As the temperature begins to cool, it brings it a whole new set of home maintenance rules and practices. One of the most overlooked parts of a house’s maintenance are the gutters. It can be difficult to see inside of your gutters which makes it easy to forget about them and allow them to fill with debris. However, making sure your gutters are ready for the winter can save you a lot of headaches later on. Here are some of the main things to focus on when getting your gutters ready for the winter.
Clean Your Gutters
The most important thing you can do to help keep your gutters in working order this winter is making sure your gutters are clean of debris. If your gutters are full of leaves and dirt, they can trap moisture which freezes when the weather cools and makes it nearly impossible to remove the debris until springtime when it thaws. Your gutters need to have as much space as possible for the water and ice run-off from your roof to flow into in order to prevent ice dams from forming. Therefore it’s important to make sure your gutters are free of debris to allow the water to flow freely into your gutter system and downspouts instead of backing up onto your roof.
Check Their Structural Integrity
Another important thing to keep track off is your gutters structural integrity. Are your downspouts in working order? Are there any broken seals between different sections of your gutter system? Are the gutters still secured to your fascia board? If any of those areas appear to be in disrepair, be sure to address it before the weather freezes. If your gutters aren’t secured to one another or your fascia board, the weight of the snow, water, and ice dams that your gutters will be subjected to can cause them to break, either with your fascia board attached or not. Broken gutters can cause siding damage, and what could have been as simple as replacing a couple of broken seals could turn into hundreds of dollars worth of repairs. Be sure to examine your gutters thoroughly before the snow falls to determine if you need to make any spot repairs.
By getting your hands a little dirty this fall, you could keep your wallet fatter this winter! Be sure to to clean and examine your gutters to save yourself the hassle of having to repair them in the spring, or removing ice dams during the winter!
