Why Cleaning Your Gutters Before Winter Is a Job Worth Doing

There are certain jobs around the house that are easy to forget about because you don’t really notice them when everything is working properly, and gutter cleaning is probably quite high up that list, because when your gutters are doing what they are supposed to do, rainwater simply runs off the roof, into the guttering and down the downpipes without you giving it a second thought. The problem usually starts when autumn arrives, the leaves begin falling and all that debris starts making its way into the gutters, because what looks like a small amount of leaves and dirt can soon build up into a pretty good blockage.

With winter on the way, now is a good time to have a look at your gutters and make sure they are ready for the wetter months, especially if you have trees close to your property or you have already noticed water spilling over the edges when it rains.

I know gutter cleaning probably isn’t something that gets you particularly excited, and it isn’t exactly the sort of job most people put at the top of their weekend plans, but it is one of those simple bits of maintenance that can save you a much bigger headache if it is dealt with before the winter weather really gets going.

Why do gutters get blocked?

Gutters have a fairly simple job, but they spend their entire lives outside collecting rainwater from your roof, which means they also end up collecting anything else that happens to land up there. Leaves are the obvious one, especially through autumn, but you can also get small twigs, moss, dirt and general debris building up inside the guttering, and once that starts collecting, the water doesn’t have as much room to flow freely towards the downpipes. If you have trees close to your house, you may find that your gutters need more attention because leaves can quickly build up after windy weather, and even if the gutter itself looks reasonably clear from ground level, there can still be a layer of debris sitting inside that you simply can’t see from below. This is one of the reasons I always recommend having a proper look at the gutters before winter rather than waiting until you start seeing water coming over the edge.

What happens when gutters are blocked?

The whole point of your guttering is to move rainwater away from the roof and the walls of your property, so when that system becomes blocked, the water has to find another route. You might see water pouring over the front of the gutter during heavy rain, water running down the walls or large puddles forming around the bottom of the downpipes, and while one episode of overflowing water doesn’t necessarily mean you have a major problem, repeated overflow is something worth taking seriously.

When water is allowed to run down the outside of the building instead of being directed away properly, it can create damp and staining around walls and windows, while water collecting around the base of the property is obviously not where you want it to be either. Nobody wants to discover a problem like that in the middle of winter when it is cold, wet and miserable outside, particularly when a gutter clean earlier in the year could have helped prevent it.

Autumn is a good time to get them cleaned

There is a reason I think autumn is such a sensible time to have your gutters cleaned, because most of the leaves have fallen by this point but we haven’t yet reached the months when the weather is at its wettest and coldest. It gives you the chance to get all that debris removed before the winter rain arrives, meaning your gutters have a much better chance of dealing with the amount of water coming off the roof during those long spells of wet weather we can get around Liverpool. It also means you aren’t relying on a bit of luck and hoping that the leaves somehow disappear on their own, because unfortunately they don’t tend to do that. They sit there, get wet, become heavier and eventually turn into a rather unpleasant mixture of leaves, mud and general muck that can restrict the flow of water through the gutter.

How do you know if your gutters need cleaning?

The easiest answer is to have a look, although I appreciate that isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds when your gutters are several metres above your head. One of the first signs can be water overflowing from the gutter when it rains, particularly around the corners or in areas where the water should be flowing towards the downpipe. You might also see plants growing from the gutter, which is usually a fairly good indication that there is enough dirt and organic material sitting up there to create its own little garden. Another thing to watch for is water coming down the wall rather than through the downpipe, because that can indicate that the gutter or downpipe isn’t allowing the water to move away properly. Sometimes there aren’t any obvious signs at all, which is why gutter cleaning can easily get forgotten until there is a problem.

Why not just clean them yourself?

You certainly can if you have the right equipment and are comfortable working at height, but this is one of those jobs where safety needs to come first because getting onto ladders and working around the edge of a roof isn’t something everyone is comfortable doing.

There is also the simple fact that you may not be able to see or reach everything from a ladder, particularly on larger properties or awkward sections of guttering, and it can be difficult to know whether you have actually cleared the gutter properly when you are working from the ground. We have the equipment to get a much better view of what is happening inside the gutters and can remove the debris without you having to spend your Saturday afternoon balancing on a ladder with a bucket in one hand and a scraper in the other.  Personally, I’d say there are much nicer ways to spend a Saturday.

What about the downpipes?

Cleaning the gutters themselves is only part of the job, because all that rainwater still needs somewhere to go once it reaches the end of the gutter. Downpipes can become blocked as leaves, dirt and other debris make their way through the system, and a blockage further down can cause water to back up into the gutter even when the gutter itself looks clean. That is why it is important to consider the whole system rather than simply clearing the visible leaves from the top, because the aim is to make sure rainwater can travel from the roof, through the guttering and down the downpipe without hitting an obstruction along the way. If water is still backing up after the gutters have been cleaned, there may be a problem further down the system that needs investigating.

So how much does gutter cleaning cost?

The cost depends on the size and height of the property, how accessible the gutters are and how much debris has built up inside them, so there isn’t really one figure that applies to every house. At H2O Restore, we prefer to take a look at the property and give you a straightforward price before doing any work, so you know exactly where you stand before we get started. In many cases, a few photographs are enough for us to give you an idea of what is involved, which makes the whole process much easier than trying to work out a price from a generic list online. The important thing is that gutter cleaning is a relatively small maintenance job when you compare it with the potential hassle of dealing with overflowing gutters, water running down walls or blocked downpipes once the winter weather arrives.

Don’t wait until the first big downpour

One of the things I’ve learnt from working on homes over the years is that the best time to deal with a maintenance job is usually before it becomes an actual problem. That doesn’t mean you need to spend every weekend walking around your house looking for things to clean, but if you know your gutters haven’t been cleared for a long time, there are trees around the property or you have already seen water overflowing during heavy rain, it makes sense to get them checked before winter arrives properly. Once the gutters are clean, you can forget about them for a while and get on with everything else, knowing that the rainwater has a clear route away from the roof.

Let’s get your gutters ready for winter

Winter in Liverpool can bring some pretty serious amounts of rain, and your gutters have to deal with all of it, day after day, so giving them some attention before the wetter months arrive is one of those straightforward jobs that can help keep your home protected. I’m Peter, and I run H2O Restore with my son, and we clean gutters for homeowners across Liverpool and the surrounding areas as part of the exterior cleaning work we do throughout the year. We see first-hand what can happen when gutters are left full of leaves and debris for too long, and while cleaning them isn’t the most glamorous job in the world, it is much nicer to deal with a clean gutter on a dry autumn day than a blocked one when it is raining sideways in December.

So, if you haven’t had your gutters cleaned for a while, now is a good time to have a look at them and see what is going on up there. If they are full of leaves, dirt or moss, get in touch with H2O Restore and we’ll take a look, give you a straightforward quote and get them ready for whatever the British winter decides to throw at us.