If your lawn and landscaping beds are covered with the colors of the season, just think of how full your gutters are. The last leaves are finally making their way down from the trees, signaling the end of fall. Now is the perfect time to schedule your gutter cleaning so you are ready for when those snow and ice storms hit – and they’ll be here sooner than you realize.

What Happens If You Don’t Clean Your Gutters Prior to Winter?

If you ignore your gutters, you are doing so at your own peril. Your gutters play such an important part in protecting your home from water damage. You need to make sure they are free of debris before the winter arrives. If you don’t, you could experience a host of costly issues.

Ice Damming

Gutters full of leaves and other debris are the perfect catalyst for ice damming. When the water has nowhere to go, it freezes in the full gutters. This freezing causes those dangerous icicles you see on so many homes. And where there is no drainage and the ice starts to melt, the water makes its way under the shingles and into your home. What happens then? You can experience leaks, water damage and mold – and a major headache!

Gutter Damage

The weight from the frozen leaves and other debris can cause the gutters to pull away from the home and sag. Not only does this negatively impact the effectiveness of your gutter system overall, if those gutters rip away from the house, they can cause personal injury if someone happens to be nearby. Plus, you will be incurring the expense of repairing or replacing your gutters – which is definitely more costly than a cleaning.

Health Issues

As the water backs up, it becomes a breeding grown for mold and mildew. Those contaminants can then keep growing and spread into your home’s interior. This can create health issues for you and your family.

Pesky Pests

Rodents and insects love to nest in clogged gutters. As the colder weather and snow makes its way here, those pests may start to make their way into your home. Don’t help them along. Clear out your gutters!

If you live in the Bergen County, New Jersey or Rockland County, New York area and need to schedule a gutter cleaning, give us a call.