Not everything is always good from above. In fact, there are many things that can kill the house – think about the destructive ingredients of rain that even gnaw away rock. The rain gutter, however, is usually something other than acid rain. It works like a big funnel into which everything that accumulates on the roof is washed into it. With water and small dirt particles (such as moss), that’s no problem. However, collecting leaves, especially in autumn, in larger quantities, this can cause them to be bundled flushed into the gutter that they not only clog the gutter itself, but also the opening to the downpipe. Here is how to fix clogged gutters.
What happens if I do not fix it?
Then happens the same thing that happens in the clogged sink with open tap, the container overflows. In the gutter that can cause a variety of harmful disadvantages. The worst of it is the soaking of the underlying masonry if you do not fix clogged gutters.
In a typical rain fall lasting several days, dozens of liters of water per square meter of roof surface are quickly produced. They then pour over the façade, moisten the masonry and thus become a source of mold and tangible structural damage. With a bit of bad luck, the water also pushes a veritable ball of leaves deep into the downpipe, where it can hardly be reached without disassembling it.
Fix clogged gutters: How do I proceed?
As soon as you notice that the gutter overflows, you have to act fast: put on sturdy shoes, put on a narrow hand scoop, a bucket and a sufficiently long ladder, a second person to hold on to the latter and then go up.
First, the area around the downpipe connection is cleaned. Then the rest of the gutter step by step. Then, if it is still raining, quietly observe the situation from above for a few minutes to check whether the water is running well.
How do I avoid it in the future?
By carefully cleaning the gutters each year before the start of the fall and watching them suspiciously. This work can be greatly simplified by installing gutter grids that prevent leaves from falling into them – and possibly even cutting down near-by trees that could be considered as culprits.
Gerhardt Richter is a writer and a trainer at trade technical colleges, specializing in carpentry, plumbing, mechanics and construction.
