The gutter is an essential part of your house, as it makes sure that rainwater doesn’t collect in your roof and eventually damage it. Therefore, it’s important that it’s regularly checked and cleaned. But unfortunately, it’s actually neglected quite often, and letting it fall away to disregard and disrepair can cause a wide plethora of problems not only to your roof, but also to your entire house.
You don’t want any of those problems to arise, so here are a few steps you should follow to keep your gutter well-maintained.
Climbing and Cleaning
The first, most basic, and simplest step in making sure that your gutter is okay is by climbing up a ladder and cleaning all the debris that have accumulated in it. You should also check the downspout for any blockages and goop. If these are left uncleaned and the downspout remains clogged, water will not be properly drained, and your gutter will eventually accumulate mildew, and even worse—sag and eventually fall off.
Riveting Work
Another important thing to check with your downspout is its rivets, as they usually become loose or completely fall off with time. To solve this, all you need is a rivet to hold the downspout in place, or buy a new rivet gun to make the job much easier.
Spiking it Right
Gutters are usually held in place by gutter spikes. To hold fast the gutters properly, they have to go through the gutters themselves, then through the fascia board, and finally through the rafters. However, no matter how correctly the spikes have been placed and how well they hold the gutter, they eventually make their way out of the hole they were driven into. Therefore, it’s best to regularly check if the gutter spikes are where they still are supposed to be. If they no longer are, then it’s time for you to buy and install new gutter spikes.
Eyes on the Cracks and Holes
Water damage is a very insidious problem. Through time, it creates holes on your gutter and cracks on your caulking, the material used to seal the seams of your gutter. Once those damages have set in, leaks are bound to ensue. That is why it’s important to inspect for the presence of both cracks and holes, which are usually given away by leaks. Once you have detected them, seal the holes with either bead silicon sealing, and chip away the old caulking using a chisel and apply a new one.
Out With the Rusty
If your gutters are rusting, it means that they’re very old, and should therefore be replaced. Thankfully, what’s in nowadays are gutters made with aluminum or vinyl, and they don’t rust, which means they’ll last a lot longer than iron gutters do. However, if you really would like to stick to your old and rusted iron gutters, you should sand off the rust, paint it with a primer, and then finally with paint that prevents rusting.
No part of the house should be left unchecked and improperly maintained, especially the gutters. So hopefully, with these tips and steps, your gutter will be in tip-top condition. After all, you don’t want your gutter, and ultimately your house, to be, well, in the gutter.
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