Home » Ask a roof plumber in Melbourne: when should your gutters be cleaned?

Ask a roof plumber in Melbourne: when should your gutters be cleaned?

We know, we know: cleaning your gutters isn’t exactly the most thrilling task on your to-do list.

If you ask our roof plumber in Melbourne however, it’s absolutely essential that you keep your roof plumbing clean throughout the year with regular attention paid to your gutters.

That’s because neglected gutters it can cause damage not just to your roof plumbing, but also to your…

  • Foundations
  • Ceiling
  • Roof
  • Exterior walls and fittings

That’s why gutter maintenance – in particular, cleaning – is so important!

To help you out, the experts from Watermaster Roofing are going to share some of the easiest and most efficient ways to clean your gutters, as well as gutter cleaning advice.

With our tips and tricks – you will get the chore out of the way and you can get back to more enjoyable activities.

 

Why gutter cleaning is a must – the consequences of poorly maintained roof plumbing

Keeping your roof plumbing clean is essential for your roof to remain healthy and functional.

That’s because your gutters play an important (and often overlooked) role in protecting your home.

Namely, their main purpose is to drain rainwater off your roof.

Gutters and other roof plumbing fixtures stop water from pooling up – this in turn helps to prevent serious water damage to your roof and home.

In particular, it protects you from costly problems such as:

  • Roof leaks
  • Rotten wood
  • Damage to foundations (doors, walls, ceilings, windows)
  • Bug swarms and infestations
  • Mould growth in your ceiling cavity

Long story short, gutter cleaning is an essential part of your home’s overall maintenance requirements.

We understand that it’s an easy job to forget about because, well, out of sight, out of mind, right?

Your gutters are different to other home improvement or maintenance tasks that are right in front of you and impossible to miss.

That’s why our roof plumbers recommend homeowners mark in their calendar a day to perform gutter cleaning.

Pick a couple of months – depending on how often you need to clean your gutters – when you predict that gutter build-up will reach the point where cleaning will be necessary. Then set aside a weekend to get your gutters cleaned during that month.

roof-plumbing

How often should you clean your gutters?

We recommend annual gutter cleans, and depending on your neighbourhood and type of build, you might even benefit for gutter cleaning twice a year, say, once in early autumn, and a second time in early spring.

An early autumn (or late summer) clean ensures that your gutters are prepared for autumn and winter, while an early spring clean clears your gutters from autumn and winter leaf falls.

However, this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule – how often you need gutter cleaning depends!

Our roof plumber in Melbourne suggests starting with taking a look at your surrounds, in particular, it depends on how many trees you have around your house.

Certain homes with high tree coverage might need to have their gutters cleaned more frequently.

That’s because the kind of trees around your house, as well as the amount of coverage directly affects how many leaves fall onto your roof – and by extension, how often you’ll have to perform roof plumbing maintenance like cleaning out your gutters!

In particular, there are two trees that cause issues for gutters. The reason they can cause so much trouble in your roof plumbing is because they shed their leaves all year:

  • Eucalyptus trees
  • Pine trees

Worse, these are two of the most common species of tree in Australia!

Naturally, this changes how often you might need to clean your gutters.

If said trees are further away from your house, the standard annual rule might carry you through.

However, if your backyard is populated with eucalyptus, pine trees or other deciduous trees, you might have to schedule more frequent cleaning.

 

Mistakes people make when they try to DIY roof plumbing

Cleaning your gutters might sound like it’s a simple job – if you ask us, however, it’s exactly this mentality that results in so many people making mistakes when they try to perform this task on their own!

In particular, a lot of people make the mistake of trying to make this task easier and less labour-intensive by taking shortcuts.

At best, this simply makes things harder on you – worst case, it can result in you not getting the job done properly and resulting in potentially avoidable repairs in the future.

In our time working as roof plumbers in Melbourne, we’ve heard many a tale about homeowners who attempted to clean their gutters with a leaf blower.

It seems like a good idea in theory – especially because most leaf blowers come with a small nozzle attachment which produces a thinner stream of high pressure air.

However, the contents of your gutters are not like ordinary leaves. They’re going to be sticky, wet and heavy, which dramatically reduces the effectiveness of leaf blowers.

Even worse, the leaf blower technique can end up pushing gunk further down your spouts, downpipes and into corners of your roof plumbing you can’t access.

Above all, it sounds incredibly dangerous!

 

Gutter problems?

Call Watermaster Roofing’s roof plumber in Melbourne

Gutter cleaning is just on part of roof plumbing maintenance.

On top of keeping your gutters clean, you’ll also have to contend with issues such as:

  • Wear-and-tear
  • Leaks
  • Loose fittings
  • Breakage
  • Blockages

Our team is made up of licenced and qualified metal roofing experts.

Whether you need a worn-out section of guttering replaced, parts of your roof resealed or new downpipes installed, our team can do it, safely, effectively, and on-time!

Make the right choice and choose Watermaster Roofing.

  • Choose a licenced and qualified team
  • Choose experience
  • Choose a quality service
  • Choose reliability
  • Choose a six year warranty

If you’d like to book in annual gutter cleaning with the Masters, contact Sam and the team on 1300 576 075!

2023-07-24T23:04:09+00:00 June 26th, 2019|Metal roofing, Roof Plumbing|

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Roofing today!

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Contact Thom and the team

Call 1300 576 075 Request a quote