Gutters have just one important and simple job to do and that’s to collect all the rain water from your roof, send it to a storm water system via downpipes to your gulleys and divert it away from your property.
If you have a 2000-square-foot property, then every inch of rain translates to more than 1200 gallons of water pouring off your roof. A well maintained storm water system is essential to prevent potential structural damages and will effortlessly divert that water away from your property.
A clogged gutter will do the opposite, allowing water to flow down the side of your property towards your property’s foundations and over time would form small rivers and pooling that will erode the ground beneath causing foundation cracks and settling leading to huge structural consequences.
Problems caused by blocked or broken gutters can be seriously expensive to fix, but so relatively cheap to prevent.
What would happen if i don’t clean and maintain my guttering?
Wood Rot: As virtually all guttering is fixed to a fascia board that is then fixed to the roofs rafters, any water overflow that spills over the inside of the gutter will seep its way into the roofs rafters via these fixings, causing eventual wood rot and gutter fixing failures.
Broken and Sagging Gutters: When your gutters are clogged, the water they collect has no place to go. Instead, it fills your gutters to the brim and with each gallon of water weighing about 8 pounds, all that extra weight coupled with corroded fixings and rotten wood will be more than enough for the support brackets/fixings to fail.
Pest Control: Pests breeding in the stagnant water in your gutters can expose your family to nasty germs and parasites. Nobody likes mosquitoes in their backyard. But pooling water in your gutters and warm summer conditions is the perfect breeding ground for them. Damp mud and leaves can also be an inviting place for bees and wasps to build their nests.
Wet basement: If you have a basement and it isn’t waterproofed, the water pouring down into your foundation will inevitably lead to a damp basement.
Aesthetics: A neglected gutter system just looks ugly plain and simple. Overflowing gutters cause a stripey looking stain known as ‘Tiger Striping’ which if left too long can be near impossible to remove completely, and also no one wants vegetation growing out of their gutters.
What causes gutters to become blocked?
Your roof is your main line of defence from mother nature and everything she can throw at it. It’s under constant bombardment from;
airborne dust and debris, especially during the dryer seasons
mosses and funghi in damper months
leaves and berries at the end of Autumn
Bird droppings etc
And all of this eventually makes its way down and away from your property, through your storm water system.
But due to the very small and slow gradient of most gutters, (ave.1:500) a fine nutritious silt layer accumulates after each and every rain shower, creating a perfect base for the growth of vegetation and grasses.
Without regular maintainance, this process will eventually lead to blocked gutters and the eventual damage to your property.
Do i need a professional to clean and maintain my Gutter System
The simple answer is No.
If you feel you’re OK to climb a ladder and get your hands dirty then you’re good to go but i would recommend you do not try this work without a proper set of ladders with stabilisation to the top and bottom.
Other than that, a bin liner bag, a pair of protective gloves, a small hand brush to clean the inside and outside and a hose to rinse off is all you need to get the job done.
Alternatively you can hire a professional gutter cleaner to do the work for you.
When an average Semi-Detached costs;
€50.00 to Clean Inside
€90.00 to Clean Outside
€130.00 to Clean both when bundled
Compare these costs to the potential thousands you’d inevitably end up paying if you do not get this done.
Contact us today for a Free Quote Without Obligation
Dealing with red algae on K-Rend and the removal of moss from worn tarmac, has it’s own specialist requirements
As is very common in the north west climate and especially on north and east facing exterior walls, red algae had really established itself and was very prominent on this property.
The degree of trentepohlia ( red algae) was extensive and we knew it would require a 2 phase attack to treat the problem and restore the K-Rend to its original state.
This required a softwash biocide formula that is specially prepared and is dependent on the extent of the works that need to be carried out by our fully trained professional operators.
In this instant a first coat was sprayed onto the whole property and is then rinsed off with clean water and per the request of the client the boundary retaining walls were also treated.
We then returned within 7 days to apply a seal coat that penetrates deep into the porous substrate and is not rinsed off. This solution continues to fight all future algae and funghi growth for years to come, keeping the K-Rend finish looking as it should.
Before
After
Client also wanted his Tarmac areas cleaned and free from green moss
The big problem with is that it’s often cleaned repeatedly using high pressure power washers and over time the top layers of stone chipping become exposed and a haven for the build up of dirt and mosses.
The easiest solution for us would’ve been to do the same but in doing so would’ve done more damage to the drive.
Our solution was to initially kill all the moss growth and when we returned to apply the second coat to the walls we were able to brush the dead moss off the top of the tarmac and using the pressure washer with a low pressure, wide spray, rinsing nozzle we were able to remove all the dirt and mud that had collected between the stone chippings without further damage to the tarmac surface.
We have recommended to the client that he would now need to have a bitumen seal coat applied to finish and protect his drive which he’s now considering.
Around the oil tank and partition fencing was particularly dense.
Recent job completed in Carndonagh on a house with a fine dash exterior finish which had highly concentrated red algae infestation especially on the north and east facing walls. This job was performed as part of a pre-paint preparation.
As the algae present was quite heavy in places the walls were treated with environmentally friendly lightning cleanze algae treatment which has a fully biodegradable surfactant and poses no danger to plants or the environment when it is rinsed off. It is approved by both the Irish Pesticides Registration & Control Service (PCS) and UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) for use as a softwashing biocide in Ireland and the UK.
The walls were treated with the first coat and allowed to work while we cleaned the gutters, PVC fascia and soffit before rinsing off and applying a second lower concentrate coat to kill the algae at the root and provide long lasting protection.
It is very important to treat and remove any surface algae before decorating. If the algae is left untreated and painted over it will continue to grow underneath and come through the newly decorated finish in a very short period of time.
As you can see from the before and after photographs, it turned out very well.
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