Clean gutters are a very important factor in avoiding major and expensive home repairs. Gutters are designed to perform a single duty: control the movement of water around your home. If debris is clogging your gutters, causing them to fail at their sole purpose, then some serious problems can arise:
- Bug Breeding Grounds: Gutters that are neglected can have standing water in them; this is the perfect breeding grounds for mosquito larva and other insects.
- Leaking Basement: Gutters that are clogged can easily overflow; causing the water running off the roof to collect in a single place , accumulating quickly around the foundation. When this happens, basement walls can easily begin to leak and crack.
- Rotting Wood: When water backs up, it either flows over the face of the gutter or behind the gutter. This water will eventually lead to damaged facia boards and possibly rotting roof sheeting. The rotten areas will only get worse until the gutters are cleaned.
- Slippery and Cracked Sidewalks and Driveways: When the water overflows the gutter, it can accumulate on walk ways and driveways where it can freeze and cause slipping hazards. Overflowing water can also accelerate the wear and tear of your concrete and asphalt surfaces, potentially causing these surfaces to crack and sag.
- Landscaping: Any water overflowing a gutter can quickly cause severe erosion and possibly kill newly planted grass, trees or vegetation.
The weight of a gutter full of water has the ability to destroy the pitch of the gutter causing it to either pour over the face or the back of the gutter, possibly causing some or all of the problems listed above. If gutters must be removed to fix rotting facia boards or roof lines, or the pitch of the gutter is ruined by the prolonged weight of the filled gutter, the only remedy is to replace the gutter system, sometimes years before they should need to be replaced.
