Have you ever thought about how your gutters play a role in keeping you safe? It may seem like an afterthought, but your gutters are actually key to preventing some major dangers. Here are six dangers that clean gutters can help prevent.
1.Structural Damage to Your Home
To start off with, the functions of a gutter include draining water off of the roof and redirecting it to a place where it can’t do any harm to your property. Now, houses are built to be sturdy, but they have their weaknesses, one of which is water. Water can wear down the foundation of a house if it seeps down through the soil next to the walls of the house. Gutters that are clean and drain properly keep this from happening, but dirty, blocked-up gutters do the opposite, overflowing and dropping more water which soaks into the soil, causing it to swell, and placing stress on the house’s foundation underground. This stress can cause cracks, and needless to say, a house with a damaged foundation is expensive to repair, so it really does pay to keep your gutters in working order.
2.Damaged Roofing
If your gutters can’t drain properly, it can become a real problem as the weather gets colder. Gutters filled with water freeze during the winter months, and any additional water that makes it to the gutters, instead of flooding over, will freeze as well, making what are known as ice dams. This can easily overload the gutters and roof with more weight than either can handle and cause damage that weakens or even collapses parts of the gutters and roof. This is expensive to replace, and until it is repaired, that damage can easily cause flooding, leaking, and drafts.
Also, the water that gets trapped on your roof due to ice dams can seep underneath the roof shingles. If that trapped water freezes and expands, it can force the shingles out of position, and open lasting gaps where water can leak through the roof, leaving you with a mess during wetter weather. Gutters keep this kind of buildup and damage from occurring.
3. Basement Flooding
There’s nothing fun about having to clean up a flooded basement, and in fact, it can be a serious hazard. On the more mild side, you could lose valuable items and furniture to water damage and ruin the interior look of your basement. Some of the more serious risks connected with a flooded bottom floor can include electrical shocks and leaking gas pipes. This can happen if the water level in your basement reaches your wiring. Basement flooding also causes your house to develop mold, which can cause problems for people with allergies as well as causing respiratory diseases and disorders. Damage from basement flooding is very costly to fix, and one of the ways to prevent it is clean gutters.
4.Gutter Cleaning Prevent Fires
When you think about what you would expect to clean from a gutter, what do you think of? Maybe it’s a bit of an unsavory topic, but with all the dead leaves, pine needles, twigs, and other little bits that fall off the trees nearby all crowding your gutters, there is a serious risk of fires starting, especially during the warm summer months. It’s one of the most unexpected dangers associated with clogged gutters, but it’s a serious concern. When dried
out in the summer sun, all the leaves and twigs end up acting like kindling, and this is especially a concern during droughts or dry spells. The summer heat can be enough to start a fire in your gutters that can quickly reach your house. It is fortunately, a rare occurrence, but unquestionably one worth avoiding.
5.Water Damage to your Driveway and Asphalt
Spills and leaks from a house’s gutters can soak into driveways and sidewalks that they fall on, causing the asphalt to expand and eventually crack, causing damage very similar to how water can damage the foundations of a home, as mentioned in our first reason for gutter cleaning. In this case, the damage, fortunately, doesn’t affect the stability of your entire house, but it does carry its’ own risks. The main risk of cracked, uneven roads is the danger of losing your balance, whether it’s while walking on foot or, in the case of children, it’s while using things like bikes, rollerblades, or scooters. It can even present a danger for adults if they’re walking on a cracked, uneven surface while doing activities where they can’t watch their footing, like carrying large objects.
6.Dirty Gutters Attract Pests
We’re sure that the thought of what collects in your gutters must not sound too appetizing to you, but there are several kinds of insects and vermin who would love nothing more than what contains there. Full gutters attract the kinds of pests who enjoy snacking on the clutter that collects there. One problem with this, of course, is the bacteria that these unwanted guests can bring with them. Another problem occurs when the pests in question decide to set up shop, so to speak, by sneaking into your house through cracks in the roofing, walls, or foundations to gain protection from the elements outside. If this happens, they can be extremely difficult to lure out and get rid of. You may need to hire an exterminator, maybe even more than once depending on how bad the situation is. So clean your gutters and give these pests the message that they aren’t welcome in your house.
It’s true! Without clean gutters, water can build up and damage your roof, foundation, and other parts of your home. For further information,
