Spring Cleaning: Don't Overlook Your Gutters

As spring rolls around, housework and yard work are on the minds of most homeowners. There are several tasks that need to be done each spring to ensure the longevity of your home. One of these tasks includes cleaning out your gutters.

Every fall, thousands of leaves fall off of the trees. Many of these leaves end up in our yards and are raked into piles, bagged, and taken away by city services. Some of these leaves find their way onto rooftops. Some homeowners choose to clean their gutters each fall, a practice which I highly recommend. However, after cleaning the gutters out, many tree will still continue to lose leaves into early winter. This presents a problem.

If you clean out your gutters each and every fall, you will still miss the leaves that fall off of tree into early winter. Therefore, I recommend also cleaning your gutter out in early spring. By cleaning your gutters in early spring, you can be assured that every leave is out of the gutter before the rainy season sets in. You will also be assured that you have properly functioning gutters that are capable of moving water away from your foundation with the spring torrents of rain begin.

To clean out your gutter, you will only need two things. You will need a ladder, and some heavy gloves.

To begin, place your ladder on a stable, flat ground surface. Test the ladder to make sure that it is properly situated and is secure. Then climb the ladder and get onto your roof. Rather than repositioning the ladder as you move around the house, I recommend simply sitting on the rooftop. This method is safer, requires less work, and will move much more quickly. Do not stand on the roof, sit near the edge and slide down the rooftop as your proceed.

To clean out the gutters, simply reach in with your gloved hand and remove any leaves or debris that you find. Proceed slowly and move down the entire length of the roof. Once you have completed one side, you can choose to either walk across the roof to the other side, or you can exit by way of the ladder, move the ladder to the other side of your house, and climb it to get back on the roof. The choice is your and you should do what you feel more comfortable doing.