Keep Your Gutters Clean to Prevent Home Repairs Down the Road

A few leaves and twigs stuck in your gutters may not seem like a big deal, but they can add up to major problems down the road if your gutters aren’t cleaned regularly. Some home care experts claim that regular gutter cleaning is the single most important step in avoiding major home repair costs.

The purpose of your gutter system is to control the flow of water around your home. And since we get an average of around 40 inches of precipitation a year here in the Kansas City area, controlling all that water can become pretty important. When you consider that every inch of rain that falls can put literally thousands of pounds of water on your roof, the importance of a clean gutter becomes even more obvious.

Nobody wants to get out and clear debris from their gutters during the cold of winter, so leaves and twigs can accumulate that create blockages for melting snow and spring rains. Clean gutters can help prevent all manner of long-term problems, including:

• Flooded Basements and Foundation Problems: Clogged gutters can cause excess water around your foundation, which can lead to cracks, settling, and basement flooding and water damage. In fact, clogged gutters are the number one cause of water problems in your basement.
• Leaking Roofs: A blocked gutter can lead to all kinds of roof damage. If ice and snow builds up on your roof, it can prevent thawing ice and snow or fresh rainwater from draining properly, leading to ruined shingles and leaking roofs, which can in turn lead to water damage on walls and ceilings.
• Rotten Wood: With nowhere else to go, water can leak onto wood fascia, trim, molding, and other surfaces around your house—including decks and porches—and cause wood rot.
• Rusted Gutters: Water is meant to flow through your gutter system, not stand in it, and water that sits too long in blocked metal gutters can cause the gutters themselves to rust through.
• Slippery Sidewalks: An overflowing gutter will lead to flooding along your sidewalks, which can be slippery in the best of circumstances, and can become a real hazard if there’s a late spring freeze.
• Damaged Driveways: Gutter problems also tend to deposit water onto driveways, which can deteriorate the driveway over time, leading to sagging or cracking, or simply wearing away the surface.
• Insects & Other Pests: The twigs, leaves, and other gunk that collects in a clogged gutter is also a perfect nesting and breeding ground for insects—including mosquitoes—and other pests.

A good, thorough spring gutter cleaning can spare you a lot of time, expense, and misery down the road. And if it’s time to replace your old, worn out guttering system, seamless guttering from Continental Siding is just the ticket to make your home look lovely while also keeping it safe from flooded basements, foundation problems, water damage, rotten wood, and other home repair disasters!

This article was brought to you by Continental Siding in Kansas City, your Midwest siding company. We’re a leading provider of home improvement products and services that aim to help them keep homes looking great and performing well.