Posted by jaclarge | Posted in Blog | Posted on 17-09-2009
You’ve heard the expression if you want to catch a (insert bad person here) you have to get right into the gutter with them. With leaves in your home’s gutters, it’s the same thing. I know there are gutter covers, screens, helmets, guards etc., but even if you have those, you still need to clean your gutters. It’s like the old Hoosier poem;
The gutters need a-cleaning sir, the gutters need a-cleaning.
Sticks and dirt and lots of leaves, the gutters need a-cleaning.
You paid good money for the guard, the helmet or other contraptions,
But my friend, your gutters are clogged, need hands to dig out obstructions.
Sooner or later with time and weather, with leaf dust and gravity,
Goo collects in the bottom which has to be cleaned to set the water free.
I know it’s tough, it really is, like a calf taken from mothers’ udders
But in the fall, one way or the other, Please Clean Out Your Gutters!
Remarkably, I have seen a lot of gutters overflow this year; maybe I’m paying more attention. I’ve routinely seen gutters that have started to droop due to leaf weight or even have small tree seedlings sprout and grow to 12″-18″ high. If you’re one of those people, or even if you haven’t had any problems yet, get your gutters cleaned out before Winter.
With the onset of snow and rain, freezing/thawing ice dams will quickly form. These dams quickly cause water (either snow melt or rain) to suddenly leave stains on your ceilings or worse, have water enter your home and cause all kinds of damage.
So, even if you’ve paid for some gutter contraption or haven’t had any problems with water or leaks yet, have someone get up on the roof and inspect your gutters and clean them out once a year. Take it from my personal experience, you don’t want to deal with roof leaks in the Wintertime, it’s like being “taken from mother’s udders.”