Avoid Gutter Leaks: Gutter Maintenance Tips

To avoid gutter leaks, the best tactic is prevention. When left unattended, gutters can crack, form holes and eventually rust through, causing leaking and requiring a lot of repair, or even replacement. If, however, you get in the habit of properly maintaining your gutters, they will last you a long time and only need to be replaced at the end of their lifespan.

Cleaning Gutters

By far the best gutter maintenance that you can perform is keeping them clean of falling debris. If you do not have leaf guards installed over the gutters, twice annually you should climb a ladder and clean them out. Leaves, acorns, twigs, pine cones and other debris will build up over time. Eventually the debris will form dams inside the gutter which will prevent rainwater from draining through to the downspout. With nowhere else to go, it will either pool up and start to corrode the metal or spring leaks at the seams.

By keeping the gutters clean, they will be allowed to properly serve their purpose and channel rainwater.

Other Maintenance

Other types of gutter maintenance includes making sure gutters are properly pitched so water runs downhill and does not pool up, ensuring the elbow joints and other seams are in good order and repainting galvanized steel gutters twice per decade.

Gutter maintenance does not require much, just the occasional weekend job, but it will save you a lot of trouble in the long run.