One of the most painstaking tasks in your overall spring cleaning to-do list can be to clean your gutters. After all, it usually requires a ladder and someone to spot you, and it almost always results in your clothes getting dirty. But for as much of a chore (literally) as it may seem to clean them out, take it from the professionals: it is something that you should do in order to spare yourself from a laundry list of possible problems down the road. The buildup of water that could result from your failure to keep them clean is liable to cost you a hefty sum of money that you could have kept just by putting in a few minutes of work.
Here are just a few of the many reasons why it’s important to clean your gutters on at least a semi-regular basis.
Cleaning Your Gutters Keeps Them From Rotting
There’s no way to possibly know how much buildup could accumulate in your gutters before they become in danger of rotting, but eventually, once enough moisture finds its way into them, the wood underneath is going to start to rot. Removing debris from your gutters means that you’re removing possible objects that cannot trickle down through them the way pure water can, yet can accumulate water that soaks into that debris and can eventually start to affect the wood beneath it. Leaves, in particular, can become wet, stick to your gutters, and the moisture seeps down and into the wood.
Cleaning Your Gutters Can Keep Unwanted Pests Away
No matter how much you might personally like animals, there are certain types of animals that simply do not belong on or near your property. For example, termites. Or rats. Or insects. These animals, aptly referred to as “pests,” love to set up in warm, damp environments. If you neglect to clean your gutters, they could make them their next home. That’s bad for you for a number of different reasons, not the least of which is that these pests are liable to spread all different types of bacteria around your house. And it could all be avoided by clearing all the water-absorbing debris from your gutters.
Cleaning Your Gutters Is Cheaper Than Paying For New Gutters
It’s true that purchasing a new set of gutters is not the priciest home improvement you could make, but if you can avoid having to make a purchase with just a few minutes of work, wouldn’t you do it? We thought so! After all, nobody likes paying for things they don’t have to pay for. But if the wood beneath the gutters rots, pests build up in them and infect or damage them, or if any other kind of damage to the gutters arises because you neglected to clean them out, you’ll be on the hook for a new addition to your house that you simply did not have to pay for.
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