5 Signs It’s Time to Clean Your Gutters

When your gutters are left uncleaned, they can lead to various problems in your home. Clogged gutters are known to cause leaks in your roof, which can lead to expensive water damage. It’s important to know when to clean your gutters, and the best way to do this is to look for telltale signs that they need your attention.

Keep on reading, and you’ll see the top signs to look for:

1. Water Overflow

Clean gutters will catch rainwater and funnel it through the downspout to a drain on the floor. It’s a simple system that stops water from pooling when it rains heavily. So, a clear sign that you need to clean your gutters is when you see water pouring over the sides of your gutters, rather than going down the downspout. This indicates that there’s too much debris in your guttering, stopping the water from flowing properly. As a result, it starts to accumulate until it pours over the edge.

It’s very easy to notice this as you will end up with puddles around your house as well. This is a very big sign that your gutters are seriously clogged up, so you need to take action as soon as you can.

2. Downspout Blockage

We mentioned the downspout above, and it can also tell you if your gutters need to be cleaned. When the gutters become clogged and full of dirt/debris, the downspout basically no longer functions. You’ll see the water pouring over the sides of your rain gutters, but you will also notice a lack of water coming out of the downspout.

If you notice this, it shows that there is a serious blockage in your guttering. For no water to make it through the downspout is almost impressive. It means there’s enough of a blockage to stop any water traveling through, which will clearly lead to the overflow problem mentioned earlier. Again, swift action is demanded to rectify the situation.

3. Visible Streaks

Take a look at your gutters and see if you can spot any black streaks or spots on them. The best and safest way to do this is by looking out of a bedroom window. It gives you a closer view than if you stood outside, letting you see the finer details you might miss from below. Essentially, these black streaks are organic growth, which has probably formed due to overly dirty gutters.

What tends to happen is so much dirt and grime gets stuck together in your gutters, creating loads of bacteria. This clings to the gutters and forms mold spores, which are shown to be black or very dark green. Also, consider the effects of prolonged water damage on your gutters. Usually, rain gutters don’t have stagnant water sitting in them, but clogged ones will. Again, this can create black streaks – which are an absolute pain to get rid of. You really need to clean your gutters if you spot this because mold becomes almost impossible to clean when it starts to settle in. If you catch it early on, you can deal with it quite easily. However, if your gutters are full of black streaks and organic growth, they might need to be replaced.

4. Sagging Gutters

This is something you can look for from your bedroom window. Healthy and clean gutters will be relatively straight along the length of your roof. There shouldn’t be any dips in them, because there shouldn’t be much in them. So, when you notice that parts of your gutters are sagging down, it’s a massive warning sign. You have to ask yourself why they’re sagging, and the answer is that there’s so much debris in them that it weighs the gutters down.

Obviously, you need to clean your gutters to stop this problem from worsening. When cleaned, the gutters should go back to their normal shape, so there’s nothing to worry about. Of course, if you ignore this sign – or don’t spot it – the gutters will keep getting weighed down and sag further and further. It’ll reach a stage where your gutters break because they’re so heavy. Not only does this cause property damage, but it could be a massive safety hazard for anyone walking near your home.

5. Nesting Birds

Finally, if you see nests in your gutters, it’s definitely time to clean them. Birds will only make nests in a gutter when they’re clogged and messy. They see all the leaves and sticks there, and it’s like you’ve already done half the work for them. It’s the perfect place for them to lay some eggs – which is something you want to avoid. Getting rid of a bird’s nest with eggs in is considerably more challenging than removing one before the bird has properly moved in.

With that in mind, don’t just keep an eye on any telltale signs of a nest, be on the lookout for birds landing on your guttering. If you see some landing on there with sticks and things in their mouth, you must get your gutters cleaned to scare them away!

Avoid problems with regular gutter cleaning

Keep an eye out for all of the signs we’ve mentioned in this guide. When you spot any of them, you should take immediate action to clean your gutters. Or, you can make your life easier with regular gutter cleaning. It’s recommended that you clean your gutters at least twice a year – maybe more depending on the circumstances.

You can clean your gutters in one of two ways: use a sturdy ladder and then manually remove all the debris with some gardening gloves, or use a long cleaning device to reach your gutters from the ground. In either case, you want to clean out all the dirt and stuff that’s stuck in them, allowing your gutters to work properly.

Alternatively, you can opt for professional gutter cleaning. It’s more convenient, less risky for you, and your gutters will be cleaned more thoroughly. If this interests you, contact Top Care Cleaning at 616 530-9129 for more info!