It’s one of those things that always goes to the bottom of the list, but long term negligence of your guttering maintenance can have a huge impact on the health of your house. Ideally you should be checking your guttering at least twice a year, but if you can only manage it the once then this is the time of year to push your guttering maintenance to the top of the list. To help you get the best results, here are our five top tips to making your job quicker and more effective:
Make sure you’re using the right kind of ladder for the job, and that it’s placed evenly and is balanced well. Unless you’re throwing the debris down onto the floor (not recommended), you should have a ladder with a shelf big enough for the bucket you want to use, and some way to attach your bucket to your ladder for safety.
Before you even begin to tackle your actual gutters, use a specialist rake to clear any leaves, needles, twigs or debris from your roof. The last thing you want to do is go through gutter maintenance and all it entails, only to find the rain the next day refills them with everything that was on your roof.
Also known as a trowel in most cases. Clear out larger blockages and debris and leave the smaller pieces of muck behind. Yes, you’ll go around the house twice as a result, but it’ll be quicker. Just take care, if you’re using a trowel and not a custom made gutter scoop, you don’t want to accidentally damage the seals or joins as you go.
Invest in a crazy long garden hose with a spray nozzle. Your guttering maintenance will go from tedious to over and done with when you use a spray to clear any of the smaller pieces of debris still left in the gutters. Spray towards your downspouts to help clear the last bits out, and you can hang the hose easily from the gutter while you move your ladder so you don’t have to keep carrying it up and down with you.
Now everything’s clear, a key part of your guttering maintenance is to check that its size is fit for purpose. The standard size is around 5 inches, but you may want to re-evaluate if you live in an area that experiences heavy rain fall. If your guttering is too small (or not kept clear), water will pour over the edges and run down the walls of your house, causing damp, and potentially damaging the structure if left long term.
Take the opportunity to check over all the joins, seals and pipes and make sure there’s no parts that need repairing or replacing.
If you’re in the Oxfordshire area, why not give us a call for an obligation-free quote to replace your fascia, soffit or guttering.
