It is difficult for a house, like a human body, to function without regular inspection, prevention, and measures to eliminate any “diseases”.
Miracles do not happen, and it would be naive to hope, for example, that garbage in the form of leaves, branches, etc., which has fallen into the drains, will fly away by itself from the breath of the spring winds.
So take a look at your home maintenance calendar and start cleaning your gutters and gutters. By the way, experts recommend doing this twice a year – in late autumn, in order to remove fallen leaves from the drain before snowfalls and prepare it for winter operating conditions, and in early spring to remove the remaining debris.
True, if old trees with a wide crown grow near the house, then two-time prevention may not be enough.
There are three ways to clean the gutters: manually, with the help of various tools, with a jet of water.
The first way to clean the gutters (manual) is the easiest
It is better to carry out work after rain, when the debris in the gutters gets wet and it will be easier to remove it. For cleaning use brushes with coarse plastic bristles. Brushes with metal bristles should not be used, as they may damage the coating of the gutter material. Garbage is raked into a plastic scoop, repeating the shape of the gutter. Country “crazy folks” came up with an ingeniously simple solution for such a scoop, making it from a plastic bottle of a suitable size.
During manual cleaning of the gutters, the system should also be carefully inspected for possible damage.
The second way to clean the gutters
The second way to clean the gutters involves the use of special household appliances.
One of them is a blower. This is essentially a vacuum cleaner that can both suck in and throw out air under pressure. For example, in Winnetka IL gutter cleaning with this method is very popular.
Thus, the air flow ejected from the device allows you to knock down all the accumulated debris from the roof. Unlike the first method, the second is better to use in dry weather. Blowers are electric (mains and battery) and gasoline.
Cordless are the most convenient for working at heights, because they are compact, lightweight and independent of the mains. Another great device that helps you quickly and efficiently deal with cleaning gutters is a special robot vacuum cleaner. Rotating at high speed, it clears debris, and two brushes located on the body bring final cleanliness.
It is no coincidence that the device belongs to robotic mechanisms – its intelligent system allows you to recognize and evaluate the degree and type of pollution, and then independently determine the required number of passes and the degree of cleaning. The robot vacuum cleaner moves only in two directions – forward and backward.
The removable control panel is located on the handle of the device. The design of the robot is completely sealed, so it can work with wet clogs, and even in gutters completely filled with water. True, such an assistant is not cheap.
The third way of gutter cleaning
And finally, the third way is flushing the drain. To do this, you will need a garden hose and nozzles for it. With a jet of water, the gutter is effectively cleaned of dirt. But it is better to use this method not as the main one, but as the second stage after manual cleaning. After all, if there are a lot of leaves and branches in the gutter, with the flow of water they will fall into the drainpipe and can clog it.
To clean the pipe, it is recommended to close the outlet with a mesh or grate, which will become a barrier to debris, but will allow the water supplied under pressure to flow freely. After such a water “procedure”, all the garbage will collect in a lump on the grate and it will be easy to remove it.
The methods that we talked about are optimal for one-two-story houses with a simple roof shape. If we are talking about a three-four-story cottage with a complex roof, then it is better to order a gutter cleaning service from specialized companies.
What to do if the drainage system and gutters become clogged very quickly? Perhaps the reason is the wrong slope of the gutter.
You need to measure it. If there are deviations from the required indicators, the slope of the gutter should be slightly changed, which will help reduce the degree and frequency of blockages.
It is also necessary to mount lattice visors above the gutters, which will limit the ingress of leaves into the drain, but will allow water to flow there unhindered.
In addition to cleaning gutters and drainage system …
When cleaning the drainage system and gutters, do not forget about its routine inspection for possible damage. First of all, pay attention to the joints and junctions – this is where leaks most often occur. Sometimes plastic pipes can crack due to temperature changes, and a leak will also appear in the area of the cracks. From stagnant water, a metal drain can begin to rust.
If the gutter system rattles and sways in the wind, this means that the fasteners are loose and require adjustment.
Any of these defects can be eliminated: cover the leaks with patches from special metallized tapes, which include butyl rubber; treat surfaces affected by rust with anti-corrosion compounds or replace damaged parts with new ones.
