One of the most important, but also annoying, things about owning your own home is regular maintenance. It’s difficult, it’s costly, and sometimes it can even be dangerous. And one of the more vital things you can do is clean out your gutters.
Now, not taking care of the gutters can lead to some serious damage. Water can run over them, eroding the building’s structure around them. This can further lead to water seeping into cracks, to a leaky roof, and even damaging your foundations. So, trust us, they need to be cleaned regularly.
The Danger of Maintaining Your Gutters
The problem with cleaning your gutters, however, is that this can be a rather dangerous activity. Namely, they are found at the bottom of the roof of your home. In other words, they are quite difficult to access. So, that’s our first issue – you will need to get very high up if you want to clean them. Getting a ladder is a must. If you are afraid of heights, or just feel clumsy or not physically capable to use a ladder, cleaning out your gutters is not a good idea. The potential resulting fall can harm you severely, if not outright kill you.
Next, once you’re up there, you need to actually do the work. A slippery roof, one covered with moss or that is simply wet can be very dangerous. Any cracks or weak spots in the roof can cause one of your legs, or both, to fall through. Furthermore, the actual cleaning and flushing procedure requires a certain amount of force to do properly.
Now, this all means that you either need to be very careful and actually know what you are doing or hire a couple of professional to do it for you. If you truly aren’t one hundred percent certain in your own abilities, contacting a good company, like Flash Roof Plumbing, for example, can be the safest option. No need to risk your health because of your pride or your wallet.
How to Maintain Them Safely
If you have decided to clean and maintain them yourself, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind then. First of all, practice ladder safety. If you even have a smidge of a doubt that your ladder may fail on you, you don’t want to use it. , understand that most ladders have rating systems, stating what weight they can hold. A cheap ladder can, for example, hold a 200-pound man, and higher quality ones can hold even more. Now you am not be built like a linebacker, but do remember how much your tools and other equipment weights.
Next, for ladder safety, always double and triple check if the ladder is on stable ground. Not only do you have to check whether the ground is level, but you also must double check if it’s sinking in any part. If possible, get a friend to hold the ladder for you. And, of course, get one very sturdy ladder that this person can actually hold onto.
You also want to be protected properly. Namely, you never know what might just come flying out the gutter once you start cleaning it. Anything from gases, to a variety of bugs, even a small bird may come at you. Just get cheap plastic shop glasses and wear them while you’re at it. Also, wear strong gloves to protect yourself from any debris or nastiness.
Finally, think about the condition you are in before you start working on this. Being very tired, or sick, or injured is just asking for something bad to happen. If you’re not feeling 100%, don’t do it. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t do this while having a drink or to in you, or when you are on certain types of medication.
Conclusion
Cleaning out your own gutters can be very dangerous. The risk of falling can be very serious and very real. We understand the urge of being completely autonomous, of not relying on anyone but yourself. However, sometimes you need to think twice. If you’re not in a healthy state of mind, if you have any medical issues, or are on certain types of medication, cleaning up a gutter can be dangerous. Keep your pride under control, get some help if you need to.
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