Get Your Mind Out of the Gutters

By Billy Aldridge

Being a homeowner means having to wear a lot of hats.  Other than the privilege of paying the mortgage and utility bills every month, there are also a lot of honey dos that need doing on a regular basis, such as mowing the lawn, watering the lawn, trimming the shrubs and blowing off the driveway. (Thank God in Florida we don’t have to shovel the snow.)  There is also the occasional need to play Mr. Fixit.  The point that I am trying to make is with the exception of watering the lawn, which can be more or less automated with the installation of an irrigation system, most of these chores are not exactly labors of love.  Therefore they rob us of what little free time our hectic work week will allow.  So the last thing you want to do is waste any more of your time cleaning out the gutters.

Gutter cleaning is a lot like paying taxes in that it is a necessary evil that we all have to deal with from time to time.  In Jacksonville where the leaves more or less fall all year round, it isn’t unusual to have to clean them on a quarterly basis.  To neglect the gutters not only encourages the downspouts to back up and refuse to discharge water when the occasional gully washer comes through, which in Florida can also occur at most any time of year.  It can also result in damage to your home should water back up and make its way indoors. 

Of course, being a homeowner myself, I can appreciate not wanting to stick your hands into several inches of built up muck every three months in order to keep the gutters clear. Not to mention the danger of having to climb up on a ladder or the roof to do the deed.  If left unchecked, gutters become the ultimate if unintentional compost machines which are quite capable of turning leaves into dirt.  I have seen gutters on neighboring properties sprout grass and even saplings, so full of soil were they.  Once I even discovered a fire ant nest inside my gutters.  Talk about waiting a bit too long before taking action.

While technology has not yet come up with a self-cleaning gutter system, there is a simple way to eliminate 90% of the problem.  What I am referring to are gutter guards.  These are screens that fit snugly atop the gutter that allow leaves and other wind and rain-born debris to pass over while allowing precipitation to pass through the gutter.  They are relatively easy to install (or you can have them professionally installed) and come in a variety of materials, including plastic, rubber or metal to make sure they won’t clash with your home.  While they won’t eliminate 100% of gutter maintenance, they will make the chore of gutter cleaning a lot less of a hassle.  More importantly they become a barrier to prevent the birds and the bees from nesting there. (I’m not so sure about fire ants.)

Since installing gutter guards on my home I have found that the amount of time and hazard saved was no less than 12 hours per year, which is about the time it took me to install the guards.  All in all a good investment of time and money. Now if they could only perfect the robotic lawn mower.  So if you want to keep your mind out of the gutters, Google “gutter guards” today.

Billy Aldridge is one of the Doctors of Plumbology at Aldridge and Sons Plumbing, a residential and commercial plumbing contractor located in Jacksonville, FL.  Visit their website at http://plumbers-jacksonville-fl.com for more tips and how-to videos.