The Advantages of Installing Gutter Shields

Your gutter system is an important part of your home as it properly disposes the water deflected by your roof. Many people tend to take their gutters for granted and only pay attention when a problem occurs and a contractor says that they are in such bad shape that they need to be replaced.

Preventing Gutter Maintenance Accidents

Proper cleaning, maintenance, and repair is essential for the longevity and functionality of gutters and roofs. For homes with sloped roofs, though, the simple act of cleaning gutters can prove to be a treacherous prospect. Thankfully, there are ways for you to avoid slip and fall accidents on your roof.

Rodents and Pests—The Other Threat to Your Gutters

The primary purpose of a reliable rain gutter system is to direct water away from your roof and home’s foundation to prevent any type of water or moisture damage. However, there are times when runoff isn’t the only thing that gets caught in your gutters. They may also become clogged with dead leaves and twigs.

Even worse, they can serve as the home of pesky creatures like rats and squirrels.

When these rodents find their way into the gutters through overhanging tree limbs, they may even give birth to a litter if you don’t find a way to deal with them as soon as possible.

If you don’t take the time to clean out your gutters, the accumulated, rotting debris inside them will start to attract insects and tiny rodents, which, in turn, draws in lizards and snakes – their primary predators.

Fortunately, there are many ways to keep various critters from living in your gutters. For instance, you can set up traps, place fright inducers (e.g. fake snakes, decoy owls or eagles), or make it a habit to regularly remove debris from your gutters.

Gutter guards are also useful since they are specially designed to allow proper drainage of rainwater or melted snow while simultaneously preventing animals from nesting in your gutters and keeping debris from clogging the system.

Factors that May Cause Gutter Downspouts to Fail

A downspout is the part of your gutter that leads rainwater from your roof to flow down into a safe location where it cannot be a problem to your home’s exterior walls and siding, nor to any landscape fixture. Sometimes, though, even sturdy downspouts may fail and cause the water to leak. Listed below are a couple of conditions where this can happen:

When too much debris has collected in your gutter and gets delivered through your downspout, they might get stuck in the elbow (the point where the tube angles away) or somewhere higher up. This might cause your downspout to give in to the sheer weight of rainwater or debris. Clogged downspouts might need professional technicians to take it apart and clean.

A loose downspout causes water damage to the areas near your gutter, since the runoff will no longer pass through the entirety of the tube. Check to see if the downspout opening is still firmly attached to the gutter; if some of the fasteners are missing, or if it otherwise seems about ready to come loose, call a professional and have it fixed immediately.

There is also the danger of water damage when the downspout is installed very close to the foundation of the house. In this case, the water will seep into the soil, and it may penetrate your basement or crawl space. Make sure your gutter downspouts drain at least six feet away from the foundation.