Updated March 18, 2022 Spring cleaning is a time of year where many people choose to clean things out, and one thing that you should definitely have on your to-do list is gutter cleaning. While having your house gutters and downspouts cleaned out on a regular basis is important, spring gutter cleaning is especially important because this is a time of year that your gutters are more likely to end up clogged. During the Fall and Winter leaves fall from trees, and many of those leaves end up on the roof of your home, and then in your house gutters. With spring arriving spring showers will be arriving as well, and the last thing you want is to have clogged up rain gutters during these rainstorms. Your House Gutters And Downspouts Need To Be Clean To Do Their JobYour rain gutters and downspouts aren’t just there for decoration, they are there for a reason. That reason is to keep rainwater from flowing in an uncontrolled manner and causing damage to your home. Water can be one of the biggest threats to your home and can have you looking at repairs that can be financially crippling. If you want to avoid having to make these repairs you need to keep your rain gutters and downspouts clean and properly maintained, it’s that simple. What types of damage could you really be looking at from rainwater if your rain gutters aren’t working right? Believe it or not, water can cause a huge amount of damage. One of the first things you have to be concerned about is toxic black mold. When rainwater is allowed to flow into places in your home that are not waterproof bad things happen. Chief among those bad things is toxic black mold. There are black mold spores everywhere just waiting for some moisture to come along and bring them to life. If that happens in your home, then you will be looking at a major problem. Toxic black mold is going to require the services of a professional mold remediation company, which can get very expensive very quickly. On top of the risk of toxic black mold, having uncontrolled rainwater flowing off of the roof of your home will also damage your landscaping, could cause structural damage to your home, and it could even damage the foundation of your home. The bottom line is that your house gutters need to be maintained, which means that you need to have them cleaned and inspected on a regular basis. This includes inspecting the house gutters, the gutter hangers, and any gutter extensions that you may installed as well. Are There Any Better Alternatives To Having Your Gutters Cleaned On A Regular Basis?One of the most common things that people with rain gutters are curious about is whether or not they can use gutter guards, gutter screens, or some other type of device to help keep their gutters clean instead of having them cleaned out regularly. The answer to this is really simple, no you can’t. While gutter guards might sound good in theory, in reality having them put on your home is a mistake. Not only are they a waste of money, they are ineffective, and they can also lead to some very costly repairs. If you are hoping to find some kind of device that will keep your house gutters clean and free of debris, then you are going to end up disappointed because it simply does not exist. Why Cleaning Out Your House Gutters Yourself Is Not The Best OptionThe main reason that many homeowners fail to have their house gutters cleaned out is that they are trying to save money. The problem here is that neglecting your house gutters will not end up saving you money, in fact, it will end up costing you more money. Without proper maintenance which can only happen when you have regular inspections of everything from your gutter hangers to your gutter extensions, it’s impossible to spot small problems before they become big problems. In trying to save money many homeowners make the mistake of trying to clean their house gutters and gutter extensions themselves. First of all, cleaning out gutters and downspouts is a very physically demanding job that is going to take a lot of time and effort. You are going to have to get a ladder. You are going to have to go up and down that ladder many times. You are going to have to get a large 5-gallon bucket. You are going to have to stick your hands into disgusting muck over and over again as you clean out your gutters. In short, it’s a dirty job that is going to leave you exhausted. On top of the job being very physically demanding and dirty which would explain why you shouldn’t want to attempt it if you try to clean your own house gutters out you won’t get the benefit of a professional inspecting them. One of the biggest benefits of having your house gutters cleaned out by a professional is having an experienced expert take a close look at your gutters, gutter hangers, and gutter extensions. An expert can usually spot small problems now so that you can get them fixed before they become much bigger, and more expensive problems. Failing To Clean Your House Gutters On A Regular Basis Will Cause Them To FailThe other main reason that avoiding house gutter cleaning in an attempt to save money always ends up being a mistake, is that when neglected gutters will end up eventually failing. The added weight of the debris that gets trapped in them puts a lot of strain on the gutters as well as the gutter hangers. This added stress will, over time, cause damage to the gutter system that will eventually lead to it failing. If your house gutters fail you will have no choice but to pay to have a new system of gutters installed. The materials and labor involved in gutter installation will easily lead you to spend over a thousand dollars, and if you opt for a sturdier material or a more elaborate design, the cost will be magnified many times. On top of that, after spending all of that money to have new gutters installed you are still going to have to have them cleaned on a regular basis, or they will just end up failing again. Hiring A Professional Company To Clean And Inspect Your House Gutters Is Your Best OptionGiven the disaster that awaits you if you decide to ignore your gutters and not have them cleaned on a regular basis, and the amount of work involved in trying to do it yourself, your best option is to hire a professional company to do it for you. After thinking it over you’ll probably come to this same conclusion, so the next thing you need to do is to hire the right company. You don’t want to hire just any company to do work around your home, you want to hire a reputable company that you can trust. Failing to do your homework and ensure the company you are hiring is a reputable one could end up being a decision that you end up regretting. Any Company You Hire To Clean Your House Gutters Must Be Licensed, Bonded, And InsuredThe bare minimum that any gutter cleaning and inspection company you are considering hiring should meet is that they are licensed, bonded, and insured. Why is this so important? Well, the simplest explanation is that it protects you financially in the event that something goes wrong. While the odds of a problem happening are minimal when dealing with professionals, any time that you have people working on your property on top of a ladder there is going to be a certain amount of risk involved. The best way to illustrate the risk you are taking if you hire a company or person that is not licensed, bonded, and insured, is with an example. Let’s say you have a friend that recommends a handyman to you that he says does a great job for him at his house. So, since the price is right, and your friend recommended this handyman, you go ahead and hire him to clean your house gutters out for you. So you pay the man, and then he never shows up. What do you do then? Well, in all honesty, you probably say goodbye to any of the money that you gave him. You have very little in terms of legal recourse when dealing with a handyman, so anytime you pay them any money you are risking losing that money. The scariest part about this type of situation is that it really is the best outcome you can hope for if things aren’t going to work out between you and the handyman. What happens if they end up damaging your house gutters or something else on your property while they are working? Once again, you don’t have a lot of legal options at your disposal, which means that you will probably end up having to pay for the damages out of pocket. Believe it or not, this still isn’t an example of a worst case scenario when you are dealing with a handyman. So what exactly is a worse case scenario if you hire a handyman or any other unlicensed person to clean your house gutters? The worse case scenario is that they have an accident while working on your home that causes them significant injuries or even death. If this were to happen there’s a very good chance that you would be found liable, which would mean that you would be paying their medical bills. Given the high cost of medical care, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this can get very expensive very quickly. Other Factors To Consider When Hiring A Company To Clean Your House GuttersWhile making sure that any gutter cleaning company that you hire is licensed, bonded, and insured is a good starting point, that’s all that it is. You need to go above and beyond when looking at gutter cleaning companies, after all, you are going to entrust this company to work on your home, which should mean that you will only accept the best. That means that you are going to have to spend a little bit of time doing some research. With the internet making it so easy to find out information about just about anyone and any company, you really have excuses for not researching any company that you hire to clean your house gutters. When doing your research you should be looking for independent reviews. If you go to a company’s website, of course, you are only going to see the good things that people are saying about them. But if you go to message boards, and other independent sites you will be able to see people’s real opinions about a company. When doing your research if you find a company has more than a few negative reviews this should be a red flag that should cause you to drop them from consideration. It’s Easy To Forget About Your GuttersSpring cleaning is something that a lot of people do each year, that’s why it’s an ideal time to have your house gutters cleaned, and your gutter hangers and gutter extensions inspected. By making sure that your gutters and downspouts are a part of your annual spring cleaning you can ensure that they are not forgotten about. While it’s easy to forget about your gutters and downspouts if they become blocked or fail then you are quickly going to realize how important that they are. Don’t make this mistake, don’t wait until your home suffers significant damage, or your house gutters have to be replaced due to neglect. Instead, be proactive and hire a qualified and reputable gutter cleaning company you come to your home and clean and inspect your rain gutter system. The post Spring Gutter Cleaning (2022 Update) appeared first on Clean Pro Gutters.
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If you could create any service business, what would it be and why?Clean Pro Gutter Cleaning helps property owners save time and avoid the risk of do-it-yourself gutter cleaning. We also help small local businesses and their communities. Now we want to help the next generation of small business owners and entrepreneurs get the education they need to succeed. We are proud to announce our Spring 2022 Scholarship Program which will provide two students with $500 scholarships this spring and two more $500 scholarships this fall. We encourage all high school seniors and individuals already enrolled in college to apply. Tuition must be for an accredited US institution. Two students to be selected for $500 each scholarships in both spring and fall. A total of $2,000 in scholarships for emerging entrepreneurs. Our contest asks students to think about a home service business they would like to create and tell us what it would be and why they want to do it in 750 words or less or by submitting a video of 5 minutes or less. Submissions should be creative, engaging, and thought-provoking. We’re looking for your business ideas that are both innovative and problem-solving. Eligibility Requirements:
Application Deadline (Spring Scholarship):
Awards:
How To Apply:Interested students must complete the application form below to apply. You can upload your 750 word essay within the form. To submit a video you should upload it to YouTube and include a link on the form. You must also provide proof of enrollment to an accredited U.S. college or their most recent college transcript. Your essay must tell us about a home service business you would like to create and why. Think about things you do around your home, apartment, or dorm room and wish you could find a service to do for you! Your idea should be creative, engaging, and thought-provoking! Your essay or video should be as error free as possible but we are more interested in your idea than we are in punctuation or video production. Your submission should be your original work and not copied from somewhere else. If your idea or entry is plagiarized or copied you will be disqualified. You can share information from sources but it must all be in your words. We know how to use computers too and we will check your sources and verify that your entry is not plagiarized. Our scholarship selections are final and subject to the terms and conditions that may apply. You will not be contacted unless selected. Submitting an entry does not add you to our email list. Spring Scholarship ApplicationThe post Spring 2022 Scholarship Program appeared first on Clean Pro Gutters. |