You clean the gutters and for about three days everything looks fine. Then another storm rolls through and now there are leaves hanging over the sides, little branches stuck everywhere and water pouring out during heavy rain like the gutters are not even there. Most homeowners assume the gutters are the problem. Most of the time it is the tree overhead.
Why the Tree Is What Actually Changed
Gutters do not suddenly start filling faster on their own. What changed is the amount of canopy hanging over the roof. A tree that has been growing toward the house for years adds new branches every season and those branches drop material onto the roof constantly. The more canopy that is directly overhead the more debris ends up in the gutters after every storm.
Oak trees in Spring Hill grow fast and they spread wide. In established neighborhoods throughout Hernando County a tree that was a comfortable distance from the roof line a few years ago can now be hanging over a significant portion of it. Most homeowners do not notice how much the canopy has grown until the gutters start requiring attention after every rain event.
What Summer Storms Do to the Problem
One windy afternoon during storm season and the gutters are packed again. Wet leaves, acorns, twigs, bark and small branches all end up in the same spots every time. You clean everything out thinking you finally got ahead of it and the next storm fills them right back up. In Spring Hill where storms roll through regularly from June through October this cycle repeats itself constantly once a tree canopy has gotten large enough to be dropping material onto the roof after every weather event.
What Happens When Gutters Cannot Keep Up
When gutters overflow they create problems that go beyond inconvenience. Water spilling over the front entry during storms soaks the area around the foundation. Wet debris sitting in gutters too long causes the black streaking that shows up on the outside of gutter channels. Water that cannot drain properly during heavy rain backs up under the roof edge and over time that moisture works its way into the fascia and soffit. What starts as a gutter maintenance problem can become a wood rot problem if it goes on long enough.
Why Cleaning the Gutters Does Not Fix It
The gutters are not broken. They are just overwhelmed by the volume of material coming off the canopy overhead. Cleaning them solves the symptom for a few days until the next storm deposits the same amount of material all over again. The only thing that actually reduces how fast the gutters fill is reducing how much canopy is hanging over the roof. That means trimming back the branches that are dropping debris directly onto the house.
If your gutters in Spring Hill keep filling up no matter how often you clean them Spring Hill Tree Specialists handles tree trimming throughout Hernando County. We trim branches back from roof lines so your gutters can do their job without needing constant attention. You can read more in why does my tree keep dropping leaves all over my yard and can these tree branches damage my roof. Find out more about our tree service in Spring Hill. Free estimates on all work.