How To Clean The Gutters on Your House to prevent potential water damage

8/26/2020 (Permalink)

Cleaning your gutters twice a year will help prevent water damage.

Gutters — they're your house's primary precipitation protection, as long as they're clear and working properly. If they're not, your house could suffer from mold growth, damp basements, a leaky roof, even interior and foundation damage over time. The longer you let your gutters go unchecked, the more expensive repairs you'll be looking at down the line.

In order to stave off this damage, it's a good rule of thumb to clean your gutters twice a year in the spring and fall. However, if you live near pine trees, you'll probably want to up that amount to four, because pine needles are infamous gutter cloggers.

It's relatively easy to do the cleaning yourself as long as you have the right tools and safety in mind.

Before you set out to clean your gutters, make sure you have all the tools you'll need to do it safely and properly.

A good extendable ladder. Make sure it has standoff stabilizers or ladder horns, as they'll help keep your ladder from damaging your gutters by leaning on them.

Heavy-duty gloves, preferably ones with gripping on the fingers and palms. It's also a good idea to wear latex gloves under your work gloves to keep your hands from getting wet.

A large tarp for your lawn. It's a great place to throw the gunk you find in your gutters. There's often much more than a garbage bag can hold, so this will allow you to get the job done in one fell swoop rather than having to empty the garbage bag every few feet.

A long hose with a powerful nozzle.

A trowel or scoop.