One of my most favorite things to do is driving to Knoxville Tennessee this time of year to see the Vols play. Not so much this year but hey, I still love them. What I enjoy about as much as seeing the Power T form is the beautiful colors you see on the drive over. God knew exactly what he was doing when he created fall. He is certainly an artist.
The only problem with the Leaves turning a thousand different colors is it means they are on their way out for the season and many of them are heading right for your gutters. There is a trade-off for all that beauty believe me I have witnessed first hand the damage leaves can cause.
1. Clogged gutters are the number 1 reason for foundation damage to homes or buildings. Gutters were invented to direct water away from the foundation for a reason (Erosion, freezing, expansion etc.) If you gutters are clogged the water has nowhere to go but over the side, right to your foundation. Not to mention washing away all your time and money you spend for landscaping.
2. Roof leaks. When water is backed up in your gutters it keeps the first row of shingles wet and causes them to decay and fail. Failing shingles lead to leaks.
3. Gutters pulling away from the house. Gutters are made to carry water in a well-balanced way out and away from your home not to hold tens and even hundreds of pounds of debris year around. No telling how many times while out there cleaning Roofs have I seen gutters pulled away from the house not only causing damage to under hang of the home but damage to the gutter itself. Many times we can clean the gutters out relieving the weight and re nail the gutters back on, but many times not, it requires a gutter professional to come out and make new holes, install new nails, so on and so on . Not cheap.
Bottom Line friends, No matter how bad you hate it , keep your gutters clean! I just listed three reasons here but there are many more to do it twice a year at least.Trust me on this one, it may not seem like a big deal but it is. Check back later I will have posted the best methods for gutter cleaning and most importantly the safest ways. Got to run for now! For more helpful hints check us out on www.algclean.com
Great article.