Dangers of Clogged Eavestroughs in the Winter

Clogged eavestroughs can cause many problems, which are heightened even more in the colder months.

This is because of a few reasons. Snow tends to weight the eavestroughs down much more than rain and can be more cumbersome and slower to move through the guttural system. It may also make it more challenging to guide water away from the house, and thus cause water damage.

Maintaining your eavestroughs during the winter is critical to taking care of your entire house. It can be incredibly inconveniencing and expensive to have an eavestrough break during the winter, and will also be more difficult to fix. Before and after major storms, if your eavestroughs are showing signs of damage, max sure that they are fixed and have your gutters cleaned in Toronto as soon as possible.

Here are a few of the main dangers associated with clogged eavestroughs in winter:

The Potential To Freeze

If the temperature is low enough, the water in the eavestrough and downspout can freeze. The eavestrough itself, which is usually made of plastic, can also become extremely brittle on cold days. This makes it more likely to crack and break, which can cause severe leaks and fail at the task of redirecting water away from the foundation of the home. Make sure that your gutters are cleaned before and after a major storm to reduce the odds of this happening. If you are in a very cold place, you may also want to avoid using plastic gutters, as aluminum tolerates the cold much better.

Falling or Hanging Down

The weight that snow and ice can put on a basic plastic eavestrough can often be too much to take. Especially if a major storm has just hit, and you have gotten a lot of snow. This also applies to hailstorms, as hailstones can be much heavier and melt much slower in cold weather. These materials can contribute to clogging parts of the eavestrough, and when the eavestrough builds up an accumulation of materials in one area which is a sign of when to clean your gutters, it can break and dismantle from the house. This can damage the house, subsequently making the roof and foundation more vulnerable to water damage.

If an eavestrough is weighed down too much and falls completely, it can even damage things that are below it or lower on this house. It can hit structures beneath, or even people, which can be incredibly dangerous. The best way to avoid this is to take consistent care of your eavestrough. Make sure that it is cleaned out between storms so the snow, ice, and water can funnel down as smoothly as possible.

Keep Your Gutters From Freezing This Winter

Keeping your eavestrough in healthy condition is critical for both the structural integrity and safety of your house. If you live in an area with consistently bad weather, Shine Windows recommends getting your eavestroughs cleaned more frequently during the winter to prevent damage and injury. By staying in tune with potential problems that could occur during the winter, you will be able to identify and remedy them more efficiently. You can learn more about our eavestrough cleaning prices here for the GTA.