Cleaning out the gutters of your home seems like a relatively simple task but it’s one that’s easy to overlook. Even if you enjoy DIY, keeping your gutters well-maintained isn’t a particularly exciting project to look forward to. Despite this, it’s essential to keep your property in good condition. You can always take the help of professionals like https://roofers-manchester.com/guttering to clean and maintain gutters of your home.
Emptying the gutters and cleaning them regularly will significantly increase their lifespan. However, even the most well cared for gutters will need replacing sooner or later.
When to Replace Guttering
Monitoring performance and visually inspecting guttering will help you to determine when replacements are needed. Blocked gutters prevent drainage and increase the risk of broken pipework. This means that sporadic maintenance or limited cleaning will result in replacements being required sooner rather than later.
However, it isn’t just blockages that may signify a potential issue. You should also assess your gutters to ensure they remain securely attached to the exterior of your property. It’s not uncommon for gutter fixtures to become loose, particularly if they’ve been in use for years. If left unattended, gutters could easily break free and cause harm to someone on your property or damage to the property itself.
As well as inspecting your gutters in good weather, be sure to see how they hold up when it’s actually raining! This will enable you to see which areas of the guttering are underperforming and enable you to determine why.
Identifying Interior Leaks
When homeowners inspect the guttering on their property, they typically walk around it and view the gutters from the ground. However, this provides minimal information. As well as using a ladder to visually inspect the gutters from the outside, it’s important to inspect the interior of the property. By calculating where potential weak points are in the pipework, you can check that leaks aren’t penetrating the property and causing damage.
Remember – many leaks caused by damaged guttering don’t occur in visible areas. You may need to check your attic, behind drywall and under floorboards to confirm whether damp or moisture is accumulating in your home.
Replacing Guttering Yourself
Removing guttering and replacing it with new pipework seems like a deceptively simple task, which is why so many homeowners attempt to do it themselves. If you have the tools and expertise, it certainly is a job that can be done by non-professionals. However, this doesn’t mean that it’s advisable to replace guttering without expert help.
Operating power tools at height can be dangerous in itself, so it’s vital to ensure you have the appropriate safety equipment to hand. Furthermore, incorrect placements or fittings could cause immeasurable damage to your property. Due to this, using a reputable construction company is often your best bet. As well as using their expertise to complete the work, a professional team of contractors can typically finish the project in a fraction of the time.
Maintaining gutters and drains may not be the most glamorous part of homeownership but it’s one of the most essential tasks you can undertake. With regular maintenance and routine inspections, you can prevent unnecessary leaks, protect the value of your home and make your property considerably safer.