By hiring a  gutter cleaning company in Montgomery County Maryland, you can prevent damages to your lawn, trees, and other vegetation when overflowing gutters wash away the dirt from around them.

Does your home need gutter cleaning?

If you aren’t sure if you need gutter cleaning on your home, sometimes you can walk around the house and notice mud stains on the lower areas of the siding, washed out mulch from flower beds or in extreme cases plants growing in your gutters!  If you notice these types of problems, then you need gutter cleaning!  If you decide to clean the gutters yourself, there are some things you should consider first.

Remember Safety First!
If you are not comfortable with heights or don’t use high ladders regularly, gutter cleaning is not a job for you!  Consider having a gutter cleaning service  in Montgomery County Maryland handle the job instead and stay on the ground where it’s safe!
Another hazard of gutter cleaning is hidden hazards like electrical power lines and bee’s nests. There’s nothing like cleaning gutters and having an angry nest of hornets chase you down the ladder!

Steps to gutter cleaning

For all gutter cleaning jobs you will need a ladder, hammer, work gloves and a hose.  Always clear the highest gutters first, starting out at one end and moving towards the other.  Always work from the ladder and not from the actual roof, where you could fall off.  If you find any loose gutter portions, tighten them up as you go along. If you find that you are noticing the gutters won’t tighten up when you attempt to nail them in, or find something you aren’t sure of, contact a gutter cleaning service in Montgomery County Maryland by calling 301-216-9675.

Make sure the downspouts are clear by feeding the garden hose down the gutter spout to make certain it’s clear. If the spout is clogged, water will back up and create problems with your wood trim, landscaping and in some cases, flood your basement.  Clearing stopped up down spouts can be a job in itself, sometimes you may have to remove them from the house so they can be taken apart to remove the clogged debris.  Sometimes you can try  removing the debris from both ends and flushing out the remainder with a garden hose. In the event this doesn’t work you may need to take the spout a part to clear it. This part of the job can be dangerous as well if the downspout needs to be taken apart from the ladder.  Be careful when doing this, in most situations it’s probably better that you hire a gutter cleaning company instead. Once the down spouts are clear, be sure the discharge end is extended at least 4 to 6 feet away from the house to prevent water from flowing back towards the house.

Even if you try to clean your gutters and decide after starting to do the job yourself that cleaning gutters, just isn’t a job you feel comfortable doing yourself, you can always contact our company for gutter cleaning in Montgomery County Maryland.

While cleaning gutters on your home, you might want to consider installing gutter guards on them as well, to cut down on some of the gutter cleaning your home needs.  Installing gutter guards doesn’t mean that you won’t have to clean gutters anymore, regardless of what some manufacturers claim, debris will still enter the gutters but it can save you quite a bit of money on gutter cleaning over time.  Once the gutter system is cleaned and properly adjusted, is the best time to consider installing gutter guards that will avoid a repeat performance every 4 months.

Do I need gutter cleaning if I have gutter guards?

Even homes that have gutter guards still need to have someone clean the gutters, even if it is only just once a year.  Many homeowners make this error because they believe that once they install gutter guards, they don’t have to worry about gutter cleaning anymore.  But, debris still gets into the gutters and will cause blockages over time. The gutters still need to be cleaned at least once a year and inspect the gutter system to make sure it’s working properly.

We have tested hundreds of gutter guard systems over the years and found that most systems will keep out the majority of debris, but not all of them.  We install a couple of different kinds of gutter guards but depending on the types of trees in the area, the pitch of the roof and how close they are to the home, some are more effective than others.  For example, metal screens can be effective in the short run but eventually they will collapse into the gutters due to the amount of snow and ice that we receive in Montgomery County Maryland.  Then blockages will reoccur and can be even harder to clear since the screens will need to be removed first. Leaf blocking guards, which look like a metal louver that is installed above the gutter, are more expensive but they are usually a much more effective option at keeping leaves out of gutters than the metal screen types.  The louvered types of gutter guards allow water to run into the gutter while washing leaves over the side, and they are built to hold more weight, which prevents them from being crushed down during a heavy snow.  If you would like more information about gutter guards, or gutter cleaning in Montgomery County Maryland, call 301-216-9675.