Having problems with your gutters can be very frustrating. You might notice that your gutters are getting clogged with debris far too often.
When you have pine trees surrounding your home it’s likely that pine needles will get into the gutters. While pine needles are rather thin, they can block the gutters and keep them from working properly.
Keep reading to learn about your options for preventing this from happening.
Do Gutter Guards Work With Pine Needles?
Installing gutter guards will be a great way to keep pine needles out of your gutters. Gutter guards should work nicely for keeping debris out of the gutters.
You’ll want to make sure that you buy gutter guards that use a fine mesh to keep debris out. It’s possible that some pine needles might stick inside the gutters, but the problems with pine needles will be far less severe when you install guards.
Thankfully, gutter guards are rather inexpensive. These guards can be purchased at home improvement stores, department stores, and online retailers.
Since they don’t cost a lot of money, it’ll be a practical choice that makes sense for most people. Installing the guards is simple since you just attach them to the gutters.
Keep in mind that gutter guards don’t keep you from having to clean the gutters. You still have to clean the gutters periodically because debris will pile on top of the gutters instead of getting inside.
If you never clean the gutters, the debris on top will eventually keep water from flowing to the gutters properly. Keep an eye on things so you can keep your gutters in good working order.
Is There a Downside to Using Gutter Guards?
Some people think that gutter guards sound too good to be true. Are you wondering if there is a downside to using gutter guards?
Generally, gutter guards are safe to use and highly recommended. However, there can be problems with gutter guards if you use them improperly.
Many people make the mistake of avoiding gutter maintenance after installing these guards. They falsely think that they can ignore the gutters since debris can’t get in the gutters any longer.
The gutters can still get blocked by debris sitting on top of the guards. So you do have to clean the gutters off every so often.
Typically, you’ll want to do this once per year. These gutter guards are simply designed to make maintenance easier.
Also, you should know that the gutter guards can weigh the gutters down if you don’t clean them off. The gutters could fall off if you ignore maintenance for a very long time.
Don’t let this scare you away from buying gutter guards. They’re truly useful, but you still need to clean the gutters when you have them installed.
Keep Your Trees Trimmed
It’d be wise to look into trimming the trees that are close to your house. You’re going to have far more pine needles to deal with if the trees are overgrown.
Trimming the trees back can help to keep them away from the house. At the very least, you’ll make the pine needles more manageable than they would otherwise be.
Use a trimmer and trim the pine trees yourself if you are confident enough to handle the job. Otherwise, it’s good to call professionals to have your trees trimmed every so often.
Typically, people trim their pine trees once per year. You’ll want to trim these trees during either the late winter or early spring.
If you have tall pine trees and you don’t like getting on a ladder, it’s wise to hire someone to handle the job. When handling the job yourself be sure to have someone with you to steady the ladder so you can be as safe as possible.
Clean Your Gutters Regularly
What if you don’t want to use gutter guards? Well, you’ll just have to deal with the pine needles that get in the gutters and clean them out.
You’re going to need to clean the gutters periodically. This is true even if you install gutter guards.
The point of cleaning the gutters is to get rid of debris that might block water from flowing through the gutters properly. Even debris that sits on top of gutter guards can do this if there is enough of it.
To clean your gutters, climb a ladder and pull the debris out of the gutters by hand. If you have gutter guards, you’ll mostly be removing large debris from on top of the guards.
To stay on top of things, you should clean the gutters once per year. If you have a lot of trees on your property, it might be better to clean the gutters once every six months.
Whenever you clean the gutters, do it as safely as you can. Use a stable ladder and have a friend with you to steady the ladder.
Wear gloves to protect your hands so you don’t get cut or scraped by debris. Cleaning the gutters isn’t a difficult job, but it’s not one that many people find to be enjoyable.
What Happens When the Gutters Get Clogged?
It’s not good when the gutters get clogged. If your gutters get clogged with pine needles the water won’t be able to flow.
Water is supposed to flow through the gutters and go toward the downspout. Clogs in the gutters will prevent the water from being guided away from your home.
You might wind up having to deal with water pooling on the roof. This can damage your roof and cause damage to various portions of your home as well.
Water can pool near the foundation of your home when it isn’t being guided away by the downspout, too. So this can cause damage and also make things messy near your house and in your yard.
So it’s imperative to clean the gutters often enough to keep issues such as this from occurring. The gutters are there to protect your investment in your home.
Final Thoughts
Keeping pine needles out of your gutters is easier when you have gutter guards. Buy gutter guards that have a fine-mesh guard that will do a good job of keeping pine needles out.
You’ll still need to clean the gutters off sometimes when you have these guards. Even so, the guards are easy to install and they don’t cost a lot of cash.
Aside from installing gutter guards, it’ll be helpful to trim your pine trees. Keep the trees trimmed back enough to avoid pine needles from being as big of a problem.
If you take these steps it’ll help to make pine needles more manageable. You should focus on cleaning the gutters at least once per year to ensure that everything keeps working properly.
In some cases, you might need to clean the gutters twice per year. It all depends on how many trees you have near your home and how much debris regularly blows onto your roof.
You shouldn’t have a hard time turning things around and keeping your gutters in good working order now. Knowing what to do and how to approach things makes it so much easier.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and over 10 years of experience working in IT. As a homeowner, I love working on projects around the house, and as a father, I love investigating various ways to keep my family safe (whether or not this involves tech). I’ve also played guitar for almost 20 years and love writing music, although it’s hard to find the time these days.