Do you have an annual maintenance checklist for your home?  If not, it may be time to start considering creating one.  One of the most important things to include on that is to clean out your gutters.  Why bother with that, though?

You see, if we don’t routinely clear out the leaves, twigs, or other natural detritus, it could cause a whole slew of further problems.  Of course, there are ways that we can clean them on our own, some of which we’ll be touching upon today.  Unfortunately, it won’t always be safe to clean your gutters all by yourself – sometimes you may need to bring in some external help.

Either way, we’ll be covering some methods to clean gutters here today.  Make sure to stick around if you haven’t been thinking about that and incorporating it into your annual maintenance routine.  After all, if we don’t, it can cause all sorts of problems down the line.

Gutter Cleaning 101: Best Ways To Keep Gutters Clean

Of course, we’ll start out with the basics here today!  Most folks plan to do this in the Autumn, thanks to falling leaves.  This will probably depend on how many trees you have in your yard or the neighborhood as a whole.  Most of us wish we could somehow stop the leaves from our neighbor’s homes from getting into our gutters, but the wind will carry them anyhow.

Thankfully, we don’t have to do all that much with these draining systems besides making sure there isn’t any debris building up.  A blocked downpipe could end up with your home getting flooded, so while the tasks aren’t all that difficult, not doing them can cost you a whole lot.

One reason that it can be dangerous to do this on your own is because of how high up you have to get.  On this blog, they detail the dangers of falling and hurting yourself while doing maintenance on your home.  It’s a warning we’d do well to heed.

A recommendation for cleaning gutters is to be cognizant of your surroundings and to be very careful if you do end up having to climb a ladder to do so.  At first glance it may seem like it’s the best way to get the job done, but in reality, this is far from the case.  It can be very risky to climb up a step ladder or even a telescoping one while you’re reaching out to clean a gutter.  

That’s why if you are going to climb a ladder to do so, make sure that you get a sturdy one.  An extension ladder can get the job done relatively easily compared to the other options out there, so it may be something to think about.

Now, you don’t always have to climb up high to clear debris out from these drainage systems.  You can also do so safely from the ground.  The downside here is that it tends to take a long time and you have to be very methodical about it.  After all, you won’t be able to see what you’re removing.

In that sense, it can still be somewhat risky.  If there’s a nest of insects up there (or some other type of critter), you could end up getting stung or bitten.  Even the safest options do entail some dangers for the average homeowner, so make sure to think about that as you decide whether you want to do it on your own or if you want to bring in some external help.

These types of things are listed in guides like this one when it comes to living here in Australia, so there’s a good chance you already knew about them.  We felt them worth highlighting just in case anyone has recently moved to our country, or if any readers out there weren’t quite familiar just yet.

Residential Gutter Cleaning

Thus far, we’ve only been covering methods of cleaning the gutters by ourselves at home.  The thing is, there are a lot of issues that can crop up along the way.  It’s why so many folks have started to bring in professional gutter cleaning services instead of worrying about it otherwise.

Most of the time, you should be able to find one that’s local and in your area.  If you want, you can even look for family-owned ones, since they tend to provide a more personalized service.  Each home has its own unique needs, after all, even if they all have a gutter system.

How do we pick a contractor or organization to work with, though?  Well, one option is to ask our friends and family if they have any recommendations.  If they’ve had a positive experience with one, then it may be worth checking them out!  In a similar vein, we can also look for online reviews to get a gauge for what we can expect out of a gutter cleaning service.

They are easier to find for residential properties, since these are the typical types of buildings that require these services in the first place.  If you’re still hesitant about it, then keep this in mind: blocked downpipes can really wreak havoc on your home.

It can cause foundational damage, if you don’t know – the excess water could end up seeping all the way to your basement if you have one.  Beyond that, there’s also the fact that it can ruin any special landscaping that you have set up.  Gutters are a prime location for bugs to make their homes, too, if we don’t keep them clean.

While it may not seem like that big of a deal at first glance, hopefully we’ve helped you to understand why cleaning them out should be a part of your annual checklist for home maintenance.  Admittedly, it’s not super safe or efficient to do it on our own.  We can easily hire professionals to get the job done without any risk to our own safety, and for reasonable prices to boot!

Davitt Design Build, Idlewild

Even though the sun is still shining, the heat is kicking and the backyard barbeque pool parties are keeping you busy, it’s still time to prep your home for the upcoming fall season. September is here and the fall weather comes fast, and before your know it you will be playing catchup all the way to Christmas.

Tear yourself from the pool for a few moments and read our tips on getting your home ready for fall:

1. Inspect Your Home for Drafts

With fall comes the first hints of winter, which means you’ll have to kick on the furnace here and there. Of course, that costs money, and if you have any draft in your house, it will cost even more money. Rather than paying to heat the great outdoors, spend some time inspecting windows and doors for gaps that might let air in and out.

2. Check out Your Furnace

Those cold nights can come out of nowhere. One week you’ve still got mild weather and the next you’re having the first frost of the season. Getting your furnace inspected by an HVAC serviceman will help you ensure that you have the heat you need when you need it. An inspection will also determine if any maintenance—like air filter replacement—is needed. Such maintenance ensures that your furnace is running at peak efficiency, which saves you money in the long run.

3. Clean the Gutters

Depending where you live, fall can be a time of heavy precipitation. If your rain gutter isn’t clean before this heavy rainfall, you will have a problem on your hands. You can hire someone to clean your gutters if you don’t have a willing husband or teenager to put up to the task.

4. Have the Chimney and Fireplace Inspected

If you’re the type to use your fireplace often during the cold months—who doesn’t love the smell of a real wood fire!—you’ll want to have a professional inspect and clean it. At its most innocent, an improperly maintained chimney and fireplace is an annoyance, sending smoke into the house rather than out of it. But if this has gotten bad enough, it can be a genuine fire hazard.

5. Load up on Firewood

If step four applies to you, then this one does too. Wood fires are cheaper than always relying on your home’s furnace, not to mention how romantic it can be to curl up with that special someone before a real wood fire. However, you can’t save money or enjoy romance unless you have firewood stocked up.

6. Inspect Winter Gear

This means checking out your snow blower and snow tires and the like. You don’t want to wait until that first snow—which we know often comes during the fall—to discover that your snow blower died a quiet death during the summer or that one or more of your snow tires have gone flat. If you do not have a snow blower, check our different types of snow blowers and read reviews online before choosing which one to buy.

7. Decorate Your Home

Finally! Something fun! Having tended to all the essentials, you can now see about getting your home’s interior ready for the coziness of fall. This means digging out all your autumnal colors: your throws and pillows and candles with yellow, orange, and red accents. You’ll also want to find those Halloween decorations or make your own. And of course, don’t forget to adorn your house with flowers in those same hues.

We know you don’t want to think about fall yet. All you want is to blend up another margarita, get back to your pool and take in more of the summer sun while it lasts. And you can! Just find a little time here and there to get your home ready for fall. You’ll be glad you did when that first frost hits and you and yours are sitting before a fire, cozy, contented, and warm!