Your house has gutters for a reason. The gutter system on your house is needed to get water away from your house. When water does not get away from your house it ends up in your basement. I think I can say with great assurance you do not want water in your basement. When looking at water in your basement you need to look at why you are getting water in your basement. We will take a look now at what is a major cause of damp and very wet or flooded basements.
When April showers come, it’s time to start thinking of May flowers, not your flooded basement. You can help to solve your own water problems by looking at your gutter system first. Many people do not look up when it comes to water in the their basements. Once you look up, you will stop having to look down for water. The leading cause of damage to homes is moisture. The more moisture in a home, the more damage will occur. Moisture can come from many areas. The gutter system on a house that is not working due to a failed gutter system will do extreme amounts of damage to a home. Many people don’t realize how much damage is caused by a clogged gutter system.
You don’t have to have a ton of trees around your house to get clogged gutters. Leaves and twigs can travel long distances during storms. When you have large pines around a home also can cause clogged or plugged downspouts. When your gutter becomes plugged the water does not flow away from the house. The water stays close to the house and then follows the foundation down to the basement and then works its way into the basement. The build up in the gutter system can take time. When the gutter system is not cleaned or protected by a gutter protection system, the debris starts to break down or rot inside your gutters. The debris soon stops all water from flowing through your gutter system.
The regular cleaning of your gutter system is a must. Many people don’t think the regular cleaning of gutters is needed. This can have very severe consequences. The older gutter systems were made from a steel and end up rusting out. The bottom of these types of gutters rust and start with small holes in the bottom of the gutter system. These rust holes grow larger then require the gutter system by updated. If debris was not allowed to sit in the bottom of the gutter system they would have lasted longer. Now, many gutter systems are not made from steel any more. You still need to clean gutters because they still will become plugged.
The process of cleaning gutters can be a dangerous one. In the event you still want or have to clean your gutters you need to take caution as many trips to a emergency rooms across the nation are due to gutter cleaning. There are so many crazy gutter cleaning machines and devices out there. In the end the most effective way to clean gutters is with a power blower. Yes, if your gutters are really plugged you will have to do it the old fashion way, by hand. Most of the time even with really plugged gutter systems you can blow them out. The more trees you have around your home the more often you will need to clean your gutters out.
Now, you can stop cleaning your gutters out if you use gutter protection. A good gutter protection system does not mean you should have to take a home loan or go without. There are many gutter protection systems out there. The covers or screens are not worth the money. In fact many of these cheap gutter protection systems can cause more problems. Some lid or cover systems are used by hornets and wasps to make large nests inside your gutters. These lid or cover systems can cost alot of money and then encourage pests to make a home around your family and pets. I don’t care for hornets and wasps. They can wreck a great summer day in your yard.
There is a very simple way to stop clogged gutters and not have to take a loan. I personally use a foam insert gutter protection system that fills the gutter from front to back. The bottom is cut on a angle to allow the water to flow freely. The Gutter Care II with Extreme cap is the foam insert gutter protection system that I use and promote. I have a education in engineering and home improvement and have looked at all gutter protection systems out there. Many of them don’t work or cost a fortune to install. The problem I have found with the Gutter Care II gutter protection system is look alike products. Many look just like the Gutter Care II system, they don’t last and cost more as you need to replace them again and again.
There are many good sales people out there who will sell you on their system. The way I look at it is, I use a system that keeps my gutter free from debris and pests. This keeps water out of my basement from plugged gutters. Again, plugged gutters are the leading cause of basement water damage. I also don’t want to take a small loan to get gutters free from leaves and twigs. Many people have seen the ads for the expensive gutter protection systems and just think they cannot afford a system.
So, you have two choices to keep water out of your basement. You can clean your gutters each spring or fall, sometimes more. I still think using a good gutter protection system will keep you and your home safe. You don’t have to buy anything, but you will have to do a dirty and dangerous job to keep your basement dry. I use and endorse a gutter insert gutter protection system because it works for me. Like I said above, you don’t have to buy anything, just get your hands dirty. I never liked cleaning my gutters and looked for years for alternatives to cleaning them. The cheap junk is just that junk. So, don’t waste your time or money. I hope this helps keep your basement dry.
Remember, safety first with all home projects.
