Is there Ongoing Maintenance with a Gutter Guard System?

Is there Ongoing Maintenance with a Gutter Guard System?

Gutter guards significantly reduce the maintenance requirements of your building's gutters by protecting them 24/7 from the majority of leaf debris and preventing birds, rats and other vermin from entering your roof space. Gutter guards, like the rest of our homes, will benefit from some level of ongoing maintenance. As every home and building is subject to different environmental factors, the broad recommendation is to give your gutter guards an annual flush through for optimal long-term service, but this can vary from gutter to gutter.

Why would we need to clean gutter guards?

Like most aspects of our homes and buildings, a certain level of maintenance is required to keep things working at their optimum levels. Examples of this are everywhere we look. Homes are washed to protect the longevity of the paint work, decks are cleaned to prevent moss and mildew growth, windows are regularly cleaned, we service our heat pumps, fireplaces and air conditioning units, to name a few. The maintenance requirements for gutters are dramatically diminished with a gutter protection system but it is still advised that the gutters are flushed annually to ensure that any fine debris that gets into the gutters is washed through to the downpipe. This can be a job that is taken on by the property owner or taken care of for you with a help of a professional team.

How often do we need to clean our gutters?

The environment around a building will help to determine the level of ongoing maintenance required. For gutters surrounded by trees with small leaf varieties (such as Pine trees, Manuka or Ti-tree) where some small leaves can wash in to the gutter, a flush through may be required more frequently than if the leaves surrounding the gutters are large and cannot enter the gutter system. Bird seed, dust, sand, dirt and other small particles are all capable of washing into the gutter system with the rainwater. If the gutters are well positioned towards the down pipe, then generally this is washed on to the down pipe during a heavy downpour. From time to time, we find that in some gutters there can be small section that is not orientated to the downpipe and the small debris can accumulate over time. In this case the annual flush through is great to move these particles out of the gutter pan.

As a base recommendation it is advised that the mesh is flushed through annually. However, with any good gutter protection company you will be able to get an estimate of the frequency in which your gutters may need to be flushed. For many this is less often than the base recommendation but for some more problematic gutters it may be several times a year.

How do we clean our gutters?

Gutter flushing can be as simple as using a hose attachment (gutter wand) from the ground level and washing through the protective mesh layer. Alternatively, when you install your gutter protection with a company that provide after sales service, you can entrust this job to the professionals.

While installing a gutter protection system will dramatically reduce the maintenance requirements of your gutters, to keep them working optimally over the long term it is advised to flush through the mesh annually, or as recommended by a professional for your environment. Flushing gutters can be achieved by using hose water through the mesh by the homeowner or could be a job you leave to the professionals!

At LeafScreen, we provide gutter cleaning and gutter flushing services Call us on 0800 53 23 53 or fill in the Contact Form>>

LeafScreen New Zealand provides gutter solutions across the upper to central North Island, including Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Taupo. And we can service the lower North Island - Wairarapa, Wellington areas.