Cleaning your gutters will save you money. This is a fact. Cleaning your gutters will save you money on your gutters themselves as well as the cost of damage caused by water including expensive flooding, mold and mildew removal, landscaping and the host of costs associated with foundation repair.
When your gutters are blocked and clogged with debris they cannot do what they were designed to do, which is protect your home. Gutter screens will prevent the debris from entering your gutters in the first place and won’t affect the look of your home but many homeowners do not have gutter screens installed. Without gutter screens your gutters will accumulate sticks, twigs, leaves, bird feathers and anything else blowing around outside. Even if you don’t have trees in your yard, and you can’t see any debris, your need to clean your gutters. Twice a year. Every year.
You can handle the gutter cleaning yourself if you want but here are the 4 ways that hiring a professional to clean your gutters will pay for itself and then some.
Cleaning your Gutters Prevent Mold and Mildew Problems
When the gutters in your home are working as they are meant to, they keep water from saturating places in your home prone to mold and mildew growth. If they’re clogged, that water that would normally be diverted away from your home will suddenly stop being diverted. Moisture will accumulate and mold and mildew will grow. Once you see mold or smell mildew, it’s too late.
Cleaning your Gutters Saves your Curb Appeal
Your home’s exterior – whether siding, paint, stone, etc – was designed to withstand rain water. It was designed for a home that had functioning gutter systems. It was not designed to withstand the water accumulation caused by faulty gutters.
If you do not keep your gutters clean and functioning your home’s exterior will fade and age faster, resulting in your home losing its curb appeal faster.
Cleaning your Gutters Protects your Yard
Your gutters protect your yard too. If installed properly gutters should divert water away from the home and the yard. If your gutters are clogged or partially blocked the drainage system will adjust. The water has to go somewhere. This can result in water accumulating in parts of your yard that weren’t designed to hold that much water.
This can kill plants, cause flooding and result in soggy portions of your yard that are nothing more than mud traps.
Cleaning your Gutters Protect your Foundation
Foundation repair is expensive. Your foundation is essential for every single wall and room of your home. If your gutters are clogged and water is not draining away from the home it could be accumulating around your foundation. Wet foundations are weak foundations. This damage doesn’t have to occur around the whole home to cause damage. Even just one clogged drain in your gutter system can cause foundation damage.
Foundation damage costs can range from a couple hundred dollars to the price of an all new home due to inhabitability.
With math like that it’s obvious how gutter cleaning can save you money. You could, of course, save even more money and clean them yourself. However, hiring a company that specializes in home maintenance and construction – like Kangaroo Contractors – can save you the time and headache associated with spending an entire Sunday on the top of a wobbly old ladder.