Time and water are two elements, when combined, can wreak havoc. If they can form the Grand Canyon, imagine what they can do to your house! Your ultimate weapon to safeguard your house from this deadly combo is the gutter. Please don't squirm! Gutters channel water so that it does not run across the walls of your house. They prevent water from seeping into the foundation and weakening it up. But all this can happen ONLY if your gutters are clean and maintained properly. What! Cleaning gutters with your hands! Yes, if you want the exterior of your house to remain beautiful and, in the long run, if you want your very house to remain!
If maintaining your gutter is a bother, there are professionals who willdo the job for you. Remember, you need to clean your gutter before the heavy rains start (in the spring) and after autumn, when the leaves have snugly fitted in your gutter.
Maintaining your gutter includes checking out for corrosion, rust, or low spots where water may get collected and de-clogging the system by removing debris.
Steps to Clean Gutters
1. Start by removing debris. Clogging is one of the major factors behind rust formation, corrosion or rotting of gutters, as debris blocks the movement of moisture. Fix a metal angle at the end of a pole and rake the debris away. Thereafter, scrape the remains with the help of a wire brush.
2. Wash the gutter through a hose. This will flush out anything that's left in the gutter.
3. If there's something blocking the gutter, use a plumber's snake or wash it out with high pressure water. If the blockage is still there, you may have to separate the downspouts.
4. To remove rust from the interior of the gutter, scrape it with a wire brush. Then, apply a layer of roofing cement.
5. For wood gutters, you need to sand down to the exposed wood. After that, apply linseed oil and allow it to dry. Later, apply two layers of roofing cement.
6. Check whether your gutter slopes properly. Do this by pouring water in the gutter and observing the path of water.
7. If the gutter sags or does not slope at the outlet, lift the gutter mildly and bend the hanger by using pliers. Replace the hanger, if needed.
Maintaining gutters is an easy task. Moreover, if you keep your gutters clean from the start, they will not become too stinky to handle.
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