We know. No one likes cleaning gutters. It’s scary and messy. But perhaps the only thing worse than having to climb two-stories up on a ladder and scoop mucky gunk out of that thin canal is having to deal with the aftermath of clogged gutters—which can be costly and detrimental to your home.
What Will Happen if I Don’t Clean My Gutters?
- Looks. While not necessarily detrimental to the foundation of your home, stuffed up gutters are rather unseemly looking.
- Pests. All different pests adore clogged gutters. From mosquitos, to carpenter ants, to all different sorts of beetles, to termites—all of these little guys will happily call clogged gutters home. While some of them might just be an icky annoyance, others, like termites, can damage the structural integrity of your home.
- Mold and mildew. As a rule of thumb, any clogged or standing water in a home is bad (except for a pool). Gutters are no exception. Standing water in your gutters can cause mold on organic material of your house (like wood).
- Leaks. Gutters catch and redirect rainwater away from your house, and when they’re clogged and can’t do their job, this can lead to all sorts of issues. Water can run down the side of your house and find its way into the foundation, which can lead to flooding, structural damage, and mold galore.
- Cold temperatures. The cold temperature / clogged gutter combination is an infamous one. When these two things work together, it can wreak havoc on your gutters. Not only can the sheer weight cause issues for your gutters, but constant freezing and thawing can impact your home’s structural integrity.
Cleaning Your Gutters in the Fall
Perhaps the most important rule of thumb to remember about gutter cleaning in the fall is that when the trees are leaf-less, your gutters should be too. As mentioned, having dirty gutters throughout the winter will likely cause some issue for your home, and there is nothing worse than having to clean gutters after four or five months of cold temperatures.
Apart from this, there is no hard and fast rule about how often you should clean your gutters, as every house is different. If you live in an area with heavy leaf fall, you may need to clean your gutters two or three times during the fall. If, on the other hand, you live in an area with fairly minimal leaf fall, you might be okay with cleaning once at the end of the fall season. Regardless, you can be sure the slight annoyance that comes with gutter cleaning will multiply ten-fold if neglected.
