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Seven Tips for Eavestrough Repair and Maintenance

Seven Tips for Eavestrough Repair and Maintenance

August 10, 2019

For a homeowner, the best way to avoid a costly eavestrough repair is through roof maintenance. It sounds simple, and a few small steps will keep you from a new eavestrough installation. In the fall, trees shed leaves, and they accumulate in your eavestrough, reducing or blocking the flow of water. The water has to go somewhere and it usually over the side of the eavestrough running down the fascia. The fascia is not made to withstand the deluge of water and will fail, causing problems for the soffit also. Another problem is ice dams, they form when water melts on the roof in the winter and refreezes where the gutter meets the fascia. The ice will push the gutter away from the fascia and create an opening. Once this problem has been created a new gutter installation and quite probably a new fascia to go with it will solve the problem. To get out from under the problem, a bi-annual gutter cleaning will relieve many problems that start in the eavestrough, and it prevents costly roofing work in the process.

Suggestions for eavestrough repair and maintenance

If you aren’t familiar with the ins and outs of roofing maintenance, it is more than meets the eye. Your gutters are the veins of the roofing system; they channel away water but must be debris-free to work effectively. Keeping the gutter clear is a small job, and plugging small punctures in the gutters can be done, but once again, you need to know what you doing.

  1. The job starts with a simple inspection of the gutters. Look for bottlenecks in the channels and relieve them through a thorough cleaning. Removing leaves, sticks or debris that can cause damage will extend the life of your eavestrough.
  2. If you have detected a small hole or crack in the gutter, you can purchase a sealant to close the affected areas. Before you buy anything, talk to the sales clerk at your local home improvement store to get some advice. Different sealants work for different problems so make sure your sealant works for your problem.
  3. If you have to re-attach your gutter because it has separated from the fascia, make sure you have power tools available. You want to drive the screws in deep to secure the gutter it moves a lot of water and needs the strength of deeply inserted screws to stay tight to the fascia.
  4. Depending on the type of gutters you have old gutters are made of metal or aluminum, newer gutters are made out of PVC sometimes need to be re-connected should a section or two become dislodged. If you have the older style gutters, made of a metal product, you will need a rivet gun and rivets to re-connected the pieces of gutter that have become separated
  5. When working on the roof for gutter maintenance and cleaning, remember that the roof has a slope and if you lose your balance it could be dangerous. Falling off a two-story roof can be extremely hazardous to your health, which is why a healthy dose of common sense should be exercised before you access your roof.
  6. Patch repairs can be done, you need the right materials to close up the hole or holes you find when cleaning your eavestrough. Patching isn’t the great panacea for holes in your gutters patching can only do so much before a new gutter system needs to be installed.
  7. To prevent the clogging that leaves or other debris create in your gutters, you can purchase a screen to lay over your eavestrough. It will stop solid materials from appearing in your eavestrough while filtering the water through to the downspouts for release at ground level.

Eavestrough Repair and Maintenance Certainly, the suggestions here are for small, uncomplicated jobs on the roof that needs attending to and it preserves your eavestrough system. If you get on your roof and see more than you bargained for, call a roofing contractor to clean your gutters. They have the knowledge, and know-how to clean your gutters that will help keep them in optimal condition.

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