Gutter clogged? The cause and the solution! Let us help

Gutter Clogged

Gutter is clogged:

Is your gutter clogged and you have realised it just now? This is because it is the season that usually the rain gutters are getting clogged. In any case, this is not something that you should ignore. This is because whatever is in your gutter draining system causing a clog will not move away on its own. You need to have it sorted it as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may have to face more serious problems in your house that will be not cheap to have them fixed. This is because water is supposed to stay neither on your house roof nor in the downspout. Reading this article you will find more details about why your gutter is clogged, what problems it can cause for your house and how to fix it.

Gutter clogged

Call: 06-28791793

Signs of a clogged gutter:

How do you know that your gutter is clogged? In order to identify the problem you may be having with your rain gutter, you may have to wait for the right time to come. It will be when it rains or after it has rained heavily. However, if it rained just a bit and your gutter is just starting to get clogged, you may not realise that. This is because the water will be still going down the drains. With this happening and having ignored the fact that your gutter is clogged when it will rain heavily, you may have a problem. This is because it will overflow pouring most of the water out of the gutter and on the walls of your house. Also, you may notice at the ending part of downspout standing water after it rained. This means that the drains afterwards are being clogged. In any case, you should try to fix your clogged gutter as soon as possible in order to minimize other problems with your house in the future. At the end of the day, this is the main reason for having a gutter drainage system in your house. To summarize, the signs of a clogged gutter are:

  • Leaking from the sides on the roof.
  • Leaking from the sealing of the gutters.
  • Overflow in case of heavy rain.
  • Standing water at the end part of the downspout.
  • Mosquitoes gathered where the water is not drained for a while.

Gutter clogged rain:

The main reason for having a gutter is to protect your house from the rain. When it rains, water from the roof will be collected in the gutter and will go through the downspout pipe to the main sewers of the town or somewhere in the forest. If you didn’t have a gutter, the water from the rain will be going all around the house. The first thing that you would notice it would be mould on the walls from inside the house because the walls would be all wet. The windows would get damaged and will lose their isolation. Finally, the water will be collected all around your house, damaging your house’s foundation. Therefore, having a clogged gutter, it would be worse than not having at all. This is because all the water will be collected in one spot during a rainy day, and will cause all the possible things that could go wrong when you are not having a gutter. On top of that, it will even make the situation worse than you expected.

Clogged gutters winter:

When is the time around the year when the gutters are getting clogged? The most common season for the gutters to get clogged is the winter. This is because in that season it mostly rains and bad weather conditions are on a daily basis. However, it doesn’t mean that it was then when the clogging has occurred. The most common reason for your gutter to get clogged is in the autumn. This is when most of the leaves will be falling down from the trees. Also, in the winter season may be very cold temperatures. It is possible during temperatures under zero your gutter will get clogged. In this case, the cause is that the leaves and dirt will get frozen and cause your gutter to be clogged. Therefore, you may notice stalactites being created from possible areas where the roof may be leaking. Another reason for that is that the gutter’s isolation has failed because of multiple clogs in the past in that area.

Clogged gutters leak:

The common way to identify a possible clogged gutter is by seeing a leaking. The leaking will be coming out from the pipes of your rain gutter system. You may notice a leaking on the pipes on the roof or your downspout. In any case, this is a sign of a certain clogging issue. You will notice that rainwater is dripping from those certain spots. This is because it rained earlier during the day and the water was not able to move down the drains. With the water still standing inside the pipes, you will notice it dripping. It may be just starting to pile up, so it may not need too much effort to unclog it. All you have to do is taking a ladder and remove possible leaves or whatever is in there. By leaving it for a longer time, it will not get any better. The clogging problem will just get worse and it may end up overflowing when it will be raining heavily. However, if you will notice a leaking on downspout, that means that the problem you are having is much worse than you expected. This is because it will be not easy to reach the clogging problem inside the downspout unless you have a special tool.

Clogged gutters mosquitoes:

There is nothing good with having mosquitoes gathered in a certain are in your house. This is because mosquitoes are getting multiplied fast and they carry a lot of diseases around. Their favourite places to live are wet and warm environments. Therefore, you may notice during spring and summertime mosquitoes gathered at a certain area on your gutter system. However, for the mosquitoes to be gathered there, that means that the clogging issue was for a while there. This is a sign that the water is standing in there because is clogged. You may have not noticed any problems, but you did notice the mosquitoes flying around. In order to get rid of them, you do not have to spray them in order to kill them. All you have to do is cleaning the area around there. The leaves which are wet and being soaked for a long time is a natural organic food for them. For this reason, once you will get rid of them in there will be no reason for them to stay. They will have to move out in order to find food in a different place.

Clogged gutter drain pipe:

Having a clogged gutter you may notice standing water on the drain pipe. The standing water will be at the end of the downspout, before entering the french drain. The french drain takes all the rainwater from the gutter and leads it to the sewers or somewhere outside the house. With this one happening, you will get annoyed every time you pass through there stepping on all this water, but it may cause leaking into your basement. You may notice that the walls are going to be wet and slowly slowly, the basement will get mouldy. On top of that, it can cause a problem with your house’s foundation if it will be ignored for too long. In this case, all you need to do is using a water-powered snake and put it inside the hole. You may have to rent one from a plumbing supplier if you do not have so long. You will be able to take everything out that is possibly causing a clogging problem. With this one done, your french drain pipe will be free and the water will be going out easily.

Gutter clogged with ice:

Is it possible to have your gutter clogged with ice? Well, it is possible but not just because of the ice. Under freezing temperatures, the water in your gutter will become ice. However, in order for the ice to be causing a clog, there needs to be a hazard. The hazard may be some leaves or dirt that were inside your gutter. With the ice being created, and those ones combined, you will have a clogging issue. Since is just frozen water we are talking about here, you may not have to worry about leakings on the roof. This is for the reason that when it will rain, the ice will be melted from the gutter on the roof. However, you can help a bit the draining by pouring boiling water to the gutters’ downspout base. Otherwise, it may take some time in that area for the ice to be melted and take all the water from the rain out.

Gutter clogged with leaves:

To have your gutter clogged with leaves is the most common reason. During the autumn season leaves are falling down from the trees waiting for the spring in order to grow new ones. That large amount of leaves, with a little bit of the winds help, will end up on your roof. They will find a hazard in your gutter and the will be collected as many as they can fit in there. They are usually getting collected is a single spot, where the one is pressing the other. Therefore, you can have your gutter clogged within a day. After that, with the rain’s help, they will get stuck together and they will cause a serious clogging problem. However, raining on a daily basis will move the leaves inside the downspout and will be causing a clog at the base or inside. It will be not that easy to deal with them as to deal with the ones on the roof. For that reason, it is recommended to have the leaves removed from your gutter quite often. In this way, you will not have to put much effort when a serious clogging problem appears.

Gutter clogged with pine needles:

Do you think that is possible to have your gutter clogged with pine needles? When you see them, you think that they are too thin and is quite impossible for them to be causing a clogging issue. Well, it is indeed impossible just for a couple of them to be causing a clogging problem. However, it is never just a few pine needles in your gutter, especially if you have a lot of pine trees around. Having pine needles collected in your gutter, you will have slower water draining flow. But this will be not the main clogging issue. Once they will be inside the downspout, they will work as a natural needle fence. With this happening, leaves and blooms from the trees that under normal circumstances would not cause any problem, they will get trapped there. They will pile up very fast and will be causing a very big clogging issue. On top of that, it will be very hard to unclog the gutter downspout pipe since everything must be stuck together. Therefore, you may need to put quite an effort to unclog the pipe.

Clogged gutter problems:

So, you have a clogged gutter and you are ignoring it for a while. You are thinking to yourself, what can possibly go wrong from a little bit of water dripping in a few different places. Well, you may think about it again, unless you wanna end up with problems in your house that will be not easy and cheap to fix. Those problems that will appear to your house because of a clogged gutter will be quite complicated to deal with them. You may need to spend after quite a large amount of money and time in order to have those issues repaired. One of the most common problems is to have the wall soaked. With this happening, mould will start appearing on the walls. In order then to have it fixed, you may need to use special chemicals to kill the mould and paint the wall once again. However, unless the problem with your clogged gutter will be fixed you will be facing soon after again problems with mould. To summarize, the problems you can have in your house because of your clogged gutter are:

  • Problem with the walls.
  • Problems with the roof.
  • Problems in the basement.
  • Problems with the foundation at your house.

Gutter drainage pipe is clogged:

Do you have the gutter drainage pipe clogged? That means that you need to have it cleared from inside. How do you know where is the gutter pipe actually clogged? Sometimes, it is hard to say the exact location of the clogging place in the drainage pipe. This is because you may notice leaking on downspout gutter and is all the down. Also, it may be more than just one place clogged. The area where you will notice the most leaking is where the clogging is. However, even if you remove whatever is in there causing a problem, it doesn’t mean that the problem has been fixed. This may mean that there is another clogging deeper inside the pipes that you haven’t noticed. In order to avoid that, a good thing to do is make sure that the whole draining pipe has been cleared out. In this way, you may not have to worry about a clogging issue for the few next weeks.

Clogged gutters overflowing:

Why are the gutters overflowing when it rains? This is a sign that the gutters are clogged badly and the water is not able to go down the drains. With this happening, you will notice an overflowing when it rains heavily. In this case, you need to clean it straight away. It doesn’t matter if is on the top of your doorstep or at the ending part of the gutter. This is in order to avoid any other problems in the future which can be caused by overflowing. You can easily do that by removing the leaves whatever else may be causing the clogging issue. Another area where you may notice an overflow is at the gutter’s downspout base. If you do have a special filter at the bottom there and you notice that water is coming out, it means that is probably filled up with leaves, blooms and pieces of wood. You can easily clear it by removing all those things that are causing the clogging away.

Clogged gutters cause roof leak:

Is it possible to have water leaking from the roof inside your house that can be caused by the clogged gutters? Well, what you need to keep in mind is that the water from the rain needs to go somewhere. However, if you have the gutters clogged the water will be leaking from there and will be soaked in the roof. Also, having a clogged gutter for quite a while and you were ignoring it, it will just extend the problem you will have in the future. Having a leaking roof because of clogged gutters can make you even to have to fix the roof itself. For something like that to be possibly happening, it is not really worthy to have your gutter clogged for a long time. It will be you paying the price for a few minutes of a job, which is not really worthy. So, in order to avoid that, take a ladder, get on the gutter on the roof and throw those leaves away.

Clogged gutters basement water:

Another one of the main problems you may end up facing when having your gutters clogged is with water in your basement. Usually, you may ignore the fact that the water is overflowing from the back side of the house since you are not going too often back there. At some point, you may notice the walls in your basement all soaked and wet. Because the air supply in your basement is limited, it will cause very serious problems in order to have them fixed in the future. Therefore, you cannot ignore the leaking in your basement and have a look at that area outside f the house. That area in the gutter will be definitely clogged. Also, you may see on the outer part of the house that the ground where the foundation is going away. Another area that can cause leaking in the basement is where the downspout gutter is. This part is usually getting clogged from all the leaves that are coming from the gutter is the roof before entering the french drain. If you are lucky, the leaves may be collected in the bottom part of the downspout and you can remove them easily. However, there is a case where the clogging will be located inside the downspout gutter. This one may need some more effort in order to get it unclogged.

Gutter drain clogged underground:

Just like mentioned earlier, having the gutter drain clogged can cause a very serious problem in your basement. However, having the gutter drain clogged underground problems with your basement are not the only ones that you will be facing. The water will be not able to get drained properly, so it will end up making your front or back yard flooded. This is because the water has nowhere to go, it is getting collecting in a single spot. A good idea to avoid something like that is having a special cover at the bottom of the downspout looking like a filter. This one will be able to gather everything that can go down the drains causing a clogging issue. So, once in a while, all you have to do is lifting it and throwing away everything that has been collected in there. This is another reason why the gutter draining system is made in this way. After many years of research and people having very often problems in their houses because of the rain, they have come up with the best solutions. All the water to be collected in one spot from the roof and to get it out of your property.

Clogged rain gutter downsprout:

When was the last time you checked your rain downspout gutter? The downspout pipe is less likely to get clogged since is going downwards on ninety degrees from the ground. Therefore, it is more common to get clogged at the bottom of the pipe or on the top. In order to prevent the downspout from getting clogged all the time from leaves going in there, the hole is not right at the end. It is about five inches before the end of the downspout hole. With this one taking place, it will prevent as many leaves to go down the pipe as possible. They will be collected right after the hole, so it will be easier to get removed. However, if your downspout is clogged in the middle, you may need a snake to pull everything out from there. If you are going to push them, it is more likely they will get stuck worse and you will be not able to take them off. So, if you are not scared of highs, get on the top of the downspout and remove whatever is in the downspout causing you problems.

Gutter drain to street clogged:

How you will know that the drain to the street is clogged? This is because you may see standing water at the bottom of the downspout. It will be causing problems in your basement and the foundation of your house. This is because it will be standing there for quite a long time. What you need to do is to fix this problem. The problem is located inside the pipe that goes to the street and is called a french drain. The drain may be not so short, so you may need a quite long snake in order to do unclog it. You can find one professional use snake to rent at your local plumbing shop. What you need to do, is insert it from one side and remove everything that is inside. However, do not expect that will be an easy job for you to do. This is because there may be quite a lot of things in there which have caused this problem and they may be stuck together. If you are not able to find a proper tool to do the job or you have no time to do it, you need to hire a professional. You do not have to search for special gutter installation services to do this job. Hiring a normal plumber will be able to have it fixed for you without a problem.

Gutter guards is clogged:

One way to avoid clogs on gutter is by having them covered with gutter guards. The gutter guards are special covers that they cover the top of the gutter in order to let as fewer leaves into your gutters as possible. However, not every gutter guard’s design is the same way and is giving the best protection. Some of them have very small holes for the rainwater to pass through with an effect to be clogged with just a couple of leaves. Some other have larger holes, which lets the smaller leaves to pass through. In any case, you may have to unclog your gutter guards. So, depending on the type of guards you are having, you may need different effort in order to unclog them. To unclog those with the small holes, you need to wipe the surface from the top of them. Is will be definitely much easier to clean them than cleaning the gutter itself. However, if your gutter is clogged and your guards have bigger holes, you may need to remove them. By lifting them, you are going to reach to the bottom of the gutter and sort the clogging issue. Once the gutter is nice and clean, place the guards back on their place on the top of the gutter.

Clogged gutters foundation:

What issue can be caused because of your clogged gutter to the house’s foundation? It has probably never crossed your mind that something may actually go very wrong with your house because of the clogged gutter. Before you are going to wonder that, you can try a small experiment. Place a stick in the ground and slowly, slowly pour water at the same spot in its base. What will happen when you will be doing that? It will sit from the side that the water has been poured. Well, imagine your house in the stick’s situation. Of course, at this point, we are taking of extreme situations, where the gutter has not been cleaned in years and left ignored all the time. Also, you may be having different problems in the meantime like wet walls, a leaking roof and wet basement before you actually get with a serious problem in your foundation. In any case, you have to avoid any of those problems from happening, don’t you? So, do not ignore leaks and water overflowing, so you get them sorted before it’s too late.

Clogged gutters water in the house:

Is it possible to get water in your house because of clogged gutters? It always depends on how long you are having your gutters clogged. Since the gutter have been clogged, water is leaking and slowly it will pass through your walls making them wet. However, having recently installed gutters that means that something may be wrong with your roof. This is something that should be checked and it may be causing a leaking inside your house. However, if a problem with your roof is not the issue, then you should check your gutter. It is possible for the gutter there to be clogged. You may notice that the walls where the gutters have been clogged are soaked. Together with the heat inside your house, you may notice water dripping on the walls. Therefore, when you are facing a gutter clogging problem, the first area that will get affected are:

  • The roof where the clogged gutter is located.
  • The walls right under the clogged gutter.
  • The area in your basement which is closer to the surface and is right under the area of the clogged gutter.

Clogged gutters roof damage:

Have you ever thought that a clogged gutter can be damaged and at the same time damage your roof? What you need to keep in mind is that the parts of the gutter when they are being installed they are getting isolated. When one part of the gutter sits on the top of the other, silicone is applied between them. However, after a few years of exposure in the sun and different weather conditions, it will be damaged and will cause leaking. The leaves which are also in there they will help the gutter to cause a leaking with a result to damage your roof. What you need to do in this case is to repair the damaged gutter. This is something that you may need somebody to help you with. The gutter needs to be cleaned very well and this to be done on a sunny day. The gutter needs to be disconnected and the old silicone properly cleaned with a knife. Then you need to apply new silicone and connect the two parts together. If you are not comfortable with doing this job, hiring a professional to do that for you may be the best option.

Clogged gutter damage:

Having a clogged gutter can damage the downspout itself. Time after time, with clogs that were taking place for a long time, the gutter downspout may have permanent damage. It may have got rusty or worn off after time. With this happening, you will be facing the same problems just like having a clogged gutter. The water will be leaking from the sides of the downspout and will be not taking the drains at your house corner to go to the streets. Instead, you will be having a small pond every time when it rains. What you need to do at the time, you need to completely change the downspout into a new one. Fixing just a small part will not make much of a sense if the gutter you got is an old one. Also, in order to replace a small part you need to find an identical one that will fit. Therefore, the downspout pipes are having a standard length. After all, having too many connections on the pipe is not always the best option. It may cause even more problems than the ones you were expecting.

Clogged gutter solutions:

If you do have a clogged gutter that means that you have to sort it out. In most cases, this is nothing complicated for anyone to do. It always depends when was the last time you or someone else unclogged the gutter. By not having done this job for quite a while, that means that you may find a lot of dirty stuff from the trees stuck in there. You may even find plastic bags that were blown away by the wind and ended up in your gutter. If you haven’t cleaned the gutter for a few months, do not be surprised if you will find even a dead animal in there. Those are not very rare cases, but they may happen to you so know what to expect. However, the only hard part of the job that can go wrong is where you will use the ladder. So, if you are not afraid of heights that will be a piece of cake for you. So, here are some solutions for you when you will be having your gutter clogged:

  • Use a garden hose with some pressure to move the stuff away.
  • Use your hands to collect the leaves and everything.

Clear a clogged gutter drain pipe:

Just like mentioned earlier there are two ways to unclog your gutter pipe. In order to unclog it, you have to clear the gutter otherwise, you will end up having the same problem again. Also, what are you going to do with all the leaves that are in the gutter on the roof? The best thing to do is to collect all the leaves and throw them together with your garden disposals. Unless of course, you will find some rubbish in there. So, in order to clear your clogged gutter, get yourself a ladder so you are going to be able to reach the roof. Once you have done that, make sure you collect all the leaves and pieces of woods into a basket or a bag. There is no point on pushing them to go down the drains because you will only manage to create a clog in a different location. What you need to make sure is that the ladder is properly placed on the ground and is not moving. Otherwise, it may cause a problem for yourself that will be not easy to fix. Also, there is another way where you can use a garden hose to clean the leaves from your gutter. What you need to do is using a jet wash or a garden hose. By applying pressure you will wash the roof like washing your own car. This will have a result to gather everything fast and easy in one spot right next to where the hole of the downspout is. With this one done, you will be able to collect them easily and fast from there.

Clean a clogged gutter downspout:

If you have a cleaned gutter drain, doesn’t mean that your downspout is looking fine. In order for clogging problems to be avoided, the hole form the downspout is not located right at the ending part. However, having that are filled up the leaves and the stuff will have no other option apart from going down the downspout. Because the area where the downspout’s arm is located is slightly more narrow, it is more likely to get clogged. Reaching that area with your bare hands is not something that you should try. The best and most effective way to do it is by putting a snake in the downspout. You will be able to pull everything out that is probably causing a clog. However, if you do not have a snake on your possession you can use a garden hose. You can use it as a water pump in order to move everything out from the downspout. Make sure at the time that you have the filter on in order to have everything collected in there for you to bag them and bin them. If you do not, you may end up having a problem with your french drain. Having the french drain clogged will be not so easily fixed like having the clogged downspout cleaned.

Gutter clog remover:

If you are afraid of heights and you have a clogged gutter, you may have to call a service to do it for you. However, if your downspout is clogged and you wanna unclog it there is a special downspout remover. There is a special TMR rotary system line that will help up with your problem. This line you can connect it on your electric drill and is elongating inside the pipe as you want. What you need to do in order to remove the clog in your downspout gutter is putting the pointing part inside the hole from the bottom of the downspout. Therefore, you will not have to use a ladder to get on the top. Connect the other side to the drill and press the trigger. Make sure you start by having the rotating speed of the drill at the lowest as possible. In this way, you will be able to control it and have the clog removed effectively. This is because all the leaves will be blended and moved away when water from the rain or yourself will be poured again.

Gutter keeps clogging:

Even if you have fixed the clogging in your gutter, you are still facing clogging issues. With this one happening, that means that something is not right. In most cases, this one has nothing to do with you. This is just the weather’s and the environment’s fault that your house is. Another issue may be the gutters that you have are too narrow and can get easily clogged. In other words, the main reasons why your gutter keeps clogging are:

  • It is middle to the end of autumn. This season of the year makes the most trees to drop their leaves. With that many leaves falling from the trees and not all of them at the same time, you will be having very often clogging problems with your gutter. There can be a case where you cleared the gutter in the morning and by the next day it is clogged again. Therefore, this is nothing you have to worry about. It is just how nature works at the time to make your life a bit harder.
  • The gutter pipes on your roof are too narrow. You may have found them and bought them cheaper or you didn’t take into account heavy rains. With this one on the account, you got smaller gutter for the size of your house roof. Therefore, even after the smallest hazard in the gutter, you are having a clogging issue.

Rain gutter clog prevention:

There are always ways to prevent your gutter system from being clogged. However, it doesn’t mean that you will never have to face a clogging issue with your gutter system. The newest gutters are specially equipped with specially designed covers and special filters that will collect the most of the leaves and everything that can clog your gutter. With this happening it will much easier for you to clean your clogged gutter. This is in order to minimize the problems you may be facing in the future with your gutter pipes. Also, the most important part to prevent a possible clog in the future is to maintain them. You cannot have the gutter ignored all the time. In other words, here are a few tips to prevent your gutter clogged as much as possible:

  • Get gutter guards if you do not have already. Gutter guards are one of the best things that can help you prevent a clogging issue. They are covering the gutter, letting the rainwater get in the gutter while the leaves are kept away.
  • Get a special filter at the end of the downspout. There is always stuff coming from the gutter in the roof and through the downspout. In order to prevent a bigger clogging issue on your french drain which may be very hard to deal after, you need to have a filter at the ending part of the downspout.
  • Keep an eye on the gutter every once in a while and keep it cleaned. Make sure the gutter is properly cleaned before the autumn and just after the leaves have done their falling. Also, you may have clogging issues during spring time because of blooming flowers.

Has this article answered your questions regarding your clogged gutter? If you still have questions regarding this matter, contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Call: 06-28791793