Expert Advice for Maintaining Your Gutters
Gutter Cleaning
Cleaning and Maintenance: an Essential Step. Why Is It Important?
Cleaning your gutters is essential to keep them functional. This step involves removing leaves, buds and debris such as shingles, nails or gravel that may be inside the gutter to prevent it from getting clogged and water from stagnating.
Four Tips for Cleaning Your Gutters
Are you wondering how to clean your gutters? The experts at Gouttières L.M. Landry present 4 simple steps to help you get rid of unwanted debris and leaves without any hassle. Ideally, clear your gutters whenever they become clogged: in the fall, after the leaves have fallen, and in the spring, when the pollen has mostly fallen.
1. Use a Bucket
By attaching a long rope to a bucket with a hook, create a bucket pull. You can also create the hook from a coat hanger bent in half.
Put on work gloves, grab a trowel and a broom.
Set up a tall, sturdy ladder near the downspout and climb calmly towards the gutter.
Pull the bucket up using the rope and hook it to one of the rungs of the ladder.
2. Start from the Bottom
To be most effective, work from the bottom up.
Using a broom, pack the debris toward the upper end of the gutter.
Pick up the debris using the trowel and place it in your bucket.
For safety reasons, only clean the sections that you can reach with ease. Then move the ladder to reach the next parts.
3. Identify Problems Using a Hose
Once you have removed the debris, use a garden hose to rinse the gutter from the top down. You will be able to check for leaks or other damage at the same time.
If you notice a pool of standing water, this means that your gutter needs to be realigned or raised.
If the water does not drain at all, this means that the downspout is blocked and needs to be unblocked.
4. Remove the Clogs
Quickly clear a clog in your gutter downspout using a garden hose. This time, it's best to work from the top down.
Wrap rags around the flexible hose nozzle and install it at the top of the gutter downspout. You may need to remove part of the downspout to access it.
Open the jet to full power.
If this does not dislodge the stuck debris, use a plumbing snake and work from top to bottom.
Why Is It Important to Clean Your Gutter?
The importance of this cleaning should not be underestimated, as it can prevent moisture from seeping under your roof, which could cause premature deterioration of your building. Proper maintenance of your gutter will allow the sealant joints to deteriorate less quickly.
Tip: For the addition of extensions on downspouts, we recommend removing them in winter to avoid damage to downspouts and to avoid damaging the stability of your gutters, due to freezing and thawing.
Roof Snow Removal
It is crucial to remove snow from your roof to prevent possible damage to its structure. Accumulated snow can affect the strength of the structure, causing cracks and an increased risk of collapse. Removing snow from your roof regularly can also prevent water from seeping under the shingles.
Snow Guards
Snow guards offer several benefits. They prevent the accumulation of snow and ice on gutters, protect the roofs of adjacent buildings, reduce the risk of accidents due to snowfall, have a long service life, and require minimal exterior maintenance. In addition, there is a wide range of snow guard models and colours.
For any questions, please contact our team and we will be happy to help!