How to Take Care of Your Gutters by the Season

One of the biggest misconceptions about gutter maintenance is that you need to do it only during the autumn season. While it’s true that you need to tend to them more in the fall, year-round gutter inspection and maintenance can go a long way in lightening your workload.

Not getting your gutters cleaned over a long time can cost you both monetarily, as well as in terms of labor and frustration. Poorly working or non-functional gutters can have an adverse impact on your home’s foundation and internal structure. In fact, avoiding gutter maintenance season after season can translate into massive weekend-killing projects for you in the future.

Therefore, it’s worthwhile to inspect your gutters every season and spend some time on their maintenance every now and then. Doing a semi-annual home checkup is the minimum to keep things up and running, and a gutter check should be a part of that as well.

Here we are with a few tips that will come in handy in keeping your gutters clean during different seasons, ensuring year-round efficiency. And since cleaning gutters usually involves using ladders, the article will also throw some light on how to stay safe and sound.

Gutter cleaning during the spring season should form an important part of your spring cleaning. Spring is that season of the year when you don’t have to be on your toes to keep your gutters clean. All you need to do is check if they suffered any damage during the winter season.

So, check the gutters for cracks and sags. Also, try finding out if the rising water levels from clogged gutters somehow got into your attic. Moreover, in case you couldn’t clean your gutters in the previous season, you can do so in the spring season, as the weather will likely be quite pleasant.

Summer is the prime time for gutter and downspout cleaning since the temperature is quite favorable. Take some time out to scrape the hardened sediment deposited at the bottom of the gutters.

Summer storms and prolonged hot periods can put your gutters at great risk, as they are consistently exposed to the elements. Moreover, afternoon thunderstorms during the summer season can shake things loose from trees in close vicinity.

Therefore, keep a tab on the state of your gutters to ensure that there isn’t much debris accumulated there. Also, check and reattach gutter guards and shields that might have become loose or dented over time.

Autumn is undoubtedly the season where you need to put in maximum effort to care for your gutters and downspout. Make sure that you get rid of any debris to avoid the freezing and subsequent clogging of your gutters.

Gutter maintenance during the autumn season is important not only because piles of wet leaves can clog your gutters and downspouts, but also because they are a safe haven for pests like mosquitoes, ants, etc. Installing a gutter guard might help, but it’s no guarantee that your gutters will be totally clog-free! Give your gutters a high-pressure spray down and then put on plastic gloves to get rid of any remaining debris. If you are somewhat unsure about whether or not you can do it on your own, consider calling a gutter cleaning professional to do it for you.

The winter season calls for some rest and observation as far as gutter maintenance is concerned. Keep an eye on ice damming. If you see icicles hanging off your gutters, it means that heat is escaping your home. To counter this, you can install heat tape on the gutters. This will produce heat, which will take care of the ice blockage occurring from water getting frozen in the gutters and downspouts.

Doing this is important as ice blockage can damage your roof, because the water doesn’t flow freely through the drainage system due to gutters getting clogged by ice. Also, you should avoid doing any ladder work to clean the gutters as the ground could be slippery and uneven because of the snow and ice.

There are many ways to stay safe doing winter roof work, and the same principles apply to gutter cleaning - and not only in winter!

While keeping your gutters clean is necessary all year long, you need to try different things during each season for the upkeep of your gutters and downspouts.

Gutter maintenance during each season is mostly about taking stock of the damage that’s been caused in the previous season, and then getting ready to prepare for the arrival of the next season. Not all seasons demand the same amount of effort but tending to the gutters each season will guarantee that your gutters stay clean and in perfect condition.