For home owners and residents, gutters and drainage are an essential element of a well-running home.
There is no bigger feeling of dread than seeing standing water sitting in your gutters and drains, as these issues can cause major inconvenience within your day to day life. Gutter clearance can be a big inconvenience but it’s much easier when kept on top of.
From leaks and drips to foul odours, these are warning signs of big problems and possibly unnecessary expenses. Not to mention there are hygiene and personal safety issues that come with faulty drainage.
We believe that prevention is always better than cure. Why wrestle with unblocking and deep cleaning your gutter, or seeking professional help in the future, when you could prevent the issues from happening before they even occur?
To prevent gutters from overflowing, your main priority should always be cleaning. If you don’t have the appropriate gutter-cleaning tools, you will want to invest in a bucket, a decent garden hose with a spray capability, a plumbers snake, and an s-hook. You might not – and hopefully won’t – need all of these tools for one drain cleaning session, but they are affordable and massively worthwhile items for any home owner or property developer to own for future use.
You will also need a ladder to access the guttering, as well as safety equipment such as protective gloves.
1. Check the drain pipes
Before messing around with your DIY gutter clearance methods, it’s a good idea first to check and see what you’re working with! It’s a good idea to grab a bucket filled with water and pour it into the gutter to watch what happens and take note.
If the water is flowing towards the drain pipe – great! Everything is working fine.
If the water flows away from the drain pipe, this is not good news. You are probably in need of a refit to make sure the water flows correctly, or maybe even a higher capacity gutter.
2. Remove debris
Gutters can be prone to collecting leaves, moss and debris simply from being located outside – especially in the autumn and winter months. These items can become stuck along the guttering and create blockages which in turn lead to standing water and possibly overflowing gutters.
This gutter clearance method should be pretty straightforward and requires very little equipment. However, you will need to access your gutters via a ladder and it’s important you have another person to assist for safety purposes. Simply clean the gutters manually while wearing protective gloves and maybe a scrubbing tool for more stubborn blockages like moss.
We’d also recommend you invest in a gutter guard. These are very affordable and worthwhile tools that help to block leaves and other debris from entering your gutters, without stopping the water flow. This will save a lot of time, reducing the amount you need to dedicate to gutter clearance and prevents major future issues.
3. Clean your downspout
Cleaning your downspout is a more thorough gutter clearance approach, and requires protective gloves, an extension ladder, a garden trowel, rubbish bags, a garden hose, a sprayer attachment for the hose, a bucket, an S-hook and a plumber’s snake.
Firstly, locate your downspouts, these are generally going to be in the corners of your home.
Safely position your ladder and attach your bucket and S-hook to it. Keep a rubbish bag close by and don’t forget to wear protective gloves.
Make sure you don’t push debris further into the downspout, by beginning at the downspout and working away from it.
Use your spade or trowel to remove debris and place it in the bucket or rubbish bag.
After doing this, rinse out the gutter using the hose with the spray attachment on. If there are any clogs, knock them loose by directing water into the upper or bottom ends. If this doesn’t work, the blockage might be too stubborn. In this case, use the plumber’s snake.
Inspect as you go in case of any damage. If there are cracks, holes or dents in your gutters, repair them if possible.
4. Check the position of your roof tiles
One of the best ways to avoid overflowing gutters is to ensure the structure of your property is up to scratch elsewhere. Gutter clearance is important but it is not the only element of properly flowing drainage. Your roof tiles should be positioned without overlaps, as these can allow water to flow behind your gutter and overflow on to the ground.
5. At-home drain clearance
Sometimes, gutter issues are more representative of blocked drains than problems within the gutter itself. Household drain clearance is relatively easy, and we have put together a guide for DIY drain unblocking at home.
- Use a plunger! If you need to clear blocked gutter pipes, plungers are your go-to. They are inexpensive, easy to use and accessible.
- Try washing detergent. Powdered washing detergent can help to dislodge debris and clear your drains. Just pour some down the drain, leave it for a few minutes and then rinse out with water.
- Mix vinegar and baking soda. This mixture creates a fizzing action that will help make water flow through smoothly.
These 5 tips should help you avoid overflowing gutters, and reduce the need for future gutter clearance! However, if you are in need of assistance, or want to save yourself some precious time and effort, why not give our team a call?