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Gutter Maintenance

by: Mark Freeman

Regular maintenance is the key to keeping your home gutter system intact. Making sure that your gutters have no bent areas is one suggestion made by those who help you prepare your home for sale.Clean and well maintained gutters add to your home's sale-ability.

Most home improvement experts suggest that you clean your gutters twice yearly. If your gutters are clogged with debris such as leaves and twigs the rain will not run off or drain properly. It's important to make sure that the rain isn't spilling over the top of your gutter and onto your foundation. Over time this can cause damage to the home's foundation.

It is suggested that you clean your gutters in the Fall after all the leaves have fallen from the surrounding trees, and in the Spring. While you're cleaning your gutters you will want to inspect them for any holes or rust through. Make sure there are no loose nails. Check to make sure the gutters are securely fastened to the house.

After you have removed all the debris from the gutter you'll want to rinse any remaining debris down the gutter and into the downspout with your garden hose. This will also help you to make sure that your downspout isn't clogged with debris. If you find the water not running into the downspout you can remove the downspout, clean it and then replace it.

Make sure that the water running out of the downspout is being properly diverted with the use of a plastic or concrete diverter. You don't want the water emptying out on the ground where it will cause erosion.

Gutter guards have become very popular and do away with the problem of having to clean your gutters, although they will still need twice yearly inspection. For a do-it-yourself type installing gutter guards isn't a big deal, and, it could save you thousands of dollars over having the gutter guards installed by professionals.

Some people think that gutter guards are very expensive and not worth the money. While gutter guards prevent large leaves from entering the gutter they do not stop much smaller natural debris such as seeds, buds, small pieces of bark and twigs or evergreen needles. All this type of natural matter breaks down over time to form debris in your gutter. Also, debris can build up over the gutter guard screening that will have to be manually cleaned off. Some have found that gutter guards actually cause them more problems.

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