Fox Lake Home Improvement Contractor
The most overlooked maintenance that every homeowner should know about!It's getting to be that time of the year when the leaves fall and gutters clog and if you're like most people you don't give much thought to your gutters until a problem arises. They say that the cleaning of the gutters is often the most overlooked maintenance issue on a home, and I can say that before I got into this business, I was one of those people who didn't realize how important it was to have your gutters cleaned. Some of the damage I have seen because of clogged or broken gutters is incredible.
There are several reasons to clean your gutters and the number one reason is when they are clogged. How do you know if your gutters are clogged? When you see little trees growing out of them it's a sure sign that they are clogged or if when it rains you see water spilling over the edge of them, they're clogged.
Clogged gutters can cause damage to your home, foundation, basement and even your landscaping. Wood rot is the most common problem caused by clogged gutters and the first thing to rot is the facia boards which hold the gutters onto the house. Winter ice dams are another common problem in the New England area that you can help prevent by simply keeping you gutters clean.
Besides damage to your house the standing water left in clogged gutters is a breeding ground for all types of mold and mildew but even worse than that are the mosquitoes! With the ever heightened threat of EEE in our area, we need to do everything we can in the battle against EEE and the other diseases that mosquitoes carry. Simply cleaning your gutters can help stop the spread of diseases.
A gutter guard system is something that covers the top of your gutters to prevent leaves, twigs, seeds, and other debris from every entering the system, but still allowing water to flow in unobstructed. There are two main types and both have advantages and disadvantages.
The first type of gutter guard is a screen. The screen will have holes in it that are large enough to let water in, but small enough to block out other debris. The size of the holes depends on what kind of debris is common near your home. If you have to deal with a lot of pine needles, then you may need smaller holes than someone who only has large deciduous trees nearby. This variety of protection will definitely limit the amount of trash in your gutters, but it will not eliminate it entirely. Therefore, you will still have to clean out the gutters occasionally. For this reason, it is a good idea to have screens that easily snap in and out rather than ones that are permanently attached. The main advantage of this system over the other one is that they are less expensive.
The second type of gutter guard works on the principle of water adhesion. There is a solid cover over most of the gutter, except there is a small slit at the front. The slit is actually slightly over the edge. As water and debris run down the slop of the roof, the debris will be carried over the edge of the house, but the water will adhere to the guard just a fraction longer; just long enough to fall through the slit and into the system. These guards let in almost no debris and you rarely have to clean out your gutters. You may need to occasionally clear away debris that collects on top of the guards like on the roof, but they are mostly a hands off system. The main disadvantage is that they are quite expensive.
Whatever gutter protection needs you have our professional staff has the years of experience and the training need to provide quality service that will assist you with keeping your homes gutter clean and clear for years to come. So if you are considering having your home protected with a quality gutter guard system give or professional staff a call today and see what they can do for you.
