An important part of maintaining the good condition of your Tacoma, WA, home is looking after the exterior — and that includes keeping your gutters clear.
A clogged gutter can cause damage to your home in a multitude of ways. Even without significant rainfall, clogged gutters can become heavy enough to tear away from their fittings and destroy your home’s roof and siding.
While keeping your gutters clean is essential, you might not always be able to tell when they need clearing. Here are a few signs that will tell you it’s time to fit gutter cleaning into your schedule.
You’re Noticing More Pests
Have you heard critters scampering across your roof, or have you found pest droppings in your attic? In addition to calling a pest control service, you might need to have your home’s gutters cleaned.
Your home won’t attract pests unless it offers something they want or need. The presence of pests on your roof or in your attic suggests that your gutter has debris that’s ideal for building nests.
Gutter cleaning in Tacoma, WA, resolves this issue by removing the attraction for pests. When your gutters are clean, pests won’t find items they might want to use for their nests. As a result, they’re less likely to destroy your gutters, roof shingles, and other parts of your home.
Plants Are Sprouting in Your Gutters
Keep an eye out for weeds and plants on your roof and in your gutters. Plants can’t grow without soil and moisture, so spotting weeds on your roof or in your gutters indicates that a significant amount of debris has accumulated. Roof washing can flush plants and soil off of your roof before they cause damage to your house.
When you notice that plants are growing in your gutters, it’s especially important to take action. Your ability to see plants or flowers in your gutters suggests there’s probably more plant life thriving unseen deeper in the gutters. This is usually an indication that you’re long overdue for a gutter cleaning service.
Stains Are Forming on the Exterior Surfaces of Your Home
Another obvious sign that you should call a gutter cleaning company to service your Tacoma, WA, home is the formation of stains. In particular, green or black stains might indicate mold and mildew growth. These stains result from rainwater spilling over the edges of blocked gutters.
As the water splashes over the gutter edges and onto the roof and siding of the house, it will create the ideal conditions for fungus growth. In addition to having your gutters cleared, you should schedule pressure washing to eliminate these stains. Otherwise, mold and mildew growth could thrive and damage your home further.
You Find Evidence of a Leaky Roof
If it has been too long since you scheduled gutter cleaning for your home, there might be heavy blockages that are keeping rainwater from properly draining. This can lead to pooling on your roof where there are flat surfaces. Even if you have a traditionally slanted roof, water can splash back onto the roof and access the underlying roofing materials.
It won’t take long for that water to get soaked up by your roof shingles and the wood that forms your roof’s support beams. This problem will require extensive roof repairs, and you may also need to replace your home’s gutters. Avoid these expenses by keeping up with your home’s gutter cleaning needs.
You’re Noticing More Water
Even a small amount of moisture can lead to severe water damage over a prolonged period. There aren’t many materials that aren’t adversely affected by moisture — even bricks and concrete blocks will erode from ongoing contact with water. If you see cracking brickwork around your home, one of your first actions should be to inspect your gutters.
Gutter cleaning in Tacoma, WA, is necessary to prevent this type of damage, but if you’re seeing cracked brick, stucco, or wood, you have already waited too long. In addition to clearing out your gutters, you’ll need to repair or replace these damaged materials.
Even if you don’t see any other indications that your gutters are heavily blocked, overflowing water is a sure sign that you have a problem. At the very least, there’s a blockage at the point where the water is splashing over the sides of the gutter. You should have that blockage cleared as soon as possible.
Look for leaks in your gutters as well. A heavy blockage can cause the fittings and connecting pieces in your gutter system to loosen. As a result, water will leak from those joints as it passes through the gutters. You can reduce this type of damage by regularly cleaning your gutters or contacting a gutter cleaning company.
More Signs That You Need Gutter Cleaning
There are also smaller, less noticeable signs that you should have your gutters cleaned. For example, if you don’t know how long it has been since the previous gutter cleaning, it’s probably time to schedule service again. Once you have been living in your home for a year or more, you should have a good sense of how often your gutters need clearing.
Weather patterns and seasonal shifts will also tell you to clean your gutters. For example, several windy days have probably blown extra debris onto your roof or into your gutters. Similarly, heavier or more frequent rainfall will flush more debris into your gutters, forcing blockages to form.
If you suspect your gutters need cleaning, scheduling gutter cleaning in Tacoma, WA, can help you avoid future problems.
Keep Your Gutters Clear All Year Round
As the seasons change, your need for gutter cleaning services will change as well. You might need to have your gutters cleaned several times in the fall and only once or twice in the summer. Following a regular cleaning schedule will help you protect your gutters and your home through every season. Contact us today to schedule your next cleaning!
