Why Clean Gutters are Important for Your Home

While you might pay no attention to them, your gutters play a crucial role in protecting the structures of your home.

If gutter cleaning doesn’t feature high in your list of routine home maintenance activities, you may be exposing your home to severe damage. Here are the top reasons to prioritize cleaning your home’s gutters.

Prevent roof damage

When leaves, sticks, and other debris clog your gutters, rainwater has nowhere to go. The water then pools on your roof, gradually damaging the shingles.

As time passes, water begins to leak into your home, causing wood rot, damage to insulation, and even partial roof collapse. A simple act of cleaning gutters can help you avoid costly roof repairs down the road.

Avoid ice dams

In winter, snow can melt during the day and run into the gutters. However, the water becomes trapped due to the clogged gutters and eventually refreezes, forming ice dams.

Water also backs up on the roof and freezes, causing damage to the shingles, fascia, soffits, and other roofing structures. Prevent ice dams by keeping your gutters clean.

Protect your plants

When gutters get clogged, they spill water directly into your lawn and garden beds. With the garden beds waterlogged, there’s too much water for your flowers and plants to handle - as harmful as underwatering.

Root rot and other diseases can spring up, eventually leading to the death of the plants. You’ve spent so much time and effort keeping your plants healthy and beautiful; protect them by keeping your gutters clean.

Prevent damage to the foundation

As water pools on your landscape, it saturates the ground and eventually pools around the base of your home. Over time, the excess water exerts pressure against the foundation walls, leading to cracking.

Water can also erode the surrounding soil, leaving the foundation less supported, and causing sinking or settling. Foundation issues are expensive to repair and can be avoided by keeping your gutters in excellent condition.

Keep your family healthy

Unwanted pests thrive in the damp and rotten conditions of clogged gutters. Hence, failing to clean your gutters is an invitation to rodents, termites, mosquitoes, and other pests.

These pests spread diseases and, sooner or later, will enter your home and put the health of your loved ones at risk. Regular gutter cleaning helps ward off these unwanted guests and prevent health issues.

Avoid damage to fascia

Fascia is the flat board that prevents water infiltration, enhances curb appeal, and supports the gutters. Water overflow from clogged gutters can rot and damage the fascia.

Apart from the impaired aesthetics, a damaged fascia will allow moisture into the roof and attic, leading to mold and mildew. Without its support system, the gutter eventually detaches from the roof. Avoid fascia damage in the first place by keeping your gutters clean.

Hire the Oklahoma gutter cleaning pro today

You could attempt it yourself, but gutter cleaning isn’t as easy as it looks. You will have to purchase or rent a ladder, tarp, trowel, and other tools. Gutter cleaning also involves working at height, which comes with huge risks.

If you are in Oklahoma, take the stress off of you by hiring the professionals at Legacy Roofing. We’ll remove the debris, check the downspouts, tighten loose screws if necessary, and do a test to ensure your gutters drain properly. Call 405-990-5535 today for a FREE estimate.