Gutterman of TN's Blog

Why is Keeping Your Gutters Clean so Important?

Few homeowners look forward to climbing their ladders to clear the muck and debris from their gutters. But failing to do so can have major impacts on your home that could lead to even bigger messes and even expensive property damage. Especially in winter, when gutters are working overtime to shutter rain, sleet and melting snow from your roofline, keeping your gutters clean is crucial. Here’s why keeping your gutters clean is so important. Why is Keeping Your Gutters Clean Important - Nashville TN - Gutterman

Preventing Roof Damage

A new roof is an expensive home repair. Fortunately, roofs can last for decades, provided their properly cared for. One of the best things you can do to protect your roof from damage is to clean your gutters! When your gutters are clogged, water and wet debris back up into your roofline. It can cause the roof to rot, mold and decay. If neglected for too long, clogged gutters can even cause water to back up underneath your roof, where it can cause the roof joists and support to warp or rot. Roof replacement becomes even more extensive and costly when gutters are neglected year after year. Water freezing in the gutters or along the roofline can drive water up under the roof even faster in winter months. Prevent roof damage by making sure your gutters are clear this winter.

Keeping Gutters Healthy

Like your roof, your gutters are made to last for decades. But dirty gutters will break down prematurely. Debris rotting in the gutters can cause gutters to rot and crack. The weight of debris, or ice that freezes in clogged gutters when water can’t get through, can cause gutters to sag away from your home or even break away entirely. Keep your gutters healthy by keeping them clean from debris.

Protecting Your Walkways and Driveways

Keeping water away from your home becomes even more important in the winter. Fluctuating winter temperatures can cause water to melt one day and freeze the next. When water pours from your home on a sunny day, it can do major damage to your walkways, driveways and masonry landscape features when temperatures drop again. That’s because concrete, stone, brick and other masonry materials absorb water. When temperatures drop and water freezes within the masonry material, cracks and holes form. Keeping your gutters clean can protect your walkway, driveway or masonry landscape feature from freeze-thaw damage.

Preserving Your Foundation

Just as the freeze-thaw cycle can damage your walkways, it can damage your foundation! In fact, the main purpose of gutters is to shutter water away from your foundation. Any time of year, water pooling around your foundation can cause everything from a flooded basement to a shifting foundation. In the winter, as the water around your home freezes and thaws, causing the ground around your home to contract and expand, water around your foundation can become even more dangerous. Gutters need to be kept clear year round to protect your foundation from water damage.

If you hate cleaning your gutters but want to protect your home from water and ice damage all year, The Gutterman of TN has a solution for you: SafeGuard Gutter Guards! Call us today to hear how gutter guards can keep your gutters flowing while eliminating the need for gutter cleaning.

Benefits of Installing SafeGuard Gutter Guards

Gutter guards have become increasingly common — both in application and in advertising. When it comes to gutter guards, you can’t do better than SafeGuard gutter guards from The Gutterman of TN. While the benefits of gutter guards might seem fairly straightforward, there are plenty of benefits of gutter guards that you might not have even considered. Installing SafeGuard Gutter Guards - Nashville TN - Gutterman of TN

Never clean your gutters again!

The most obvious benefit of gutter guards is what most people are looking for when they consider gutter guards: Maintenance-free gutters! Gutter guards keep debris out of your gutters, saving you from having to clean your gutters multiple times every year. What you might not realize is that many types of gutter guards still let some debris in, or will collect debris on top. SafeGuard gutter guards are different! With SafeGuard gutter guards, you truly won’t ever have to climb a latter to muck out your gutters ever again.

Keep pests out of your gutter and away from your home.

You might not realize it, but gutters offer an inviting environment for pests and provide some animals with entry into your home. Unguarded gutters can play host to mice, birds, squirrels, and nests of mosquitos or other insects. Gutter guards keep animals from nesting in your gutters, or from entering your gutters and finding gaps in your home’s siding or seams that allow them to gain entry into your attic or walls.

Prevent gutter overflows and water damage around your home.

When gutters are blocked, they don’t perform their function of shuttling water away from your home’s structure and your home’s foundation. Clogged gutters can cause water to back up into your home’s eaves and under your roofline. Overflowing gutters can cause water to flow down your siding, seep around your windows and pool around your home’s foundation. All of this can cause serious problems in your home, from mold growth and water-based rot to basement flooding and foundation damage. SafeGuard gutter guards keep your gutters flowing and prevent water damage in and around your home.

Stop ice dams.

Ice dams can cause a major headache during the cold-weather months. The heat in your attic melts the snow on top of your roof, causing it to flow down toward the gutters. If the gutters aren’t ready to usher that water away, the water re-freezes as the colder edges of your home. As cold weather persists, the ice buildup can grow larger and larger. It can damage your gutters and your roofing, and force water back into your home.

Extend the life of your gutters.

Believe it or not, gutter guards can actually extend the life of your gutters! When gutters are clogged with debris, they can become weighed down and sag and warp away from your home. The supports can fail, and the gutters can crack. The wet, rotting debris can cause rust and an overall breakdown of the gutter. Because gutter guards prevent the buildup of debris, they can prevent the breakdown of your gutter system and extend its overall lifespan!

If you don’t want to deal with cleaning your gutters again, and if you’re ready to realize all of the benefits SafeGuard gutter guards have to offer, call The Gutterman of TN to schedule a consultation today!