Taking Care of Your Gutters: Keeping Animals Out

Part of owning a home is regular upkeep and repair. While tasks such as landscaping, replacing the shingles, getting the roof worked on, and so on are common tasks you shouldn’t overlook useful maintenance activities such as keeping your gutters in good shape. When you think of the roof of your home, your gutters are easy to overlook, but they are still very important to your home’s overall safety and upkeep.  With this in mind, a specialist such as Over The Top Roofing and Construction that can provide Milwaukee Gutter Repair services can assess your gutters and give recommendations for proper cleaning, repairs, and maintenance.

The reason gutters are so important is that they allow water to drain from your home’s roof. A clogged or damaged gutter can cause water to back up or pool which can lead to damage to the roof and in extreme cases lead to leaks that can require extensive repair. It’s not just the weather and the passage of time that can damage your gutters various animals that get into your gutters can also lead to damage. If you’re having issues with pests in your gutters you’ll want to have them removed and that steps are taken to prevent this from happening again.

Removing Animals From Your Gutters

If you have an animal infestation in your home’s gutters you should immediately contact a professional. Pest infestations can be dangerous to your wellbeing, and you should never attempt to remove animal or insect infestations on your own. By contacting a professional you ensure that any animal infestations are dealt with correctly and safely. Professionals also know what methods and chemicals to use so you, your family, and any pets you have won’t be exposed to anything dangerous during the pest removal process.

Preventing Animals From Getting Into Your Gutters

Once you’ve had professionals removing any animals from your gutter system and any repairs or replacement needs have been addressed you’ll certainly want to prevent any future damage to your home. Luckily, there are several ways to prevent pest animals from re-infesting your gutters.

· Having Your Trees Trimmed: low hanging tree branches can allow easy access to your home’s gutters for animals such as raccoons or squirrels. Regular trimming cuts off this access path and if you feel uncomfortable trimming your trees professionals can help.

· Regular Cleaning: by having your gutters cleaned and serviced regularly you deter pests from getting into your gutters regularly. Clogged gutters are inviting to pest animals and can cause them to spend more time in your gutter system leading to potential damage.

· Install Gutter Guards: by installing gutter guards you block animals from having access to your gutters from your roof without blocking water. In addition, guards can also keep leaves, sticks, and other debris from collecting in your gutters.

· Cover Your Downspouts: by placing a mesh guard over your gutter downspouts you remove an access point for curious animals and also not cause any drainage blockages.

· Scare Tactics: a method some people make use of is putting noise admitting devices near their gutter systems that are designed to scare off animals if they get too close. While not effective on every type of pest animal it can scare off mammals such as raccoons.

· Keep Your Yard Well Maintained: one of the reasons animals get into your gutters is because they were drawn to your yard or home by something that interested them. Often this is food or shelter. By keeping your yard and landscape in good condition you can prevent situations (such as an overabundance of incests which many animals use as a food source) that cause animals to be drawn to your property in the first place.

As the above information shows keeping your gutters free of pests can be challenging. However, you can take many steps to keep your gutters safe and working well, which prevents damage to your roof and your home’s interior.

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