Why Regular Gutter Cleaning Can Save You Money

With winter on its way, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a little bit about gutter cleaning today.

As you are walking around the streets right now, you will have likely noticed that the trees are very quickly shedding their leaves as winter approaches. Whilst most of these leaves will fall to the ground and so are easily able to be swept up and disposed of, a good majority of them also find their way into our gutters. Now, the odd leaf or two in a gutter shouldn’t cause all that many issues. A lot of leaves or a build-up of decaying leaves over time however really can cause problems as blockages can occur, not only in the horizontal part of the gutter, but also in the vertical downpipes too. This could then cause water to build up and eventually start to overflow.

Sometimes you will easily notice blockages, as water comes gushing over the edge of a downpipe and onto your wall or perhaps the ceiling of your extension or conservatory roof. At other times though, the problem is not so visible, meaning that water could well be leaking out of the gutter and causing damage to your property without your knowledge. What kind of damage?

Problems caused by blocked gutters

One of the main problems that can arise from a blocked gutter is that of damp. Sometimes this damp will be limited to the exterior of a property, which could cause problems for your brickwork. When left unattended though, this damp can sometimes penetrate through to your interior walls, not only making a mess of your decorating and interior finishes, but also causing health problems as mould spores begin to grow on the damp areas. If you have wooden fascias on the exterior of your property rather than PVC plastic ones, these could also begin to rot as water continually flows out of the gutter and dampens the surrounding wood.

A blocked gutter could also lead to damage on your property in other non-damp related ways too. If a blockage leads to a gutter becoming so full that it simply can’t manage the weight for example, then the gutter could collapse causing damage to other parts of your home.

How often should you have your gutters cleaned?

This question really depends a lot on what sort of area you live in and how many trees you have surrounding your property. If you live in an area where you don’t have many trees around you – like on a new build estate for example – then you may find that you could get away with only cleaning your gutters out every couple of years. In areas with lots of trees overhead however, or also in areas where leaves tend to get blown around a lot, you might find that to stop problems occurring you have to have your gutters cleaned out once a year after all of the leaves have fallen. There really is no hard and fast rule here and it differs greatly from property to property.

Gutter Cleaning Prices

The cost of gutter cleaning can vary greatly depending on your property type and also what area of the country you live in. It will likely cost you a lot more for Gutter Cleaning Services in the London area than it would for Gutter Cleaning Services in Lancashire or The Yorkshire Dales, for example. The only way you will really find out how much your gutter cleaning is going to cost is to contact a reputable company and request a quote.

A False Economy

If you fail to have your gutters cleaned on a regular basis then this really could work out to be a false economy, as any money you save from neglecting to have your gutters cleared could soon look like a very small amount indeed were your leaky or overflowing gutters to cause huge problems throughout the rest of your property. If you really can’t afford to have your gutters cleaned by a specialist firm then you could always attempt to do them yourself but be warned, this is a very mucky job indeed and working at a height can be very unsafe if you don’t really know what you are doing.