What Happens During A Biannual Gutter Inspection?

Gutters perform a critical task of diverting rain water away from a home’s foundation. However, they end up collecting lots of dead branches, leaves, dirt, and other debris. As such, it is advisable to inspect the gutters at least twice a year in order to make certain they are enduring the elements well, continuing to do their job and they are free of debris as well as dirt accumulation.

During a biannual inspection, ensure to have the gutters and eaves troughs thoroughly cleaned, the slope of the horizontal sections at the edge of the roof checked, and the drainage coming out of the downspouts examined. If you opt to carry out these undertakings yourself, then you must have tools such as garden hoses, ladders and gloves in your possession.

Make things easier by including several digging tools for removing stubborn debris from your gutters. A couple of buckets, one for carrying equipments and the other for holding dirt and leaves, are also recommended. A biannual gutter and eaves-trough inspection includes:

Debris removal

Removing pine needles and leaves by hand is quite time-consuming and ineffective. After all, you are only able to clean an arm’s length of gutter on either side of wherever you place your ladder. The best easy to go about this undertaking to use the right debris removing tools. Utilize a long tool to push debris in piles that are easier to collect. Make sure to wear protective things such as gloves, aprons, and the likes. Once all the debris has been piled, utilize a trowel to remove it from your gutters. The inside of the gutter trough sometimes has a number of sharp edges, and hence the importance of wearing appropriate gloves.

Upon removing most of the debris from your gutters, use a garden hose to wash away any materials that might have remained there. Also, make sure to insert the hose into the downspouts so as to wash out debris and dirt that might have gathered inside.

Make certain your drainage system is doing its job

Biannual gutter and eaves trough evaluations are great occasions to verify that your downspouts are doing a good job of directing rain water away from your home’s foundation. According to the International Code Council guidelines on roof drainage, this needs to be at least 5-feet away.

Make certain that each downspout at your building ends in an elbow joint. If any of the joints is loose, simply reattach to its original spot. While these joints come off easily, they don’t yank the entire downspout off the building.

After inspecting these joints, go on and look for erosion under the downspouts, if you see signs that the dirt near your home’s foundation is being slowly washed away, simply pace splash blocks. These are rectangular, angled pieces of plastic or concrete blocks that are placed under each downspout both to direct flow and absorb the impact if discharged water. A better fix is to fit each downspout with flexible extensions that can easily guide the water farther away from building’s foundation.

Inspect the slope

Fasteners attaching your gutters or eave-trough loosen over time. When this happens, the slope or grade or pitch of the gutter changes position. This in most cases causes water to stand inside your gutters. When this stagnant water fills the gutters, it simply spills over onto the sidings, damaging them while at it. To prevent this, make sure the pitch of your gutters is where is supposed to be. If not, simply adjust it by undoing the fasteners and then realigning and reattaching your gutters.

All in all, the tasks of inspecting and cleaning your gutters or even eavestroughs is not glamorous, but is definitely worth your time to make certain your home is safe from risks of uncontrollable roof runoffs. For the best of results, have professional gutter cleaners handle the tasks for you.