Gutters are an absolutely necessary part of the maintenance system that protects your home during heavy seasonal rains. And like every other system, they require a detailed and systemized check and balance to keep them working in exactly the same manner as they were designed. Gutters that become clogged and are left without any maintenance can cause damage to the foundations of your home. As the water seeps in, there is always the risk of the paint getting damaged, moisture in the walls leading to cracks and not to overlook the fact that clogged gutters are the perfect breeding places for pests and rodents.

When should you clean your gutters?

Whether you hire a commercial gutter cleaning company or do it by yourself, it is always recommended that the gutters of your house should be properly maintained and cleaned thoroughly at least two times annually. And these two times are usually the months coinciding with seasonal changes, as in early spring and early fall.

Cleaning before spring sets in will help your drains prepare for the rainfalls that will follow in summer and keep your yards and roofs from leaking and getting damaged due to increased moisture exposure. Cleaning during fall will make sure there are no piles of dead autumn leaves clogging up your gutters and making it difficult for the water to be drained.

What happens if you don’t clean your gutters?

• Water damage resulting from clogged drains and gutters can not only affect the exterior of your house but it can have rather adverse effects on the interior of your house too. The excess water can travel through the walls and cause seepage, and in the long run, it will ultimately lead to your walls and ceilings having stains all over.
• Clogged gutters and drains can cause the water to accumulate on top of roofs. This may lead to molds and algae growing over and around the area where the water has been accumulated. Or if the weather is cold and the temperature has dropped below freezing, the water ends up forming ice dams. These ice dams may in turn form icicles around the boundaries of the roof and can cause serious damage to the gutters too as the ice adds a lot of unnecessary weight to the fittings.
• Gutters help drain excess water and keep the foundation of your house safe and guarded. What this means is that if water somehow finds its way near to the base of your house, with time it will start eroding the material keeping your foundations strong. This will eventually lead to cracks in the walls and uneven floors. So while cleaning and marinating gutters doesn’t require many financial assets, not cleaning them can cause you to bear a large sum in the process of evading the risks that follow.
• Clogged gutters present a dark, moist and unhygienic condition for rodents and pests to breed. This is a serious health hazard and may harm your family. There is always the risk of having a pest infestation and a number of other damages including rot. To avoid such hazardous circumstances, it is recommended that you keep your gutters checked and use disinfecting agents to clean out the debris and waste.
• Water clogged on your roof has nowhere to go and this situation ultimately leads to water leaking from the roof and ceiling. This should be avoided at all costs as it not only poses a serious threat to the interior of your house, your furniture, fittings, and decorations etc. but it can also affect the wiring and electrical system of your house. The repair costs of all this may amount to a huge sum if left neglected.
• If you are fond of gardening and have a garden bed around the landscape of your home then naturally, you would want to do all that you can to protect the plants and shrubs that add a little scenic beauty to your house. Clogged gutters do not allow the water to drain properly and if water is kept stagnant, it may lead to overwatering. This situation will prove to be fatal for the plants and shrubs in your garden bed as this stagnant water is unclean and mostly teeming with rot-causing bacteria.
• If you have a basement built at your home, then you would want to pay extra attention to keeping your gutters unclogged as the water may accumulate and pool beside the foundations. And this accumulated water might seep down and start getting collected in your basement. Keeping a regular check would help you avoid damage to your basement.
• Gutters and the pipes making up the drain system around your house usually have metal fittings. And accumulated water is a straight-up death wish because it will cause the metal to rust. Not only this, but the soaked debris adds a lot of weight onto the pipes and drains and they may get damaged under this mounting weight and get separated from the boundaries of the fascia. This will lead to damage to the roofline and the repair costs will be great. So in order to prevent fascia damages and to extend the lifespan of your gutters and drainage system, you should always get them properly maintained.
• While clean and unclogged gutters are necessary to keep your house safe and guarded against water damage, they also make your house look aesthetically pleasing. Cleaned, kept and maintained gutters are in a way the reason to keep the crack and crevices in your walls away, to keep the paint from spoiling over, and to keep the ceilings from getting stained. This will give an overall serene atmosphere to your house and help you maintain a peaceful and safe environment for your family. Moreover, if you are looking out for potential buyers and are selling your house, then a beautiful and properly maintained house will surely attract a lot of people.

Hiring a professional will take the stress off of you during the process of cleaning the gutters and drainage system of your house and a professional worker might also be able to inform you which of the drains need to be replaced. These services are being offered extensively at affordable rates and will surely help you save the extra costs that might go into repairing the damages caused by clogged gutters.