As part of the Alu-Rex team, I am now known as the gutter “specialist” among my friends. It was thus no surprise to me when I got my first text message some time ago about a friend dealing with clogged gutters. Without a moment’s hesitation, I went on location to complete this first assignment at a small house in the northern part of Québec City.
Once on the roof, I inspected the four sides of the house and realized that the stormwater management system had been cleaned about two or three years ago when all roof shingles had been replaced. The installation made with nails and ferrules did not seem to be the problem at first glance. I then moved on to take a look at the downspout access points. Despite the fact that I removed a massive amount of pine needles and debris, I had only solved 50% of the problem. There was still one downspout left to clean.
I dug into the perfect handyman’s toolkit and inspected the elbow of the downspout that was still putting up a fight. That’s when I noticed debris clogging the system dating back probably 20 years. I also realized that I would not be able to clean all the debris without removing the elbow. After all was said and done, I flushed the gutter with a water hose to check if everything was OK. Mission accomplished!
A Dire Need for Gutter Protection
The quantity of mature trees found in that area fully justifies the installation of a leaf g uard such as the Gutter Clean System®. This gutter protection system captures most debris that would clog downspouts, which allows for less cleaning on your part.
As I walked uneasily on the roof, I realized that it would have been much safer and that so much work could have been avoided with a quality gutter guard right from the start. Ask my friend’s neighbour who took that opportunity to ask whether his gutters needed cleaning while I was on the roof. Unfortunately for him, he had to take out his ladder and climb up the roof!
Many roofing contractors will install the Gutter Clean System. If you’re looking to replace the roofing shingles on your home, you could save yourself a lot of trouble by requesting a quote from Alu-Rex for this product, which comes with a 40-year no-clog warranty.
Sébastien
Marketing Director, Alu-Rex