Gutter cleaning: why is necessary

Not many people know how to clean the drain if it is clogged, so we decided to tell you about it so that the system will serve you “faithfully” for a long time.

How often the structure will clog depends on which drain you installed. A variety of materials for manufacturing allow manufacturers to produce various systems, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Why is drain and gutter cleaning necessary?

The roof of the house is designed to protect the house and its owners from precipitation and bad weather, to keep warm in the building. In this roof, a drain helps, with the help of which melt or rain water is easily discharged to the ground.

Surely, every homeowner is engaged in cleaning the roof, while often forgetting about the gutter system. This is a big mistake that can lead to the following consequences:

• the accumulation of foliage, branches and other debris is able to retain moisture and absorb it, which creates a favorable environment for the process of decay;
• excess moisture in the drain debris leads to the destruction and corrosion of metal structures;
• in winter, a clogged system will trap melt water, creating an ice plug, leading to the appearance of icicles on the roof overhangs;
• in winter, even the melt water will freeze and increase in volume accordingly, which can lead to the fact that the downpipe simply bursts.

In addition to all of the above, blockages can become a source of moss and other plants spreading through pipes and roofs, which are quite difficult to remove in the future.

In the summer, uncleaned structures can populate wasps, creating their own wasp nests, which will require additional funds for their breeding and pest control.

How can gutters and drains be cleaned?

There are several ways that will help you get rid of the blockage and not bring out and build the system in the future:

1. improvised means;
2. compressed air;
3. water pressure.

Each method is good in its own way, but in order to start cleaning the drain, it is best to first learn about the nuances of each type of gutters and gutters. Next, you can start cleaning.

Also note that the proposed methods are more suitable for metal gutters, so not all of them are suitable for the use of PVC systems. To make the work as safe as possible, we recommend that you contact a professional company for gutter cleaning.

How to clean the drain with improvised means

It is necessary to choose a suitable ladder. It should be stable, comfortable and match the height of your home.

If you are the owner of a two-story house, you should replace the stairs with scaffolding, or use equipment for climbers, and in this case it will also be relevant to use the services of an aerial platform.

You can clean the drain using improvised means in the following ways:

• collect garbage in a box prepared in advance by cleaning all the upper pipes and funnels using a scraper or a long stick;
• to clean the metal drain, you can also use a plumbing cable, which is quite convenient;
• there are special brushes with a telescopic handle that allow you to clean the gutters while standing on the ground.

Gutter cleaning should be carried out after rain, because wet debris can be cleaned better.

Thanks to the manual method of removing blockages, it is possible to check all sections of the structure and carry out timely repairs if necessary. Some information of grains and gutters cleaning you can read follow the link gutter cleaning Barrington IL.

How to clean a drain with compressed air

With the help of devices such as an air blower or a robot vacuum cleaner that are able to suck in air or blow it out with great pressure.

This method is applicable for shallow blockages, since the air flow may not be enough to eliminate long-accumulated debris in hard-to-reach places.

Cleaning the gutter with compressed air is quite expensive and is suitable for use in dry weather, because the equipment can deteriorate and, working on electricity, cause an electric shock.

How to clean the gutter with water pressure

This method is applicable after the initial manual cleaning has been carried out, since the pressure from the garden hose is not able to completely remove all blockages.

In order to increase the pressure of water in the hose, you should plug it with a rag and start lowering it into the drainpipe.

Under pressure, lower the hose as much as possible until the rag falls out. After it falls out, a large pressure of water will go out and clean the pipe. In the same way, you can clean the roof of the seam roof, metal tiles and other materials.

Do not use this method to clean plastic pipes, because they can burst from the pressure of water.