While it may be unpleasant, cleaning your gutters is an essential part of upkeep for your home. This practice will not only make your home look better, but it is a protection from potential water damage, freezing temperatures and serves as a preventable measure for keeping unwanted pests at bay.
It is easy to put off this rather unpleasant task for as long as possible, but there is a good reason to make sure you don’t. In general, no matter what conditions exist, every home should have its gutters cleaned at least twice a year. However, depending on where you live, you may find you will need to tackle this job more often.
Inclement Weather
In some areas where rainfall can be very heavy, your gutters may frequently get clogged up. If the lingering debris is not removed, the blockage could cause lasting damage to your house, and backed-up water could eventually seep into your crawl spaces, foundation, or basement areas of your home.
Your Surrounding Environment
Other areas may not suffer from extreme weather conditions but may have other threats to contend with. Leaves, twigs, and small branches can easily collect unnoticed until they’ve created a problem. In such areas, it may be wise to clean your gutters at least once during each season and make it a practice to check their condition monthly.
Attracts Unwanted Guests
When water cannot drain from your gutter, it can serve as an invitation to unwanted pests. Mosquitos are always looking for pools of water to lay their eggs.
- Ants enjoy working their way into the debris, searching for food or a good place to build a nest. The organic matter that falls from the surrounding foliage makes for the perfect place to set up housekeeping, and it is an easy walking distance to the most sumptuous buffet in town, your kitchen!
- Carpenter ants create an even bigger problem. They are drawn to the decomposing debris they find in your gutters. If they are not controlled, over time, they will literally eat you out of house and home by their destructive habit of chewing through anything wood.
- Bees, wasps, and hornets also like to build their nests in rain gutters. Some are wood-boring, so they will quickly turn any wooden part of your house into a wasteland and leave their eggs and larvae behind so that when they mature, they can finish what their parents left behind.
It would be wise to make a habit of checking your gutters every month and clearing out any debris that may have accumulated long before they have a chance to attract any of these pests. Damage to your home is only the beginning of trouble if they move in. They can also leave behind a trail of germs and microbes that can lead to infectious diseases in their wake.
The best way to prevent your rain gutters from laying out the welcome mat is to check them regularly and clean them as often as needed. Make this a regular practice, and you won’t have to worry about more significant problems down the road where you may have to hire professional service for your gutter cleaning in OKC to get your home back to the way it was meant to be.
