Get a Head Start on Home Fire Safety This Summer by Making Sure You Have Clean Gutters

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When you think about home fire hazards, you may easily think about things like grease fires on the stove, fireplace issues, cigarette smoking and electrical issues, to name a few. The last thing that may come to mind is dirty or clogged gutters as a fire hazard.

However, in reality, dirty or clogged gutters can be a true fire risk for homeowners, and this can cause other issues for homeowners as well. After you have understood more about the risks and hazards associated with having dirty gutters on your property, you may be ready to contact Rite Price Roofing for assistance with all of your gutter needs.

How Gutters Can Get Clogged

Gutters are designed to channel water downward from the roof and away from the home in a controlled manner. Generally, they are intended to help you minimise risks associated with erosion around the foundation of the home and water damage, such as what may occur when siding is exposed to rain water frequently.

As the gutters carry the rain water downward, the water may also contain any debris or materials that was on the top of the roof. This may include leaves, pine needles, twigs and more.

In some cases, such as when the gutters are not covered, the debris may already be in the gutters when the next rain shower strikes. The combination of this debris and flowing water in the gutters can cause a clog.

The Fire Hazards Associated With Clogged Gutters

Clogged gutters can cause multiple problems for the home, and creating a fire hazard is just one of them. The debris in your gutters essentially can serve as kindling for a fire. This is particularly true when the weather has been dry for a while. Dried leaves, twigs and more only require a small spark to ignite. You may think that a spark would not land up inside your gutters, but this actually can happen.

Consider, for example, that a spark may come from a fire burning outside, such as a fire pit or a grill. The ash from a cigarette could blow upward.

In addition, a random bolt of lightning could strike the house. Fireworks are also commonly used in the summer months, and these can create a spark that ignites the debris. Gutters can be a true fire hazard, and their overall condition and cleanliness can also play a role in exterior home condition related to water damage and erosion.

How to Clean Your Gutters

With a better understanding of the risks associated with dirty or clogged gutters, you may be ready to start cleaning your gutters out.

Cleaning gutters can be a great do-it-yourself project, but it also can be rather risky and dangerous for a homeowner to do in some cases. This generally will require you to stand on a ladder in an elevated position and manually clean every inch of your gutters. Using a blower or even a power washer can also be effective methods for cleaning gutters. Even on a single-story home, this can be difficult to do on a ladder, and it can be more dangerous to do on a two-story home.

With this in mind, you may consider contacting the team at Rite Price Roofing for assistance with your gutter needs.

The Importance of Regular Gutter Maintenance

Cleaning your gutters is not a one-time experience. Instead, you will need to make plans to clean out your gutters regularly. If you do not have trees hanging over your roof, you may only need to clean gutters once per year.

However, if you have trees that hang over your roof or that are close enough to your roof for leaves to blow onto it, you may need to schedule this service several times per year. Keep in mind that there is a primary season when leaves may naturally fall to the ground, but even fresh, green leaves can also fall off of a tree.

This is common, for example, during a heavy storm with high winds. Cleaning gutters regularly on a schedule that is designed based on your home’s layout and exposure to leaves and twigs is important. This effort can help you to minimise any risks associated with clogged and dirty gutters.

How to Prevent Clogged Gutters

Preventing clogged gutters is easy to do. Regular cleaning can help you to remove clogs as soon as possible and can minimise the risk of clogs developing. Another great idea is to use gutter guards or screens to keep the debris out of your gutters.

These are unique features that will allow the water to pass over them and into the gutters, but the leaves, twigs and other debris will not pass into the gutters in most cases. This can drastically reduce the frequency with which you need to clean your gutters.

However, even with gutter guards or screens installed, some cleaning may be required periodically to ensure that your gutters are not dirty. The professional team at Rite Price Roofing is available to help you learn more about gutter guards and to install them on your property.

While gutters may create a fire hazard on your property if they become dirty and are not properly maintained, the fact is that they also serve an important role for your home. By channelling the water away from your home in a controlled manner, they are instrumental in minimising the impact of erosion around the foundation and various other types of water damage to the home.

All homes should have gutters installed, but these are not features that you can simply install and forget about. The best idea is to work with Rite Price Roofing for professional installation of your gutters if you do not currently have gutters.

If you do have gutters, you can install gutter guards and clean out the gutters through professional services. To learn more about pricing for these services and to set up an appointment with the team at Rite Price Roofing, call (08) 8261 3941 today.

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