Maintenance of Roof Guttering

An article by admin    No Comments

Guttering usually just gets on with its job of channeling water from your roof down to the drain below. The first signs that something may be wrong with your gutters could be when you notice water dripping – or even cascading – from high up. It might be right above the door so you receive a soaking every time you enter or leave your house?

Roof Repairs Birmingham / Roofers Manchester / Roofers in Edinburgh

You guttering will require occasional maintenance if the above situation is to be avoided. A leaking gutter is at best inconvenient and at worst potentially damaging to your property.

Derby Roofers / Sheffield Roofer / Roofer Glasgow

Why Effective Guttering Is Important

Guttering is designed to gather the rain water running off your roof, and channel it away from the building. Without guttering the rain would run straight down the walls soaking the brickwork, and fall onto the ground close to the building potentially working its way into the foundations.

Neglected guttering can eventually lose its effectiveness through becoming clogged with debris such as leaves, silt washed off the roof, bird nests and more. If clogging becomes too acute, blockages are likely, water cannot run freely along the gutter, and will overflow and leak out into the roof and/or down the walls.

The weight of the debris, sludge and trapped water can cause the guttering to pull away from its mountings on the roof fascia boards. Expensive repairs are the net result.

In the UK, our climate with usually high levels of rain fall makes heavy demands on guttering. Regular checks and cleaning/maintenance will help avoid major remedial guttering work and possibly structural repairs.

What Maintenance Should Be Undertaken?

Inspection and cleaning: If you plan to do this yourself, prepare properly and do not rush. You will need a ladder, so ensure you observe basic safety principles in its use.

Check for obvious signs of ‘silting’ and evidence of loose fixings where guttering may be detaching from its mountings. When removing the debris, scoop the matter into a bin bag. It’s better to use several bags with light amounts of debris rather than fill up one bag to capacity – the weight of the bag can be dangerous up the ladder and awkward to take down when you descend.

A hose pipe can be used to flush away debris and to try and clear blockages. Do not overdo it: guttering is not designed to take water at high pressure. Similarly, do not be too aggressive with scooping debris out – guttering can crack easily.

Professional Guttering Services

If you do not fancy the idea of tackling cleaning/maintenance tasks yourself, maybe the best tool for the your guttering maintenance is the Internet. There are many companies offering specialist roof and guttering cleaning/maintenance services. Any worth their salt will offer a no obligation quote for a general check over, and for any specific work required.

Some window cleaners offer a basic gutter inspection/cleaning service they combine with cleaning your windows. It could be worth enquiring if yours does.