Eavestroughs are supposed to collect rainwater and direct the water away from your home’s foundation. However, when they become clogged, they do not function properly and result in damage to the home. The main culprit behind a non-functioning eavestrough is clogged channels. Clogs can occur when twigs, leaves and other types of debris deposit themselves in the eaves through and get caught in the downspout. The blockages occur over time. Cleaning your eavestrough is one of those home maintenance tasks that often gets ignored. The fact that this part of the house is often out of sight is the main reason behind the neglect. Unfortunately, the putting off this maintenance can cause disruptions in its functioning. Here are six reasons why you need to clean your eavestroughs.

Rotting Wood

If your home has any wood around it, a clogged eaves through can cause the wood to warp and rot. If water builds up and is allowed to stand for a couple of hours or days, the moisture can start to impact the wood. If the problem persists, you may find yourself spending thousands of dollars replacing the wood around your home. Bugs are attracted to moist conditions. When moisture collects near the wood and foundation, it can attract termites.

Potential Breeding Ground for Insects and Other Pests

Standing water in an eavestoughs can serve as a breeding ground and home for animals and insects. The non-draining water will start to stand, causing any debris to rot. The pools of rotting leaves and water become an attractive home to mosquitos. The pools also provide a source of food for other insects and can attract birds, skunks and other unwanted pests.

Blockages During the Winter Causes Leaks

If you live in an area where snow is a regular part of winter, you need to keep your eavestrough free of debris. Ice can form around them and exacerbate the blockage problems. Ice blockages prevent the drainage of snow. When the snow melts, the water has no where to go and could start to leak into the interior of your home. This leaking can cause costly damage to your walls and ceiling. The leaks can also produce hazardous mold.

Foundation Damage

Clogs affect the regular functioning of your home’s eavestrough. Instead of the water moving away from the foundation, it is now channeled to or near it. Pools of water that begin to form around your home’s foundation will eventually damage it. When the water does not flow through the system, it will pour over the eavethrough’s sides. Over time, the water that the settles near the foundation will cause cracks and other foundation issues. These problems may lead to foundation failure.

Avoid Physical Damage to the Eavestrough

When your eavestroughs become cluttered with leaves, twigs, water and other items, they get weighed down. The excess weight can cause them to start to pull away from your home and alter their shape. When the eavestrough pulls away from the home, they are no longer able to do their jobs. When the eavestrough pulls away, it changes the flow of water. This change can cause leaking,foundation and damage to the home’s wood features.

Lawn Damage

Failing to keep your eavestrough free from debris can also help your lawn. Clogs can cause an overflow in water. Excess amounts of water can kill your grass, trees and plants. It can also lead to severe lawn erosion that requires a professional to fix. Again, these are problems that occur overtime, but a lack of attentiveness can result in lawn care issues. If your lawn is damaged by water, lawn service in Toronto can help you repair the problem.

It is easy to overlook cleaning your eavestroughs, but doing so can be detrimental to your home. They should get cleaned them twice a year, in the spring and fall. While it may seem like an unnecessary expense, it is one that will save you money in the long run. When a problem arises as the result of a lack of maintenance, the repairs can cost thousands of dollars. It is not advised that your clean your gutters yourself If you need to schedule a cleaning, contact your local eavesthrough cleaning company. They have the professional expertise to safely and effectively keep your eavestroughs maintained.

When Jack Frost is busy nipping at your nose, he’s probably nipping away at your plants, too. Just like people, some types of plants are sensitive to the cold. When there’s a chance for frost, unprotected plants can become damaged as the water contained inside the tissues of their stems, leaves and petals becomes crystallized and can no longer travel. This causes plants to shrivel up or turn brown or black in color. When your local weather forecaster calls for a chance of spring frost, there are several things you can do to defend your plants.

Where your plants are located on your property has a lot to do with how they will react to frost. Plants located in low-lying areas often fall prey to frost because the cool, dense air settles there. Plants not surrounded by heartier growth, such a wall of trees or bushes, are also likely to fall victim to frost if conditions are suitable.

The severity of frost determines how you should protect your plants. For example, during a light frost, you may only need to drape a bed sheet or burlap sheet directly over your tender plants to protect them. A harder frost often calls for a bed sheet, blanket or plastic sheet to be propped up and over the plants (not touching them at all) with tall stakes, then secured to the ground with rocks or bricks. This helps insulate the plants inside. Individual plants can be covered with milk jugs, plastic cups or glass jars. Always remember to remove any coverings early in the morning to let in oxygen and sunlight and to prevent the plants from becoming overheated.

Potted plants can be stored overnight inside of your home, shed or garage until the next morning. To protect low plantings from frost damage, you can cover them in a layer of mulch. Once the frost has passed the next morning, gently uncover the plantings. Some types of plants can be watered the day before an expected frost, as the water moistens the soil and helps trap heat overnight. It’s best to check with a professional landscaping business, such as Neighbourhood Landscaping Inc, to ensure that your plants are safe to water before a frost. Some plants, like succulents, should never be watered before a frost.

It is important that you do not overreact to plants damaged by spring frost. Many types of plants are able to bounce back from minor frost damage. Do not clip off damaged leaves or dig up damaged plants immediately following a frost. Clipping off damaged leaves exposes undamaged layers to future frosts. Give your plant some time to heal and develop new growth before removing damaged parts. You may also be able to gently wash frost crystals off of a plant with a hose, especially if the sun hasn’t warmed the plant up yet. Washing a plant with frost damage that is already warmed up by the sun can cause irreversible tissue damage.

Think about the impact water has on even the largest of structures; the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rainier, and cliffs along England’s coast all came about after eons of water erosion. It doesn’t take an ocean of water to erode a structure, though. It’s amazing how a little water can make a world of difference, and unless you’re interested in a home remodel nightmare, it’s important to give water the respect it deserves. Out of all the things that might keep you up at night, one you probably haven’t considered is poor drainage. Poor drainage can wreak havoc on your foundation, reducing the value of your home in a matter of weeks or month. If you’re concerned that something might be awry with your home’s plumbing, don’t hesitate to contact a trained professional; waiting too long could be the costliest mistake you’ll make all year. Drainage seems pretty straightforward: water falls on your roof, is caught by your gutters, and then goes down through the downspout. However, any one of these points, as well as the way rainwater hits your lawn, can all contribute to drainage problems.

Bad drainage is at it’s most obvious when your lawn is flooded. All of that water needs to go somewhere, and if it doesn’t drain into the water table or footing drains underneath, it’ll pool on the surface of your lawn. If your lawn sits on a hill, the water may roll towards your house. Under those circumstances water may start to soak into the foundation of your home, leading to water soaking into the concrete. Over time, the water can cause cracks in the concrete, or even rotting of the wooden posts that secure your home to the ground. This danger is even more apparent in the Winter. Under freezing conditions the water expands into ice, hastening the pace that cracks appear in your foundation. These cracks allow plants to take root in the foundation, breaking the concrete even further. Though you may not notice it, within months water and plants could severely damage your foundation.

When the drainage problems results from roofing problems, rather than your lawn, similar situations can arise. Oftentimes,drainage problems are a result of poor maintenance. Gutters may fill up with leaves, and the water may start to flood over the side of the roofs. On most houses, water flows through the gutters towards downspouts. These downspouts direct the water to places where they can’t damage the concrete. However, when the water starts pouring over the roof it can soak into your foundation. Obviously, whether the water comes from your lawn or the roof, this can cause your foundation to collapse, making the house unsafe to stay in.

One of the most serious drainage problems comes in the form of leaks in your roof. Roof leaks can cause less noticeable drainage through your walls, ruining dry wall as the water runs down to the foundation. This means that instead of the problem being relatively confined to your foundation, you may end up having walls that are structurally unsound, only furthering a drainage nightmare. Additionally, mold and mildew may set in; these problems could make your house next to worthless. This is because mold and mildew are difficult to get rid of and in high enough concentrations may contribute to respiratory problems.

If you notice drainage problems on your roof or in your yard, the key thing is to act fast, especially if you’re not sure when they started. Problems with water drainage may not seem like a big issue if your house isn’t flood, but overlooking them could ruin your investment in the house. Luckily, trained professionals can help to resolve problems with your home’s drainage. Check out http://www.nlinc.ca/lawn-care-toronto/ to learn more about how professionals can help resolve your drainage problems before they take a bite out of your home’s property value. Remember, the sooner you confront these problems with professional support, the less damage drainage issues will do to your home- and your bank account.

Public awareness about the health benefits of growing our own food has hit epic levels. Additionally, urban dwellers want to take an active role in growing their own food as well. In a city, however, the amount of ground space available to devote to raising vegetables is limited, sometimes to as little as a few square feet of earth. Landscaping your yard, no matter how small, is a wonderful way to incorporate a few plantings of vegetables and herbs.

Do you enjoy cooking at home? If so, one of the most satisfying pleasures for both cooks and gardeners is to grow select foods to incorporate into the meals they create. For instance, two small basil plants will provide a summer’s worth of fresh aromatic leaves to spice up any pasta dish, and the health benefits are massive. Fresh vegetables and herbs provide us with immune system strengtheners called antioxidants. Furthermore, the mental relaxation that comes from gardening, even in tight urban spaces, is equaled only by the health-inspiring sense of going green and preserving our earth in a proactive way. Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind:

Ӣ Think bio-density РEven if you only have a perimeter of a few square feet for your growing area, you can always expand your vertical growing space by planting vegetables like indeterminate tomato plants. Check out the Texas tomato cage, which help support your tomato plants as they flourish in an upward direction.

Ӣ Plant for visual appeal as well as for crop output РAdding some bright colored low-growing flowering plants, such as marigolds and blue bells, will not only make your tiny gardening space attractive, but flowering plants attract beneficial bees and beautiful butterflies.

”¢ Utilize your local lawn care specialist for garden advice – By calling on a lawn care specialist in Mississauga you will have access to a wealth of information about more than just growing green grass. Today’s savvy urbanites squeeze the maximum amount of enjoyment out of their living space, and grass lawns are just one option for highly enjoyable outdoor space.