Spring is officially here. Which means that soon it will be time to tackle cleaning the gutters. When it comes to “simple” tasks such as removing gunk from the gutter system or making small repairs, many homeowners prefer to DIY. Regular home maintenance ensures that the gutters function properly and prevents water damage resulting in costly repairs. Reasons to leave gutter cleaning to the pros include personal safety, hidden risks, and expertise.
Never Enough Time
While it might seem to be more budget-friendly to DIY, if you find there’s never enough time to clean the gutters, neglecting regular home maintenance can be costly – a flooded basement, shifting foundation, shortening the lifespan of your roofing system, and structural damage. Gutter cleaning pros come to you, thoroughly clean the gutters, and offer other time-saving services (cleanup, follow-up customer service, etc.) for free or a minimal fee. Gutter pros can clean the gutters of an average sized two-storey home in two to three hours.
Your Safety
Working from a ladder isn’t for everyone. Especially if your home is more than one storey, the roof is steep, or there are areas of the gutter system that are hard to reach, cleaning the gutters could be dangerous. You have to climb down and move the ladder from one section of the gutter run to another. It’s easy to lose your balance, trip, reach too far, or even encounter power lines close to the house.
Hidden Risks
Setting up and using a ladder properly is not the only safety issue to be aware of. Because gutter cleaning appears deceptively simple, homeowners often overlook the hidden risks. These can include:
- Falling debris
- Denting aluminum gutters when leaning the ladder against them (not using a ladder stabilizer)
- Unknowingly putting weight on weak gutter sections
- Being jabbed by sharp edges or loose hardware
- Encountering nesters such as wasps, bees, rodents, and birds
- Coming into contact with mould and bacteria – even if you wear gloves, breathing in spores can pose a health hazard
Professional gutter cleaning technicians know what to look for and how to protect themselves against hidden dangers.
Experience and Expertise
Professionals know how to clean your gutters using the right techniques and cleaning solutions intended to leave your gutter system sparkling inside and out. Cleaning the gutters can be a messy, time-consuming job for a homeowner, especially if you don’t have the right tools. Gutter pros have all the necessary tools and use advanced cleaning methods to efficiently clean your gutters.
A professional cleaning crew also has the expertise to identify potential problems with the gutters. They might repair small issues at the same time they are doing the gutter cleaning. If more involved repairs are needed, they will give or send you an estimate outlining how much it will cost. Either way, they will alert you to any damage such as leaks and cracks that need attention before the problem becomes an expensive fix.
