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An Ounce of Prevention Leaf me Alone… Fall is Upon Us Dad always used to say "The best insurance policy on a house are footprints around the perimeter on a regular basis." He was right. An ounce of prevention now will pay big dividends later. Following are a few quick and easy tips to help reduce the fall maintenance load and potential problems: 1. Leaves collecting in the gutters - you probably won't know this unless you get high enough to look into the gutters or notice water spilling over the gutters edges during rains. Plugged gutters increase the possibility of water backing up under the roofing material or overflowing at undesired rates in a single location - a potential source of water entry or water damage. An easy solution is to place gutter guards over the gutters before the leaves begin falling. When installed properly, they are not visible from the ground. Gutter guards are available at your local hardware store and are very reasonably priced and easy to install. In addition, if there are trees overhanging the roof area, you might consider trimming them back at least three feet and more if possible. This will reduce the volume of leaves landing on the roof. 2. Leaves accumulating on the roof - pine needles are especially susceptible to this. If this is occurring, it typically happens in the valleys of the roof. A valley is where differing slopes on the roof intersect. During a rainfall the valleys have the most runoff to manage. If the valleys are obstructed with leaves or pine needles, this can cause the runoff to slow down at the obstruction points. This increases the possibility of runoff backing up under the roofing material, and if severe enough, leaking onto the ceiling. The best cure for this is to trim back the trees overhanging the house three to five feet. This will reduce the volume of leaves over the house and increase airflow through the tree, blowing more leaves to the ground. In addition, keep an eye on the valleys and if any leaves do build up, they can be easily cleared from a ladder using a broom or air blower. If needed, safely climb on the roof and push them off with a broom. 3. Leaves in the pool - this increases the burden on the filtering system, pool sweep and downgrades the appeal of a lovely area in your yard. The best solution is covering the pool during the heavy leaf-dropping season. This may not be attractive, but it is effective. The cover can be removed after most of the leaves are down. In addition, trimming back the over hang from the pool helps as well as removing leaves from surrounding shrubs with a leaf blower or rake. Once most of the leaves are on the ground, simply mulching them with the lawn mower helps build organic material in the soil and helps in keeping them from blowing into the pool. Please forward any questions or comments to jwampler@calidad-tx.com or visit the web site at www.calidad-tx.com.
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