You probably don’t think about your gutters too often. In fact, you probably only think about them when they are blocked. Clogged gutters create overflow, which means that the water that slides off of your roof has the opportunity to cause damage from your home’s eaves right down to its foundation. Mold, mildew, peeling paint, cracked cement, and damaged siding are just a few of the side effects that such water damage can cause. To prevent this from occurring—or to stop it in its tracks—it is important to test your gutters for any clogs.
Testing your gutters is a very simple task. In fact, you may need only your eyes and a ladder to see that your gutters are stuffed with debris. But if you are pretty diligent about your gutter cleaning routine, you may need to use a hose to test the flow of water through your gutter system.
Start by climbing up the ladder and surveying your gutter troughs. Do they have debris in them, such as leaves, twigs, or pinecones? While investigating the extent of the clogs, be careful not to touch the debris unless you are wearing a pair of leather or suede gloves. Insects and rodents are prone to hiding out in clogged gutter troughs and your hands should be protected against such unexpected lodgers.
After the initial look-over, it is time to test the downspouts. Often forgotten, downspouts play the crucial role of pushing water away from your home. To test them, stick a hose by the mouth of the downspout. If the water coming out at the bottom of the spout is traveling at the same rate as that going in, the spout is clear. If not, odds are that the downspout is clogged.
Cleaning clogged gutters is, frankly speaking, no fun. But you can avoid this task by installing a gutter cleaning prevention system, like the one offered by GutterPro USA!
Our exclusive design technology uses the science of water adhesion to channel rain water only directly into the gutter, leaving no room for debris.