As temperatures warm up and spring showers near, it’s important to know how to clean your gutters. Gutter cleaning helps protect your foundation by ensuring water flows freely from your roof to natural drainage that will carry it away from your home’s walls. Unmaintained gutters can clog, back up, and overflow. This can lead to an increased risk of flooding and foundation damage that’s easily avoidable with a little time and elbow grease. As your local foundation experts, we want to help you prevent needless repair bills by protecting your home.
Gutters, Downspouts, and Splash Blocks
Your gutter system does more than keep a waterfall away from your front door. Running the full perimeter of your roof, gutters capture all the snowmelt and rain from your roof and move it to downspouts that carry the water toward the ground. There, splash blocks or downspout extensions help direct the falling water away from the foundation to help reduce the oversaturation of the soil in your landscaping and next to the basement walls. Knowing how to clean gutters supports the efficiency of this often-overlooked part of waterproofing your foundation.
The Dangers of Dirty or Clogged Gutters
Without proper gutter cleaning, leaves, sticks, trash, and other detritus can build up in your gutter system. This can create blockages in the gutters themselves or in downspouts. When this happens, water can back up, and with no place to go, this can create several potential problems.
- Increased Weight on the Gutters and Downspouts – As water fills these systems, the weight they bear increases by almost eight and a half pounds per gallon. That means just ten gallons distributed through your gutters and downspouts adds almost 85 pounds to the fasteners used to secure the system to your roof and walls. Enough waiting over enough time means something has to give, whether it’s the fastener, the gutter component, or the material they’re attached to.
- Roof Damage – If your roof can’t efficiently remove water, it can lead to damage and leaks that threaten your home and its contents. This is exacerbated by the risk of damage caused by heavy clogged gutters pulling away from the roof, potentially leaving damaged entryways for more moisture.
- Landscape Damage – Water that overflows the gutter can free-fall to the ground below. Aside from oversaturation of the soil, it can over-water your landscaping and erode the soil covering shallow roots and rhizomes. The result can be a damaged or dead garden that’s no longer beautifying your home or helping to sequester ground moisture.
- Oversaturated Soil – As moisture in the soil increases, so does the weight pressing against the walls of your foundation. This is enough to lead to bowing and cracks. The weight also pushes water toward your walls when it can’t move through natural drainage fast enough. The result can be seepage through pores in the concrete, joints where walls or the floor meet, or through existing cracks, where the water pressure will carry away more material, widening them until they become a serious problem.
Safety First When Cleaning Your Gutters
Make sure you know how to clean your gutters properly so you can ensure the right tools and techniques are being used to keep you safe. Most gutters are well over ten feet off the ground, and many homes have gutters that are several stories up. At those heights, an accident can easily lead to injuries or worse. Getting ready for your gutter cleaning is as much about safety for you as for your home.
How to Clean Gutters Step-by-Step
- Use an Appropriate Ladder or Reach Device – Ladders should be tall enough to allow you to elevate your shoulders above gutter level without unbalancing or overextending yourself. Choose a ladder that can be firmly supported in at least two places, either with two sets of legs on the ground or with a set on the ground and an extension past the roof line with at least a 75-degree angle of lean. This equates to one foot further out at the base for every four feet of ladder height.
For single-story houses or lower-floor gutters, reach devices that allow you to elevate and angle a hose can make some parts of the process easier and safer. However, a ladder will still be needed, as some cleaning tasks rely on you rather than the hose. - Clear Your Gutter of Leaves, Sticks, and Large Debris – Using puncture-resistant work or gardening gloves, remove large debris from your gutters by hand. Clearing this material before flushing is how to clean gutters without creating a clogged downspout in the process. A broom or brush can be used to pull material away from the downspouts and into a safer reach for removal. If your ladder doesn’t have a way to secure a trash bag, drop the material to the ground and gather it up later. Never secure a bag of heavy, sodden leaves and debris to the gutter itself.
- Flush the Gutter – Rinse the gutter out with a garden hose. This flushes loose dirt and small debris out of the system and through the downspout to the ground. While doing so, look for areas of the gutter where water isn’t flowing freely toward a downspout for removal.
- Check and Clear Your Downspouts – If the water doesn’t seem to be draining fast enough from one or more downspouts, there may be a partial clog. Spray water directly down into the spout. You can also run the hose up and down through the spout at full pressure to dislodge any material. For stubborn clogs, a drain snake like the one used for a sink or shower clog can be used to break up the blockage or pull it free.
- Check Splash Blocks and Downspout Extensions – Cracked, broken, or missing splash blocks should be replaced to protect the foundation directly affected by your downspout. Once you know how to clean gutter downspouts, you can follow the same basic techniques to clear and clean extensions. If your extensions run to an underground French drain or tile drain system, remove any covers and ensure they are flushed clean as well.
- Verify Gutter Slope – Flush the gutters one more time, checking for standing water now that you’re sure the system is clean and clear. If any areas remain where water isn’t draining, insufficient slope may be an issue. Checking the gutter connections and adding additional support where necessary can restore the flow of water in that section.
- Guard Your Gutters – Gutter guards or shields are perforated covers that fit over your gutters and keep out large debris. This can be how you keep gutter cleaning labor to a minimum every year without jeopardizing the system’s ability to collect and move moisture.
- Know When to Go With a Pro – If you can’t clear your gutters, sections appear damaged, or parts of your gutter system are missing, you may need a professional rain collector and downspout contractor.
Get Your Free Gutter System and Foundation Inspection
If you suspect damage to your gutters or foundation, we can help. Schedule a no-cost, no-obligation visit by one of our experienced staff. They’ll visit your home, look for any signs of risk or damage, and give you a clear, written estimate for any repairs or protection services that can keep your property safer. Take the first step toward peace of mind. Contact A.M. Wall Anchor & Waterproofing today.
