15 October 2022
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If you have gutters on your home, it’s imperative to professionally clean your gutters. However, as with most things in life, timing is of the essence. While having clean gutters is better than no gutter cleaning and clogged down pipes, there are certain times of the year that are more opportune and strategic to clean your gutters.
At The Gutters Guy, we specialise in keeping your gutter system clean and properly functioning. As our name suggests, we offer expert gutter cleaning services as well as a host of gutter repair, gutter installation, and additional home improvement solutions.
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive at The Gutters Guy is “When is the best time to clean my gutter system?” Although there are few one-size-fits-all solutions, there are two times of the year when it’s extremely important to clean your gutters: spring and Autumn.
However, this isn’t the be-all and end-all for gutter cleaning. The number of times your gutters should be cleaned will be based on several key factors, including the number of trees around your home.
Spring and Autumn gutter cleans should be the bare minimum. Let’s take a closer look at the best times to clean gutters and how you can reduce your number of cleanings.
Clean Your Gutters & Down pipes Before Spring!
One of the best times to clean your gutters of pine needles(if you have pine trees nearby) and other debris in early spring.
Clean Your Gutters to Get Rid of Remaining Debris
On one hand, choosing to clean your gutters in early spring can alleviate some of the debris from the blistering winter. Winter can be extremely harsh for all people and structures involved.
And your gutter system usually takes the brunt of the blow from the environment. Over the winter months, twigs, branches, acorns from oak trees, leaves, grime, and gunk can accumulate in your gutters.
Scheduling professional cleaning of your gutters can remove any remaining autumn leaves that could cause clogged gutters and much more expensive problems when the spring showers set in
Prevent Spring Water Damage with Regular Cleaning
By now, you’ve heard the sentiment that spring showers bring May flowers, right? The first part of this saying underscores the importance of homeowners cleaning all the leaves and debris from their gutters before spring.
Simply put, cleaning your gutters in early spring can help prepare the gutter system for the heavy rains that are often common during this time of the year. This can help ensure your gutters are functioning properly, protecting your home, and channelling all that water away from your house.
As a result, when you’re making your spring cleaning checklist, make sure to include services for your gutters. It can prevent significant damage and prevent mould from infesting your house.
Fall in Line with Autumn Gutter Cleaning
The second cleaning of your gutters will usually be an autumn gutter clean. As with everything in life, time is of the essence.
Late Autumn May Be the Best Time to Clean Gutters
While some may suggest cleaning the gutters in early autumn, it’s best to wait until all leaves are down or nearly down. This maximises the efficiency and impact of cleaning your gutters in the autumn season while helping keep gutters clean throughout the winter.
If you do decide to clean your gutters in early autumn, you may be required to clean the gutters again once all leaves have fallen.
Winter Is Coming …Ice Dams Too
Contrary to popular belief, the risk of clogged gutters does not stop once leaves start and finish falling off trees. If you fail to clean your gutters before winter, all of this debris, excess moisture and water sitting in the gutters will freeze.
Once this happens, extra melting snow will have nowhere to go, which means it can seep through your roof and walls to cause significant water damage. Without a suitable place to drain, the water can freeze to cause ice dams.
While ice dams may be pretty, they can cause a host of additional problems:
- Sagging gutters,
- Roof damage
- Excess water damage
- Failing hardware,
- And more
However, you can reduce the likelihood of this unfavourable scenario by ensuring you have your gutters cleaned.
Autumn Cleaning & Spring Cleaning…That’s All Right?
Once you have the standard spring and autumn gutter cleaning schedule down, you should have the bases covered…right? As with anything and everything, there are caveats.
And if you live in an area surrounded by green oak trees or any other type of tree, it’s much more likely you will need to clean your gutters and down pipes more often. Mainly this is due to the fact that more trees are more likely to clog your gutter system and down pipes.
In fact, those who have a lot of pine trees or any other type of tree with needles may need to clean the gutters at least three to four times every year. On the other hand, if you have beautiful trees with gorgeous blossoms, you may even need an additional spring gutter cleaning.