Cleaning out your rain gutters a couple of times a year is essential. Although you don’t look forward to this task, removing debris from your rain gutters is the best preventive measure to avoiding clogged gutters. Clogged gutters are no joke, and they don’t just impact your gutters—the damage will spread to the rest of your home, causing significant harm to your home’s foundation and walls. Over time, clogged rain gutters will cause fascia boards and soffit to rot.
Fortunately, you can invest in a gutter protection system, also known as leaf guards, gutter guards, and gutter screens. Gutter protection systems are an investment that pays for themselves many times over by helping you save time, money, and energy that you would have otherwise spent on your gutter’s routine maintenance. Best of all, leaf guards add value to your home.
Are you scared of climbing up a ladder to inspect your gutters every few months? With a gutter protection system, you won’t have to do any scary work anymore. Here’s how to install a leaf guard to your gutters.
Prep Your Gutters
Never install a leaf guard on dirty, clogged gutters because it will void the effectiveness of your new gutter guards. You don’t want to make this mistake because it defeats the purpose of investing in a leaf guard, so you’ll want to make sure that you clean and realign your gutters. When you realign your gutters, ensure that they are facing your downspouts. To encourage the flow of rainwater, your gutters must be adequately attached to the fascia board and should be sloping toward your downspouts.
Avoid going for a leaf guard that requires you to nail it into your roof. Do not nail anything to your roof, as this will create damage to your roof and render your shingles ineffective. Water will make its way into your home if your shingles are perforated.
Common Leaf Guard Mistakes
As effective as leaf guards are, too many do-it-yourself enthusiasts select the first leaf guard they see at the store or find online. Some leaf guard systems require you to lift your roof’s first row of shingles to install your leaf guard. Lifting your roof’s shingles is an expensive mistake you must avoid because it will fragment your roof’s water barrier. A broken water barrier leads to costly water damage repairs down the line. Avoid gutter guards that require you to lift roof shingles at all costs.
Another common mistake that homeowners commit is buying the wrong leaf guard size. Leaf guards are not one size fits all, so make sure that you measure your gutters accurately before purchasing a protection system.
Too many eager homeowners end up damaging their gutters when trying to install a leaf guard because they accidentally change the pitch of their gutter. Changing your gutter’s pitch reduces the effectiveness of your rain flow protection. Ensure that your gutter hangers are secured.
While you should certainly invest in a leaf guard for your rain gutters, there are too many incidents that can go wrong if you are not an expert. Contact M&M Gutters today so that our specialists can take care of all the hard work for you.