Gutter cleaning, while necessary, is never fun. I would say this chore ranks right up there with doing laundry and donating blood. However, proper maintenance and operation are critical to the health of your home and will prevent costly repairs in the future. This video and article will show you two simple products that will extend the interval between gutter cleaning, saving you time and money. Find For More Information Visit a Website, Andrew And Sons.
How to install a gutter screen
The first device is called a gutter screen. It is simply a strainer designed to easily conform to the shape of the gutter and prevent leaves and debris from entering the gutter. Once installed, the gutter screen will prevent downspouts and drains from clogging, which is a major cause of clogged gutters.
Gutter screens are easy to install. After removing the screen from the package, shape it into the shape of the gutter, either a square, rectangle or circle. Install the screen in a clean gutter with the closed end up. The tension is sufficient to hold the screen in place and you will want to place the screen about halfway down the gutter drain so that the top of the screen forms a “bulb”.
When installed correctly, the gutter screen will prevent leaves, twigs and other debris from entering the gutter. It will also make cleaning your gutters much easier.
Should I install gutter guards?
In general, I’m not a big fan of gutter guards. I’ll leave that discussion for another article. The short answer is that they can be expensive, can actually cause more problems than they solve and can lure a homeowner into the false belief that their gutters never require maintenance again.
Suffice it to say, however, that gutter guards have their time and place. One such application is in a gutter area subject to a lot of debris.
I guess “a lot of debris” is totally subjective. But on my house, for example, I have a section of gutters that needs to be cleaned three or four times every fall. For me, that’s too much. I have more important things to do with my time than cleaning the same gutter several times a year.
Gutter guards come in many shapes, styles, colours, sizes and designs. Many speciality service companies offer their own unique design or brand and likewise tout their superiority to any other gutter guard on the market.
For now, I will sidestep the question of the merits of gutter guard designs because my purpose here is not to evaluate or compare designs or products. Instead, I want to focus on the benefit that any gutter guard claims to achieve. Namely, to reduce or eliminate the need for gutter cleaning.
While gutter guards rarely eliminate the need for gutter cleaning, they can significantly eliminate most leaves and debris from entering a gutter, thus reducing the cleaning interval.
