Shower defense or an early spring hike...?

An early spring weekend – A state park stroll versus spring shower defense…

As we get closer to spring, thoughts of warm mornings, lazy river days and baseball fill my mind. This is also the time that I want to get out and hit the hiking trails to take in some of Maryland’s outdoors. But as I have grown old and wise (please hold the comments), I also start to think about things like spring cleaning and the phrase ”spring showers bring may flowers”. I start to think about things like gutter cleaning and roof maintenance.

The end result of going on a hike and enjoying the outdoors can have both positive mental and physical effects

The same can be said about taking care of prepping your house for the pending spring showers.

This weekend I am choosing to take a look at my spring shower defense. If you are not aware, moisture problems can result in major problems like structural damage, leaky roofs and can even rot the wood on the overhangs of your roof.

Effective maintenance of gutters and downspouts will help prevent moisture problems in your house and should be given some TLC at least twice a year.

GUTTERS:

A simple visual inspection of your gutters can reveal some great information. Look for things like obvious leaks, blockage or water puddles, corrosion and plant growth. To remove debris and buildup, carefully position a ladder to reach your gutters. You will also need to arm yourself with some waterproof gloves, a small garden shovel and either a lawn garbage bag or a bucket. The leaves and buildup that cannot be removed by hand can be scooped out with the shovel and then put into your bag or bucket (or thrown on the ground if appropriate). You then can go back and either use a standard garden hose to clean out any leftovers or if your H2O pressure is not up to snuff, a pressure washer with an extension will do the trick (just be careful not to remove paint on the outer wall of the gutter). After the gutter is cleared out, leaks can be better identified and patched if needed. This is also the time to ensure that all fasteners are in good shape and that all connected downspouts have an aluminum or stainless steel screen on them to prevent debris from entering the spout.

DOWNSPOUTS:

Properly functioning downspouts are critical to ensuring that water is diverted away from the foundation of the house – which again can have long lasting negative effects on the overall health or your house.

Some key items to consider are:

Do all gutters have attached downspouts?  

Is water flowing through the downspouts and are there any leaks that can be patched? This can be tested by simply pouring a gallon of water down a spout and then (hopefully) getting a gallon of water out of the bottom of the spout.  

Do the downspouts run to a splash backs or drainage systems that divert water at least two feet away from your foundation?

Do all of the downspouts have a stainless steel or aluminum screen at the gutter attachment?

Overall, maintaining your gutters and downspouts can be a pretty simple process that does not require much effort or resources, but can be very beneficial the life of your house.

You just have to decide if you want to go for a hike or do some routine maintenance.

Hopefully next weekend I will be going for a hike.

Until then, stay on Top of the Market.

Erik Hart

REALTOR®

Severna Park Sales

Long and Foster Realtors

410-544-4000 Office

443-889-6860 Cell

www.erikhart.lnf.com