A Gutter Cleaning Checklist for Spring!

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Time flies when you’re having fun (or fiberglass in your face). And before you know it, winter is over and the birds are singing again. You might not think spring will bring much to your gutter-cleaning routine, but you’d be wrong. There are a few changes that come with the arrival of springtime that you should take into account if you want to have an easier time cleaning your gutters this year than last.

 

Leaves are starting to fall.

The first big difference you’ll notice in your gutters come fall is the fact that they’ll be filled with leaves. If you’re planning on getting to them right away, this isn’t a huge deal. But if you wait much longer, you’re going to have a much harder time cleaning them. And let’s be honest, the leaves are probably going to clog up your downspouts at some point, too. So the sooner you get to them, the better. If you’re not sure when you should get started, here are a few rules of thumb. First, you’ll want to start a little bit early. This gives you a few weeks to clean them out once they start getting clogged. Second, leave them alone until around the first frost. They’ll be easier to clean off once they’ve fallen off the trees and dried out a bit.

 

Don’t forget to check your shingles.

If your gutters are particularly old and rickety, you might want to double check the condition of your shingles. They’re the thing that holds the gutters in place, so if they’re starting to fall apart, it’s a bad sign. If they’re just starting to show a bit of age, you can probably just clean them off and seal them. If they’re in worse shape, though, you’ll probably want to replace them before the next growing season. This can get a little pricey, so if you’re worried about your budget, you can always just clean and seal them.

 

New growth will make your bushes fuller.

You might not care much about your gutters, but you probably care about your bushes. If you’re like most people, you like to keep them trimmed, so they don’t take over your yard. This year, though, you’ll probably have to do a bit more maintenance than usual. That’s because you’ve probably got new growth coming in. Now, this isn’t really a problem unless you regularly trim your bushes. In that case, you’ll probably want to wait a bit before getting to them. But if you usually just trim them once a year, you might want to start a bit earlier this year. That’s because your new growth will make them fuller than usual. And that might mean that you need to be a bit more careful when you’re trimming.

 

You might need to re- Stain and reseal your gutters.

As you know, rain and snow can rust your gutters. Now, this isn’t a huge deal if you clean them regularly. Unfortunately, most people don’t. As a result, rust can build up on your gutters over time. And if it gets bad enough, it can break the gutter apart. You can prevent this by re-staining and resealing your gutters every few years. The good news is that this is pretty easy to do. The bad news is that most people just don’t get around to it. If you’re guilty of this, though, you might want to start as soon as the weather turns nice to give your gutters every chance of staying in good shape this year.

 

And, of course, you’ll still have to clean out the muck.

Finally, you’ll still have to clean out the muck from your gutters. It’ll be easier now than it was during the winter when everything was frozen, but it’s still not going to be a walk in the park. The good news is that you’ll probably only have to do it once this season. That’s because the weather will be warm enough that you’ll be able to do it in the fall, but not warm enough that it’ll melt all the snow and ice in your gutters. If you want to do it in the fall, you’ll want to wait until after the first frost.

 

So, with all that in mind, here’s a handy checklist for your spring gutter cleaning!

If you want to save yourself a lot of trouble this coming spring, you’ll want to keep the checklist below at the front of your mind. It will help you get a leg up on your gutter cleaning and make sure that you don’t forget anything. And that way, you’ll have a much easier time cleaning your gutters come springtime.