How often should you clean your gutters?
Grumpty's answer
Every 6 months
Why bother
Clogged gutters send water into the foundation. This is an essentials-tier job. Skip it and you're inviting the expensive kind of problem, or the dangerous kind.
Why it's a range
Trees are the whole story. Under oaks or pines, four times a year and you'll still find sludge. A clear lot can go a full year. Twice a year suits most houses, weighted to the fall when the leaves come down.
What the job involves
- Set the ladder on stable ground and scoop the leaves and muck out by hand or with a scoop, working from the corners in so you don't pack it into the downspouts.
- Flush the trough with a hose and watch it run. That also shows up any leaks, sags or gaps.
- Send the hose down each downspout to check it drains. Stubborn clog? A plumber's snake, or detaching the downspout, sorts it.
- Make sure the water comes out well clear of the house. If it pools by the wall, extend or move the downspout outlet.
Do it yourself, or pay someone?
Yourself, if you're steady on a ladder and the house is one story. It's a scoop, gloves and a hose. Two stories, a steep roof, or anything that makes the ladder a gamble, pay someone: about $120 to $235, and cheap against what a blockage costs.
What skipping it costs
Blocked gutters tip the roof's runoff straight down the wall instead of away from it. The everyday result is rotted fascia and soffit boards, a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars to put right. The expensive tail, when years of water pool against the foundation, is foundation repair: averaging around $5,200, and anywhere from $2,200 to $8,100. A scoop and a hose is the cheap end of that range.
Signs it's overdue
- Water sheets over the gutter edge in the rain instead of heading for the downspout.
- Downspouts run slow or silent, or there are seedlings and weeds growing out of the trough.
- Streaks down the siding or fascia, gutter sections starting to sag, or water pooling by the foundation.
When to start thinking about it
This usually means booking someone, so the grumbling starts 21 days ahead to leave time to line it up. Mark it done and Grumpty sets the next one, every 6 months, so you can go back to forgetting it exists.
Questions people ask
How often do you actually need to clean gutters?
Twice a year as a rule, spring and fall, per This Old House. Pines or heavy deciduous trees overhead? Make it about every three months, because the trough fills faster than you'd think.
What does it cost to have gutters cleaned?
HomeAdvisor puts it at $119 to $234 for most homes, around $168 on average. It scales with length and height, so a tall or steep house sits at the top end.
Can blocked gutters really wreck a foundation, or is that a scare?
It's real, but it's slow. Overflow soaks the soil against the foundation again and again, and water is a named cause of the settlement that foundation repairs fix, the ones averaging about $5,200. The commoner, nearer damage is the fascia and soffit rotting behind the gutter.
Related jobs
Stop keeping this one in your head
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