Professional Gutter Cleaning: Is Your Home Summer Ready?

The summertime can be absolutely brutal on your home’s gutters. From intense sunshine, blazing humidity, and sudden summer storms, your guttering system takes a beating.

The best way to prepare your gutters for the onslaught of summer is with a professional gutter cleaning service, right at the change of seasons.

Their services typically range from inspections to cleaning, drainage testing, repairs, replacements. and more. Here’s a quick breakdown on how to get your home summer ready!

The Importance of Professional Gutter Cleaning and Maintenance

Why are gutters so important to your home anyway? Well, they play an integral role in protecting your home and its foundation from water damage. Gutters work to divert water away from vulnerable areas of your home, such as the roof, fascia boards, walls, and more.

Without regular gutter maintenance, this could lead to seriously expensive issues. It could compromise the integrity of your roof structure, cause mildew and algae to grow on your roof, and a host of other problems.

As mentioned, the change of seasons from spring to summer is the best time to look at gutter maintenance. This allows you enough time to address any chronic issues or serious damage after the cold and ice of winter.

The last time your gutters were cleaned or inspected was probably 6 months prior to this, just before the frost of winter.

If your gutters haven’t been cleaned out since the fall, chances are you could encounter issues such as rust, ice damming, fallen tree limbs, plenty of fallen debris, and general wear-and-tear.

Preparing your gutters before summer hits will allow a repairs contractor enough time to assess the damage and make any significant repairs, if needed.

Summer Storm Preparation

The summertime brings with it somewhat tumultuous weather, depending on the region you live in. But most of the time, summer weather brings booming thunderstorms, high rainfall, high winds, and even hail. Not to mention humidity and unexpectedly high temperatures.

All of this can take a serious toll on the condition of your gutters. Here’s how a professional will go about preparing them for the onslaught of unpredictable weather…

1. Debris Removal 

First thing’s first, a professional gutter cleaning service will assess the build-up of debris, ice dams, and dirt in your gutters, and remove it all.

The purpose of this step is to ensure your gutters are clear and visible so as to recognize any noticeable areas of damage.

Generally, a professional cleaning service removes debris such as leaves, sticks, pine needles, pine cones, dirt, and even birds nests.

2. Nest and Pest Removal 

Gutter systems make for the perfect cozy perch for small critters such as birds, rats, and other pests during the cold of winter. But by the time spring and summer comes around, nesting birds will have most likely fled and left empty nests behind.

A professional will check for empty bird’s nests and any other sign of life, and remove accordingly. Wasp nests are also fairly common in and amongst gutter systems. If these nests are still inhabited, a pest control company is enlisted for their removal.

3. Gutter Scrub Down 

Once all debris, nests, and pests have been sufficiently removed from your gutters, it’s time for a thorough scrub down. During this step, the team scrubs away any build-up of moss, algae, or mildew. This is simply achieved with a scrub brush and gentle abrasive or soap.

If certain areas are particularly stubborn when it comes to grime removal, this could point to a drainage problem and a specialist will be referred.

4. Damage Assessment 

After your gutters are clean and free from algae, moss, and mildew, it’s easier to identify areas of serious decay and damage.

This helps a professional gutter cleaning service to earmark areas of rust, holes that need filling, askew guttering, sagging guttering, and more.

From here, the cleaning team will refer or recommend the best type of repair contractor for your gutters.

5. Downspout Cleaning

Once gutters have been thoroughly cleaned, the team moves onto your downspouts, which are an integral part of your home’s guttering system.

Each downspout is cleared of any backed-up debris and flushed out for a smooth flow of water throughout the summer months.

Your downspouts will also be assessed for any wear-and-tear or damage and a repair contractor referred for the job.

6. Roof Clean and Assessment

Once all necessary clearing and cleaning is complete, your roof is given a thorough once-over as well. The cleaning team uses a high-powered blower to clear your roof of any debris build-up such as branches, leaves, and dirt.

Loose shingles can cause leaks and pooling water to stand and clog your gutters, which could eventually lead to a nasty pest infestation. If fascia boards are damaged, this could cause gutters to sag and eventually fall from your roof.

Any obvious areas of damage on your roof will be promptly earmarked and a repair contractor referred for the job.

7. Long-Term Gutter Projects

Since the weather in summer is a lot more hospitable than the winter months, this is the ideal time to begin on a long-term guttering project.

Something along the lines of full gutter replacement – installing new gutters and downspouts, is highly recommended in the summer months.

If you’re looking for the perfect contractor for the job, your professional gutter cleaning team should be able to recommend the best in the area.

Find Expert Gutter Cleaning With Labor Panes

If you’re looking for professional gutter cleaning, you’ve come to the right place with Labor Panes.

We offer an assortment of high-quality services to prepare your home and its roof for summer, such as gutter cleaning, polishing and gutter guards.

Take a look at some of our most recent gutter polishing work here.