First and foremost in maintaining your beloved dwelling is to make sure it is dried in. In my last article, I tried to emphasize the importance of checking and repairing, if needed, your shingle roofs. Once you the homeowner are completely satisfied with your roof, then it's time for step number two, and that's to make sure the water that is shed off those shingles finds a place to go.
We all know that you should service your gutter drainage at least once per year, and what better time than spring to perform this task. The best instrument in doing this would be a pressure washer to blast that dirt and grit from your gutters and downspouts. This can be done from either a ladder, or if your brave enough maybe from standing on top your home. Not all of us are fortunate to own a pressure washer so we are looking for an alternative way. You can use an ordinary garden hose with a spray attachment. You can pick up an attachment at your local home and garden store specially designed for cleaning gutters. You can purchase an extension with a 180 degree bend for standing on the ground and reaching up and spraying over into your gutters. There are other ways to perform this, some stand on ladders and dig out the sticks and leaves by hand. There's no specific way just as long as it gets done.
OK let's just say your gutters and downspouts are now perfectly clean and spotless, so where does your water go from there. Everyone's homes have their own unique situations. Some on top of hills with great drainage, some with low lying sites, so we have to agree that all homes have a different drainage ability.
I don't know how many times that I've been called out to homes for foundation problems like water under the home or leaky basement walls. When I arrive on site, first I evaluate the whole gutter, downspout, and drainage situation. I believe that homeowners sometimes have a sense of false hope that I'm going to have just the answer to magically seal their leaky block basement walls. I've got some peculiar looks when my response is to repair gutter, downspouts, or do some site work on their soil. A lot of times the answer is not in how good of a product to seal those walls with, but to just make sure the water flow is away from your home and not down around your basement walls, or running under the footer and sometimes under the home. A large portion of those places would never had an issue at all if only someone had done some gutter maintenance or some site soil sloping.
The best guttering you can purchase for your home are seamless gutters which can usually be purchased from a local contractor, and can be done for a reasonable rate.
In conclusion, it takes water to sustain our lives, but at the same time it can be your homes worst enemy. It can seep through your basements, in and around your foundations, with a reaction of cracks in your foundations. This can cause settling, resulting in damage not just in exterior, but in the interior as well with things such as drywall on ceilings and walls. The list can go on and on, so I think you know where I'm coming from, and the importance of this.
Thanks for reading, hope I may have helped or prevented a major problem in your future. Stay in touch for more home improvement tips and ideas.
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