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Why Clean Gutter Before Winter Sets In (5 Key Reasons)

December 5, 2022 | by Dmitriy Murza

As you prepare your house or metal building for winter, you think you have checked all the boxes: the furnace works properly, the roof looks great, and the attic and the basement are dry. You should also clean the gutter before winter. Homeowners often overlook this winterization task, and it frequently results in unpleasant consequences.

Here are five important reasons to put gutter cleaning on your list of tasks to prepare your home for winter:

1. You Will Not Have to Deal with Sagging Gutters

Debris clogging the gutters means that water gets trapped instead of being discharged on land. When temperatures reach freezing levels, all the water in the gutters will freeze, of course. Now, when water freezes, its volume increases. Together with the debris, this will lead to the gutters tearing off your house and sagging.

In several cases, our gutter cleaning specialists had to replace the entire gutter system due to this issue. You can avoid a significant expense by making sure your gutters are clean before the first snow.

2. You Won’t Have to Deal with Dangerous Ice Dams

What happens to excess water on the roof during the winter? It overflows and freezes, creating an ice dam along all the sides of the roof. The ice shards, which are sharp and heavy, can cause serious injury if they fall on you or one of your family members.

After taking care of gutter cleaning before winter, you will only have a harmless layer of snow on the roof, making your home picture-perfect for Instagram, rather than a hazard waiting to happen.

3. You Will Avoid Damage to the Roof

When gutters are clogged, water will pool on the roof. This water can get into very tiny cracks in the roof before the freezing temperatures set in. As water freezes, the cracks will get bigger. 

By the end of the winter, you may need roof repair, mold removal, and other professional services to fix various damages. 

4. You Will Avoid Expensive Gutter Repairs in the Future

Contractors specializing in gutter cleaning will do more than just remove debris. We perform a general inspection of the entire gutter system, checking all its elements. 

We can identify the smallest cracks and the first signs of rust and fix them before the problem becomes more serious. A little now will go a long way in the future, saving you from a serious headache and a bunch of unnecessary expenses.

You Can Prevent the Growth of Mold and Mildew

Dead leaves and other debris combined with water are the perfect breeding ground for fungi, mold, and mildew. These contaminants can easily get into your house and pose serious health risks for you and your family.

You can avoid all these and many other negative scenarios with a simple decision – hire a specialist for gutter cleaning before winter!