you’d imagine could be affected by gutters all the way up on the roof is the foundations of your house. However, it’s easy to see how it happens. Gutters channel water away from the house. A blockage causes water to overflow and spill down the sides of the house. It pools on the ground and over time, sinks into your foundations. This can cause cracks, rotting and in a worst-case scenario, structural instability. If you have a cellar, it is very likely that water seeping down into the ground will cause flooding too.
- Wood frames, panels and fascias. Just like with the foundations, water spilling over the sides of the house can cause damage to window frames, doors, panels, cladding and fascias. These may be suitable for external use, but they’re not designed to be constantly soaked. Over time, the wood will start to rot and will need to be replaced. Worse still, water can start to enter the property.
- Roof damage. A blockage in the gutters causes rainwater to back up, which can cause damage to your roof tiles and other parts of the roof structure. Leave it too long and the materials will rot, letting water in and eventually causing instability in the roof structure.
- Waterlogging in the garden. An excess of rainwater that isn’t being channelled safely into the drains as it should do will spill over the house and pool in the garden. For a short while, grass, slopes and other natural drainage will keep waterlogging at bay. But if you don’t get the problem with the gutters fixed quickly, all the ground around your property could quickly turn into a swamp. Flower beds, trees, shrubs, plants and garden structures could all be destroyed.
These problems are all an expensive nightmare to fix, so make sure you keep those gutters clean!
