Spring Rain Gutter Maintenance Tips

Learn about how to care for your rain gutters when spring rolls around.

One of the most important, but often overlooked, parts of home maintenance is rain gutter maintenance. By doing a quick spring gutter cleaning and inspection every year, you can prolong the life of your rain gutters and reduce the likelihood that they’ll need repairs. Checking and cleaning your gutters will also keep them working like they should.

Not only do regular maintenance checks and cleanings protect your rain gutters. But they can prevent roofing, siding, and foundation problems in your home, as well. Gutter maintenance will save you so many extra headaches down the road.

Learn how to perform a spring rain gutter check and cleaning with Blain’s Farm & Fleet.

How to Check Your Rain Gutters

You’ll need a good, sturdy ladder to properly check your gutters. Check out our blog for more information on choosing the right ladder. 

Once you get a ladder, set it on either end of the gutter. You’ll be working your way from one end to the other.

First, check to see how dirty, clogged, or damaged your gutters are to determine what you’ll need to clean them.

Once they’re clear enough to inspect, check for damaged gutters. Damage can include sagging sections, holes, missing or loose fasteners, and corrosion. Sagging is usually caused by missing, loose, or bent fasteners.

If you notice any issues, replace the fasteners causing the problem as soon as possible. And fill any holes with caulk immediately.

Also check your surroundings. If there are any tree branches hanging over your gutters that are causing extra leaves to clog it, we suggest trimming these.

How to Clean Your Rain Gutters

While you can’t inspect a gutter without a ladder, you can clean one without one. There are special gutter wands that allow you to reach your gutter from the ground to clean it out.

Step 1: Scrape Out the Gutter

Use a trowel or scoop to scrape the big clumps of leaves, twigs, and other debris out of the gutters. Then, dump this debris into a bucket. We suggesting wearing gardening gloves to keep your hands clean.

Start at the downspout on the end of the rain gutter. To get down to the grime and stains below, you’ll have to remove the bigger pieces that might be blocking your gutters.

Step 2: Scrub the Gutter

Next, scrub any residue, dirt, or mold buildup off your gutters.

Again, start at the downspout. This will help fight corrosion and allow smaller bits of debris to get washed down and out of the gutter more easily.

A concentrated cleaner will help you break down and remove stains and buildup.

Step 3: Flush the Gutter

Finally, use a garden hose to flush the gutter. Aim it toward the downspout of your gutters.

Once you’ve flushed out all the gunk you just scrubbed off, you’ll have a clean, slick surface that debris should wash over all summer long.

To keep your rain gutters in the best shape possible, we recommending repeating these steps twice a year—once in the spring, and then again in the fall.

For more maintenance tips like these, check out our Seasonal Maintenance Blog.