If you live in a house rather than in an apartment block, then one thing that might worry you somewhat from day to day is the health of your guttering. If that’s the case, then the following content is exactly what you need. Below are some great tips on keeping your gutters in the best-possible condition.
Tip 1: Regular Checks and Maintenance
Like just about everything else in our homes from our cars to our cookers, your gutters benefit from regular attention from trained professionals. If you’re living in Queensland and you leave everything until you have to call 24/7 emergency plumbing services in Brisbane and bayside areas, then you are doing yourself a great disservice.
Emergency call-out services have their purpose, for if and when things go wrong during the night, at weekends or during holiday times, but it should be your main mission to ensure that those same professionals visit regularly enough to ensure any issues are caught and repaired early and you won’t have any undue surprises.
Tip 2: Don’t Take Unnecessary Risks
It’s more than okay for you to take a look at the gutter yourself when you feel it’s needed, but you should never take risks to do so. It’s simply not worth it when you consider the potential danger of climbing up high to see the conditions around the roof. Whatever the height of your property, it’s never a risk-free task. If you have some experience and confidence, as well as sturdy ladders and a knowledge of how to look at gutters and drains safely, then it’s a great way to avoid calling professionals for unnecessary tasks based on false alarms.
Tip 3: Regular Cleaning
Most problems in gutters stem from a lack of cleaning. Cleaning your gutters could be something you make part of the regular checks and maintenance that we mentioned in the first tip, but you also might be someone who likes or prefers to do this task yourself, and that’s fine. It’s advisable to clean gutters at least once a year, but twice a year is better if you live in a place with very changeable weather, or where it’s impacted by natural factors like falling leaves in the autumn.
When cleaning, use gloved hands with a plastic shovel at all times, and you can make good use of the garden hose at high pressure to remove stubborn items and check that water is flowing normally.
Tip 4: Keep Your Eyes Open for Rust and Holes
If you’re wondering about the warning signs of bad guttering in need of professional attention, then those signs don’t come more obvious than rust and holes, as well as water directly leaking. It’s at this point you should pick up the phone and get some assistance as soon as possible. If no one is available to help you immediately and you have some DIY know-how, you can apply some temporary sealant and/or caulk the joints to help shore up the gutter integrity until a plumber can come over and take a look.
Tip 5: Be Vigilant of Animals and Pests
You might not be surprised to learn that animals other than birds and rodents make their homes inside your guttering. Living in Australia, means that gutters can also become an unlikely hunting ground for snakes. As one Queensland man discovered, it’s not a nice surprise to come home and find that snakes have been residing in parts of your house that you didn’t expect before.
The main thing to remember is that one type of animal attracts others along the chain. So a bird might attract an egg-eating animal, which then attracts predators of that animal, and so on. Keeping your gutters pest-free is therefore critical. Invest in protective coverings and other things that will not only stop blockages but the passage of wildlife.