What Happens if Your Gutters Are Blocked?
Summary: What Happens If Your Gutters Are Blocked
- Water buildup from moss and leaves: Prevents proper drainage after rain, causing overflow and stress on your gutters.
- Moss holds up to 20× its weight in water: Adds significant weight and strain to gutter brackets and fascias.
- Heavy, overflowing gutters: Can cause brackets to break and lead to costly repairs or replacements.
- Insurance may not cover water damage: Damage caused by lack of maintenance is often classed as neglect.
- Blocked downpipes and overflow: Can lead to damp, foundation issues, and even long-term subsidence.
- Dry debris like leaves and moss: Acts as tinder during dry months, increasing fire risk.
- Gutter guards and brushes: Often worsen blockages by trapping decomposed matter that turns into soil and weeds.
- Removing and reinstalling guards: Increases maintenance costs and may require insured ladder work.
- Regular vacuum cleaning from the ground: A safer, more efficient, and cost-effective way to maintain gutters.
Keeping your gutters clear helps protect your property from damp, fire risks, and costly structural damage—while ensuring your insurance stays valid.
From Floods to Fires: What Damage do Blocked Gutters Cause
Here is a typical British gutter after it has rained but the water isn’t draining away because of the build up of moss and leaves etc. Apparently, moss can hold upto 20 times its weight in water, imagine the stress on your gutter brackets and fascias!
The extra weight will cause the gutter brackets to break leading to costly replacement. Worse still if the water overflows and causes damage inside your property your insurance may not pay out. Insurance companies will have a clause saying that water damage caused by not maintaining your property isn’t covered as it is classed as neglect.
Blocked downpipes and overflowing gutters can actually cause significant damage to your property. Problems start with damp, but in severe cases over many years can actually cause subsidence and issues with your property’s foundation.
Dried leaves and moss stuck in the gutters can even be a fire hazard. During particularly dry months they can act like tinder to a dangerous blaze.
Do Gutter Guards Prevent Blocked Gutters?
In our experience, gutter grills and brushes cause more blockages and expenses than yearly vacuum maintenance. This is because the leaves and moss decompose in it creating soil that in turn grows weeds and the roots mat everything up.
In order to empty your gutters, the gutter guard or brush has to be removed, then replaced. This means additional steps requiring ladder work and insurance to work at height.
(Please note, our gutter vacuuming is done from the ground using poles. We don’t use ladders but we can recommend someone who is insured to use ladders at height to remove them and who also does gutter repairs.)
Your One Stop External Cleaning Service
The Extreme Clean Team are proud to offer our specialist exterior cleaning services. We invest in the best equipment, tools and techniques to provide you top-notch cleaning services your property deserves. We are based in Walton on Thames and serve Epsom, Surbiton, Leatherhead and other nearby areas in Surrey. Feel free to inquire or ask for a free quote using our online quoting tool or via Whatsapp!
