If you don't have guards on your gutter troughs, your gutters can get packed with leaves as time goes by. It's important to clean the leaves out, or your gutters will overflow or rain may back up under the roof. If there are many trees on your property, you might need to clean out your gutters a few times each year. Here's how to tell when you need to do gutter cleaning, how it's done, and why you may want to hire a gutter cleaning service to do the work.

How To Know If Your Gutters Should Be Cleaned

If your gutters are full of leaves, you can probably see leaves poking over the top. If you're able to climb a ladder safely, you might want to climb up and peek inside the gutters to see if they are packed full of leaves.

Another way to tell if your gutters are full is if you see rain falling over the sides of the gutters when it's raining. You might also look at the downspout. Water should be coming out when it rains. If no water comes out, there is probably a leaf clog in the downspout or the gutter trough.

How Gutters Are Cleaned

Cleaning gutters requires working from a ladder and digging out all of the leaves by hand. When you look in your gutter trough, you may see clumps of decaying leaves, bird nests, bugs, mold, and stagnant water. Because the debris could be hazardous, it's important to wear gloves and be cautious when gutter cleaning.

When most of the leaves are dug out, it's time to clean the gutters with a water hose. This rinses the rest of the debris through and gives you a chance to watch for water running out of the downspout to check for leaves stuck in the spout.

When leaves clog up the spout, you need to take a long rod or broom handle and push them through. A gutter cleaning company has tools for this purpose that make it easy to clean out a clogged downspout.

Why Hire A Gutter Cleaning Company?

A gutter cleaning company can save you from climbing up a ladder and getting hurt while bending and twisting to clean out the troughs. Plus, professionals know how to clean gutters without denting the troughs or pushing them out of alignment.

Gutter cleaners can also look for signs of damage, such as rotted fascia boards, loose trough hangers, and leaks in the troughs from rust or loose seams. In addition, the service might climb up on the roof to push off wet clumps of leaves stuck in valleys. If your home has two or more stories, hiring a professional gutter cleaning service is important for your safety.

For more information, contact a gutter cleaning service such as River Restoration in your area.