It is easy to overlook your gutters. With keeping your lawn maintained and making sure your home is pressure washed regularly, overlooking your gutters can quickly become common. Unfortunately, avoiding them can also become a serious problem. From being a major eyesore to causing major structural damage to your home, your gutters will bring an extreme amount of stress if they are not cleaned out. But how do you know when it is time to clean them? Many homeowners are not aware of when their gutters are full and need to be cleaned, meaning they miss the signs before they become a bigger problem.
Birds Nesting in Your Gutters
While debris and dirt are a big problem once your gutters get full, birds have everything they need to build a nest in them. Nesting birds can contribute to your home being an eyesore and laying eggs in your gutters. Other animals that may get a little too comfortable living in your gutters include squirrels, mice, rats, frogs, lizards, opossums, and raccoons. If your gutters start to look more like a hotel suite for animals than a functioning part of your home, it is time to call a gutter cleaning professional.
Plants Growing Inside
It’s nice to have beautiful flowers and a well-trimmed lawn, but when plants are growing out of your gutters, then this means it is definitely time to clean them out. With dirt on your roof being washed down into your gutters and seeds being blown into them by the wind, it is a matter of time before plants begin to sprout. Once this happens, it is time to clean them out.
Sagging Gutters
Leaves, debris, and water can get heavy and will eventually wear on your gutters. Over time, they will begin to sag and pull away from your home if they are not properly cleaned. Your gutters may even detach completely if they are left with dirt, debris, and water in them. If you start to notice sagging or detachment of your gutters, you may have to have them repaired as well as cleaned.
Water Running Off Your Gutter
Water running off the side of your gutters is a common sign that it is time to have them cleaned out. If avoided, this can cause an extreme amount of damage to your foundation, leading to you having to pay a lot of money to fix the problem. Along with your foundation being damaged, you will also have to worry about a leaky roof, which is another costly amount that will have to be paid if your gutters are not cleaned out.
Keeping your gutters clean may be a challenge, but if your days are busy, hiring a professional to clean them out will help avoid taking time out of your day to do it.
