8 Benefits of Gutter Cleaning

You know as well as the Umbrella Property Service team does that Vancouver is a rainy city. Currently, it receives the fourth-largest amount of precipitation (falling as rain or snow) in Canada on an annual basis. While many of us have come to accept the rainy days in exchange for the beautiful mountainside location – it, unfortunately, doesn’t fare well for our homes, especially with little to no gutter maintenance. The team at Umbrella Property Services take pride in ensuring that your gutters are well maintained during the rainy season. We’ve broken down below the 8 benefits of gutter cleaning and how it can maintain the upkeep of your home during the next rainy season.

1. It prevents water damage from occurring to your home
   It’s critical to ensure your gutters and downspouts are flowing properly so that when it does rain the water running off the roof drains properly into your drain tile.  If your gutter system isn’t working properly water can end up finding its way into places it shouldn’t be. Your foundation may not be the only victim here, water damage can also affect your home’s ceilings, walls, floor and fascia boards – to name a few. Over the long term, water damage can add up to tens of thousands in repair bills.
2. Increases not only your comfort levels but your health too
   

   Getting your gutters serviced increases not only your comfort levels but your health, too

   Insects and rodents love to nest and breed in gutters. The damp air, leaves, pine needles and bodies of murky water are the perfect mating grounds.  Also, decomposing matter in your gutters can also be an issue, as in their damp state they become the platform of growth for mildew and mold, which have been found by the Institute of Medicine (2004) to be the cause of respiratory illness in otherwise healthy children.

3. The lifespan of your roof is extended
   Gutters are effectively a shield. During the winter months, clogged gutters trap ice and put unnecessary strain on the weight being held by them. While unlikely, cases have occurred where this stress has caused roofing materials to collapse unexpectedly.
   In addition to this, this strain will continue to grow as the frozen ice moves roof shingles apart. Maintenance by companies such as ours means that we service your gutters to ensure that they are maintained to standards where ice and water will flow easily from your roof eliminating the excess weight and pooling.
4. The prevention of basement flooding
   Basement flooding can in part be attributed to your clogged gutters which have overflown – inadvertently spilling rainwater around your basement.
   Of the many horror-related basement flooding stories you’ve probably heard – when your basement floods, it can also mean irreplaceable damage to your furniture and other valuables.
   

   Did you know your gutters can affect the landscaping of your home?

5. Keeping your exterior landscaping tidy and structurally sound 
   A part of your home’s value is directly related to the curb appeal generated from landscaping.  Managing the prevention of gutter-related landscaping damage such as soil erosion, plants, and flower damage is as simple as ensuring gutters are kept clean so that rainwater can effectively be channeled away from your landscape – or on a higher level purposefully channeled into certain areas for management of your landscape.
6. Minimize pests
   The West Nile Virus (WNV) emerged from mosquitoes passing it onto humans after contracting it from birds. In a plethora of information that has been released discussing ways to the prevent the spread of this disease – the main take-home encourages homeowners to clear any standing water from around their homes. This discourages mosquitoes (the main carrier) from breeding in these bodies of water. Gutters – which aren’t an obvious checkpoint for many – become a neglected area by homeowner/occupiers.
7. Improvement of gutter lifespan
   When gutters are weighed down from debris and other particles which can build up over time, they become not only an eyesore of rust and corrosion but eventually begin to detach from the fascia board supporting it.  This is not a simple fix to repair but a costly project running into the thousands of dollars.
8. Last – but certainly not least – maintaining the value and beauty of your home
   Being external, gutters are a part of your home’s aesthetics and in maintaining them not only decreases the risk of needing to replace ones which are falling – but also prevent any stains from the overflow to the fascia boards behind them.
   Clogged gutters can significantly reduce the sale time of your property in terms of buyer attraction (especially in high precipitation cities such as Vancouver) and make buyers question the integrity of its structure/foundation and offer lower amounts for its purchase.

Our team at Umbrella Property Services not only provide years of knowledge in gutter cleaning procedures but each service also includes complimentary:

• Health and safety checks
• Gutter debris removal
• Downspout checks
• Condition inspection

Our technicians always like to leave your home and exteriors in a better finish than when we arrived. This way, you can be sure that our team not only have your gutters but the integrity of your home,  in mind when they come out to work for you. You can check out our gutter cleaning services here or request a no obligation quote on our online form today!