Choosing the Perfect Gutters

Do not underestimate the importance of your gutters and give them the respect they deserve. Collecting water as it runs down your roof and deflecting it away from your house protects your home from water damage. This could cost tens of thousands of pounds to repair and will cause major upheaval in your life. It is of the utmost importance that you select the guttering system that is best for your home and get it installed by a professional. You should not cut corners when installing guttering, as it will come back to haunt you down the line. In this article I will outline the most common materials for guttering which will allow you to make a more informed choice.

Plastic Vinyl Guttering
This type of guttering is the most popular, as it is cheap and easy to install. This material, although lightweight can be very robust and resistant to corrosion of any kind. This type of guttering is ideal for someone who plans to fit their own guttering system (something which I do not recommend) and does not require any specialist tools or skills. Even though this can be installed by basically anyway, do purchase a help book on how to carry out the work to the industry standards. Due to them being inexpensive and easy to work with, they will continue to be the gutter of choice for many people.

Bauxite Compound Guttering
This lightweight guttering is resistant to rust and wears better than vinyl guttering. This type of guttering is ideal for extreme weather climates where high and low temperatures are frequent. They are easy to install and readily available at most hardware stores across the UK. Due to aluminium being a very malleable material they are prone to denting and misshaping due to external pressure being placed upon them. Although they are more expensive than plastic guttering, they look better and generally last longer, so in my opinion they are well worth the investment.

Galvanized Steel Guttering
With galvanized steel guttering this piping is coated in zinc oxide to prevent the steel from being eroded or corroded by the elements. They are relatively cheap due to the high number of them on the market, so you should be able to get a bargain from your local hardware depot. They are less prone to external damage than the previous two examples, providing a more robust structure with which to direct water. The only drawback to this type of guttering is the zinc oxide coating will eventually disappear and the guttering will start to rust. They are really easy to paint and can give your home a breath taking rustic feel to it, especially on traditionally designed homes.

Wood Guttering
This is definitely not a typical material to construct your guttering system from nowadays but a hundred or so years ago this was the only material available to carry out this task. If you live in a log cabin and want an authentic finish to your home, then you should invest in some wood guttering. But be warned they can difficult to fit, are expensive and will require a lot of maintenance to keep them in working order.

There you have it, a full break down on the choices available to you when choosing guttering. Do not make a hasty decision on this, as you may well regret that choice in a few years time.

The Art of Cleaning Gutters

A lot of you out there are unsure of how exactly to clean gutters. It is a task that needs to be carried out but it is either forgotten about or in some cases ignored. In this article I will detail exactly how to clean your gutters, so you will not have to pay a professional to carry this work out for you. If you are interested in hiring a professional, why not hire the company that you will give you the best gutter cleaning Liverpool has to offer.

When cleaning gutters, the item you will need above all others is a ladder. You need to find a ladder that is suitable for the height you need and can be used without you having to stretch to reach the gutter. Each year there are many accidents involving ladders that lead to serious injury or in some cases fatalities and many of these were a result of not using the right sized ladder. When using an adjustable ladder, extend it to just below the gutter line, being careful to not rest the ladder against the gutter. The last step is to secure the ladder at the base, using suction plates or a concrete block. Safety should always be of paramount importance when working with a ladder.

Secondly, you must remove any sediment from the gutter, which will consist mostly of silt, twigs and moss. Use a gardening trowel to carry out this task but make sure you purchase one that is slender enough to fit inside the cavity. You should be able to crop the material from the top of the ladder to a bucket or basket below with great accuracy. This will save you having to hold a basket or bucket in your hand while you are carrying out the cleaning process. Make sure that the coast is clear and that everyone is standing well back when you are carrying this out, as the last thing you want is to injure someone.

Once you have carried out this task, you should separate the material from the gutter into biodegradable and non-biodegradable material. The latter can be disposed of in a standard council collection bin but the former should be added to a compost heap or placed in the appropriate garden waste bin. The separation process is very important, as you do not want non-biodegradable material making its way into your compost heap. This method is the most environmentally friendly way of disposing of the material, as it helps keep the nutrient material in the area where it came from.

If you have the finances you should invest in a suction vacuum especially designed to clean guttering and pipes. This should set you back about 500 pounds but it is well worth the money, as the entire process can be carried out with the minimal amount of fuss or risk to you. This vacuum can be used from the ground, so the danger or having to climb a steep ladder is removed. The vacuum pump can also be reversed to gush water into the guttering, washing out any residual sediment that has been left behind.

It is very important that you carry out this process at least once a year but you may be able to get away with just doing it every other year. Blocked piping can lead to serious water damage to your property, which may not be covered in your insurance, depending on the circumstances of the damage. If the insurance company can see it is a result of poor property maintenance, you will be unable to claim.