Apart from making your home appear aesthetically beautiful, it is important to make it more functional too. One of the essential points that most of the homeowners’ miss is enhancing the energy efficiency of their house. They often fall prey to increasing electricity bills and stress that come along. Hardly anybody comes to a conclusion and solution of why is it happening to them?

Taking a few simple measures such as using electricity when needed, sealing the windows and doors with exterior shutters and drapes, repairing worn out windows and doors and improving the ventilatory tract of the house can save you a lot on your electricity bill, not instantly but gradually.

Here are some good reasons to make your home more energy efficient-

1) Insulate your loft- One of the major causes of energy wastage is the poorly insulated walls and roofs. Having your attic appropriately covered or insulated can help you save a lot every month. However, it totally depends on the walls and roof structure of your house and the type of insulation you go for.

2) Upgrade your heating and cooling appliances- Inefficient, old and tattered appliances such as heaters, coolers, air conditioners, and boilers can add a few hundred pounds to your electricity bills. Upgrading your appliances can cut the unwanted expenses of your bills. Markets are flooded with devices and machines made with the latest technology that reduces your home’s carbon emissions. Therefore, invest in a new one.

3) Repair worn-out windows and doors- Worn-out windows and doors lead to the escape of inner heat during cold winters. Cracks, broken bolts and loose hinges add to the same. Therefore, if your home has old windows, either get them repaired or replaced with new ones.

Do not just focus on the windows of your main floor, if your home has a basement, keep the windows and door closed when not in use and simultaneously inspect any breakage or leaks through windows.

4) Insulate your doors and windows- Sometimes sticking to simpler solutions can prove to be beneficial, such as hanging thick curtains, installing exterior shutters to block the inflow of air or sunlight, placing glass sheets and blindfolds. Such options can be used both in summers and winters to save energy.

5) Watch your energy consumption- You might have never thought about the amount of energy you consume on a daily basis. Monitoring your energy usage gives you a fair idea of your utilization and the bills associated with it. You become more resilient with the consumption of energy. One of the best ways of doing is to switch on lights and fans only when in use and the same goes with other appliances.

6) Other things to consider- Besides saving electricity, focus on saving water too. Replace buckets with showers and general faucets with dishwashers. Do not use a lot of water during cleaning. Look for green options around and you will see a gradual decrease in your bills.

Gutters are the most crucial part of any house. They play a vital role in ensuring that your home stays protected and look attractive. They take rain water away from home and prevent any water damage. Your home is incomplete without gutters as they are extremely beneficial. They protect your home from roof leakage, foundation cracks, rust and other issues that can decrease the value of your home. Therefore, it is important to ensure that gutters are working properly.

There are a number of signs that tell your gutter system is not working correctly, and you need professional help. You must pay attention to them if you don’t want your home to face water damage. Remember repairing water damages can be challenging and costly if you don’t look into the condition and working of your gutters.

So, let us discuss two common signs that indicate your gutters need professional attention.

Clogging

Rain gutters that are clogged don’t work properly, and the chance of water damage increases. To find whether the gutters are clogged or not, check – If water leaks from your gutters, does rain water gets accumulated around your house causing water marks, does your gutter overflow when it rains?

Generally, rain gutters get clogged with leaves, dust, branches of tree and debris. If you don’t clean the gutter on time, then water starts accumulating inside the gutter, and it begins to deteriorate. The rusting on the gutters reduces their lifespan, and you have to expend a considerable amount of money on its replacement.

So, if you find that your gutters are blocked, the first thing that you should do is to clear out all the dust and debris. Then check whether water drains or not. If it does not drain out then most probably downspouts are also clogged. However, sometimes the problem is so severe that you have to adjust the slope so that water drains out properly. In such a scenario, you will need the help of eavestrough repair professionals. Experts have the right equipment to clean the gutters. They can also cover your gutter with leafguard to ensure that leaves and twigs don’t gather in the gutters.

Sagging

Gutters hangers are responsible for keeping the whole installation in place so that it stays safe during strong winds. But with time, hangers become lose and get displaced. It puts the entire gutter system in danger as it can collapse. Sagging hangers may cause mess because of the weight of the gutter system and weight of water during the rainy season.

So, take a look at your gutter system and check if the hangers are loose or sagging. In order to fix the sagging gutters, make a call to gutter professional as soon as possible. It is because experts have complete knowledge about the gutters and can help you in adjusting the sagging gutters. Because of their expertise, they can also give some tips to maintain your gutters.

Areas of Canada like Toronto and Mississauga have serious flooding issues. Hence, to mitigate the flood damage, the local government has taken various measures, one of which is the downspout disconnection from sewers and storm drains. Even though the benefits of such disconnection is unclear but yet it is wise to do so. In this article you will understand what precisely is a downspout disconnection and why should you do it?

WHAT IS DOWNSPOUT DISCONNECTION?

You install gutters in your home to manage the flow of water down your roof. Your eavestroughs of the house are connected to downspouts, and this downspout channels the water off your roof. There are downspouts in some homes that release the water into the ground while there are some downspouts that discharge water to local storm drains or sewers.

The process where you disconnect downspout from a municipal wastewater drainage systems is known as downspout disconnection. This process is nothing but disconnecting the downspout from the pipe that runs into the ground.

WHY IS DOWNSPOUT DISCONNECTION NECESSARY?

Firstly, like already discussed that it is necessary as it is a program that has been run by the government and anyone who doesn’t follow will be subjected to a fine. So All the houses need to comply with this program, exceptions are always there.

IMPORTANCE OF DOWNSPOUT DISCONNECTION

The process of downspout disconnection has been identified as one of the most essential measures to prevent flood damage. It saves the local drainage system, if you allow it to drain into the local waterways, then it can expose your house as well as neighborhood to basement flooding. Further contaminating the local streams, river, and lakes.

The local sewer and drains can handle only a certain amount of water. Times when you encounter heavy rain and snow melting, the local sewer and drainage get overwhelmed with a lot of water. This overflow can drain people’s homes and mix contaminated water with domestic water.

Hence the connection of downspouts leads to such problems. But if you disconnect the downspout, then you will be able to take some stress off the drainage system and direct the water towards the ground where it is absorbed by the local water table.

THE ACTUAL PLACE TO RELEASE WATER

Once the downspout disconnection takes place, you have to direct the water away from your house to protect it from water damage. So with utmost care attach an elbow as well as an extension that steers the water away from your home. The length of the extension is about six feet. However, in all this do notice that the water is not emptying into your neighbor’s property. If it does then, it may cause havoc in the entire neighborhood.

Downspout disconnection is not a very costly affair, but it depends on the work needed. Some may need less work while some needs more work. In case you are hiring a professional, make sure that they are licensed one and abide by the professional standard of work.

Most people do not pay too much attention on the rain gutters. In fact, the only time they take notice about them is when something goes wrong. Gutters and downspouts are responsible for collecting and carrying away rain water. By carrying off rain water, they prevent it from running off the roof and splashing down. When rainwater splashes down, it damages the home sidings and erodes the soil. Most notably, downspouts and gutters offer a first line of defense for the basement, which is susceptible to rainwater.

Rainwater on the ground

Rainwater should not be allowed to collect along the foundation of your house. This is because it leads to a buildup of hydrostatic pressure. At length, water will find its way into your home and wreak havoc. It is equally important to ensure that the ground surrounding a hillside house stays dry. That is why you need to ensure that gutters are working properly. Gutters can get damaged over time. When they are not functioning properly, you should repair them as soon as possible. When there is a heavy storm, you will not worry about rainwater collecting along the foundation of your house.

Solutions for gutter issues

Gutters get issues over time due to a number of factors. Wear and tear is one of the leading factors that affects functionality and durability. Gutter maintenance can prolong the service lifespan of gutters. Here, you will learn about patching holes, securing gutters and sealing leaky corner joints. These simple solutions will help you deal with minor gutter problems that can really be a pain in the neck, if not handled at an early stage:

Patching holes

Your gutters can develop holes in a number of ways. First, rust can eat through steel gutters and create holes. Aluminum and copper gutters can easily get punctured when sharp tools or branches fall on them. You can also find a hole drilled on the gutter to drain away standing water. The major reason why a gutter may fail to drain properly is its sloping position. If it is not sloping toward the downspout, water may collect on it.

This problem can also occur if the gutters are sagging and need to be lifted up. Holes should be patched immediately to keep them from growing bigger. All you need is a roofing cement and metal repair patch. The patch you acquire should match the gutter material. For instance, aluminum flashing should be used on aluminum gutter. To patch holes in gutters, clean the affected area, get rid of any rust and apply the flashing.

Leaking joints

The joints between the lengths of gutters become dysfunctional over time. Worse yet, seamless gutters are also affected by drips. This is because they contain seams where the gutters are actually connected to downspout outlets and preformed corners. Therefore, you should fixe all leaking joints whether straight joint or corner joints.

Sagging gutters

Gutters are usually held in place by large spikes. When any spike pulls off, the gutter sags. In some cases, it may come crashing down depending on the number of spikes that may have pulled off. The only way to fix this problem is replacing the spike with something that will not pull off easily. You can consider a stellar material for your eavestrough in Oakville when you shop around.

All in all, these are some of the problems that you can handle when dealing with damaged gutters. For extensive damages, it is highly recommendable to hire a professional gutter repair specialist. This is because they have the expertise needed for quality work, and they have the right equipment to tackle complex cases.