How To And Why You Should Clean Your Eavestroughs Regularly

Posted on Sunday, October 23rd, 2022 | 1,065 views

This article explains why you need to clean your roof eavestroughs regularly, and how you can safely do it yourself a few times a year.

What’s an eavestrough? The eavestrough is the drainage system that’s attached to the roof of your home. It directs water away from the home through downspouts and if they become clogged, water can seep back into your home and into the foundation.

Why Clean Your Eavestroughs Regularly

Keeps water from seeping back into your home

If your eavestroughs are clogged or damaged, water has a good chance of seeping back into your home. The can be due to a clogged or damaged eavestrough or a damaged downspout. It’s important to check for damage a few times a year just to make sure everything is in working order.

Clean eavestroughs prevent foundation damage

A clogged eavestrough can cause water to pool on the ground and seep back into your home. This can lead to foundation damage and cracks in the walls of your basement which can lead to costly repairs or even a flooded basement.

Clogged eavestroughs can lead to basement flooding

The buildup of leaves and debris can cause a blockage that prevents water from flowing down to the ground below and away from the home. If the water is not properly directed, it will eventually back up and cause flooding in your basement.

Your roof can get damaged too

If your eaves are are clogged and overflowing improperly, water can start pooling on areas of your roof too. This could be just as bad and costly as a flooded basement. The clog could also be caused by some damage that has occurred to your eavestroughs wherewith that damage could be causing structural issues with your roof too. 

Clean eavestroughs saves you money

Your eavestroughs are a vital system to keeping your home functioning properly and if it’s regularly cared for it could last up to 20+ years. The opposite is also true. If you don’t clean and maintain your eavestroughs, various types of repairs can become costly – not only to your roof but to the rest of your home too.

How To Clean Your Eavestroughs

The most inexpensive way to clean your eavestroughs is to do it yourself if you can. There are actually a few simple steps that you can follow in order to make the job easier:

Gather your tools

Before you begin, you’ll need to collect all of the necessary tools and equipment for cleaning your eavestroughs. These include:

• A garden hose
• A bucket for collecting debris
• Gloves
• A ladder
• A snake brush
• A broom handle

Move your ladder to the right spot

The first thing you need to do is position your ladder to the right spot of your eaves. A good place to start is at one corner. Once you’ve got your ladder in place, it’s time to get to work. Before you start cleaning, make sure the ladder is stable and safe. Make sure to use a ladder that’s the appropriate height—do not try to stretch yourself beyond what feels comfortable. A good height of a ladder for this type of job will extend above the roofline just in case you need to go onto your roof. 

When placing your ladder and climbing it, make sure to avoid power lines, other houses, and trees or branches. If you’re not careful of these things, they can get in the way and possibly cause you to injure yourself. 

Make sure to bring your bucket and hose with you up the ladder because you’ll probably need to use them. 

Remove all debris from the eaves

Now that your ladder is properly positioned, you can start to remove all debris from the eaves and place them into your bucket, or simply drop the debris on the ground and clean it later.

You can use a broom handle pole to scrape debris closer to you and continue dumping the debris into a bucket or on the ground. Using a pole will help you reach farther along the eaves which means you’ll have to move your ladder only a few times per trough. 

Make sure not to shove any debris into the downspout because doing so could actually clog your downspouts further and cause you to do more work. 

Remove any blockages and flush the downspouts with a hose

Now that you’ve cleared all the troughs from debris, its time to clean out the downspouts. The best way to do this is by removing the downspouts and using a garden hose or broom handle to shove any debris out of it. It’s better to remove the downspout to clean it because certain blockages won’t be visible when its connected to the eaves, and if there is a clog, you won’t notice until there’s a heavy rainfall. 

Removing the downspouts are easy. Some of them come off with a little elbow grease and others need to be unscrewed off. Once they are removed, take a look inside them and see if you can see all the way through. Even if you can, it’s still a good idea to spray the inside of the spout with your garden hose just to make sure everything is out.

If one of your downspouts is directed into the ground, grab your broom handle or snake brush and give it a good cleaning. Make sure to spray a lot of water into it with your garden hose too until everything seems clear.

If You Need Professional Help

We don’t actually provide eavestrough cleaning, but if you have found any damage to your roof while you were cleaning we can be hired to fix the problem. If you call us we can recommend a trusted eavestrough cleaner who will ensure the job is done right and safely. Many people find that hiring someone who knows what they’re doing is worth it if you consider the time saved and peace of mind gained by not having to worry about it yourself or whether you actually did the job right.