Fall landscape maintenance is all things concerned with the living parts of a landscape, such as the lawn and garden. However, it’s easy to forget that gutter cleaning is an essential task for fall. A neglected gutter and drain system, while it’s something we don’t think about often, could build up to a serious problem over time. Seasonal maintenance and gutter cleaning will keep your home and landscape safe and healthy. Here are four reasons why gutter cleaning is essential in the fall in Highland Park and Glenview, IL.
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Why Should You Clean Gutters In Fall?
As the days get colder, deciduous trees begin to shed their leaves; and even conifers will shed their needles throughout the year. The resulting leaf and needle debris can easily accumulate in your gutters. While it’s not a huge problem when the leaves are dry but as soon as it rains, the problems will start.
There are many hazards that could result due to a buildup of rotting leaves. Rain compacts leaves into a sticky mass that will quickly begin to rot. This mess can attract pests, fungus, and disease. Worse, moisture from a leaf-clogged gutter could overflow the gutter and seep down along the walls, creating ugly, mildew stains.
Failure of Gutters and Drains
The wet mass of leaves and other debris can clog your gutters and drains and become an immovable mass that could continue to build up. The more debris that’s in your gutters, the heavier it is. Eventually the result could be catastrophic, with the gutters pulling away from the roof, causing damage, and falling to the ground below.
Nasty Spillover: Damage to the Home
If there’s too much material stuck in the gutters, rain runoff and snowmelt will begin to spill over the sides, but not before mixing with what’s sitting in the gutters. This can produce disgusting, slimy water that’s speckled with black rotting material. This can stain the siding of your house as it splashes downwards and cause mold and mildew growth. This can damage siding and worse, it could eventually make its way into the structure itself.
Gutter spillover could also seep into your foundation as the soil beneath the gutters becomes waterlogged. Water in the foundation is the last thing any homeowner wants: once water causes a crack or leak into your foundation, the repairs are extremely costly.
Fire Danger
The following summer when this rotting buildup of leaves finally dries out to some extent. Now, in addition to strain on the gutters and spillover, you’re dealing with fire danger. The upper layers of leaves could become kindling to any errant spark from a lightning strike or other causes.
Icicle Buildup
Gutters are also designed to prevent icicle buildup on the eaves of houses. The snowmelt that would have otherwise melted into the gutter and drained away from the home might instead slowly spill over the side of the gutter forming heavy, pointed icicles. Icicles can be extremely dangerous, especially if the eaves are two stories or higher.
It Doesn’t Take Much!
All you need to do to prevent these hazards is make a call to your local gutter cleaning specialists. They’ll send out a team that will put your mind at ease and let your home continue to be a place of beauty and safety throughout the seasons.
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