Back
Gutters and Down Spouts:
If you live within a grove of trees or have even a few trees that are taller than the eaves of your home, leaves will collect on the roof and will end up in the gutters.
Cleaning of gutters is normally one of the last chores required for outside maintenance prior to winter fully taking over for a number of months. One of the signs without having to be on a long ladder or on the roof of your roof is to look at the type of materials found at the bottom of the down spouts after a last fall rain. With clean gutters you should find very little debris at the point of exit of the spouts. Normally you should find only slight signs of gravel / grains from the shingles. If you find debris looking more like mud and silt at the spout ends this would signs of plugged gutters. At the point of attachment between the gutters to the beginning of the down spouts is where the most collection of leaves and mud debris is normally found. Garden hoses and a possible narrow rake maybe required to clean-out the debris from the gutters allowing for free flow of rain water.
Also, make sure that the spout ends have either extensions installed or splash blocks installed to divert the water run off away from the house foundation. Foundation and their possible cracks do not know the difference between winter and summer for leaking. Foundation repairs on the exterior of a foundation to stop a leak with frozen ground and ice and snow is expensive and messy.
Also, check soffits for signs of improper water flow within the gutter. This can cause water to built up in the gutter, flow over into the eaves and soffits causing internal leaks and rot.
If you live within a grove of trees or have even a few trees that are taller than the eaves of your home, leaves will collect on the roof and will end up in the gutters.
Cleaning of gutters is normally one of the last chores required for outside maintenance prior to winter fully taking over for a number of months. One of the signs without having to be on a long ladder or on the roof of your roof is to look at the type of materials found at the bottom of the down spouts after a last fall rain. With clean gutters you should find very little debris at the point of exit of the spouts. Normally you should find only slight signs of gravel / grains from the shingles. If you find debris looking more like mud and silt at the spout ends this would signs of plugged gutters. At the point of attachment between the gutters to the beginning of the down spouts is where the most collection of leaves and mud debris is normally found. Garden hoses and a possible narrow rake maybe required to clean-out the debris from the gutters allowing for free flow of rain water.
Also, make sure that the spout ends have either extensions installed or splash blocks installed to divert the water run off away from the house foundation. Foundation and their possible cracks do not know the difference between winter and summer for leaking. Foundation repairs on the exterior of a foundation to stop a leak with frozen ground and ice and snow is expensive and messy.
Also, check soffits for signs of improper water flow within the gutter. This can cause water to built up in the gutter, flow over into the eaves and soffits causing internal leaks and rot.
