Eavestroughs need attention in every season, not only in fall. This calendar sets out what to inspect, clean, repair and watch for across the year in Kitchener-Waterloo, with short lists you can finish in an afternoon.
In This Article
How to use this calendar
Think of the year as two big jobs and several small looks. The big jobs are a fall clean after the leaves and, for homes under heavy trees, a late-spring clean after the seeds. The small looks are ten-minute checks from the ground that catch problems before they grow.
Adjust the dates to your trees. Oaks that hold leaves push the fall clean later, pines shed all year, and a house with no trees nearby can skip the spring clean. Start a simple log now: a note on your phone with the date, what you found and a photo for each run. It turns the calendar from a guess into a record.
Spring: March to June
- March: keep to the ground. Clear snow and ice from around each downspout outlet so meltwater can leave, and look for sags, split pipe seams and icicle damage.
- April: once troughs are ice-free and the ground is firm, clean out the sodden winter debris and flush each downspout. Repair loose hangers and open seams on a dry day.
- May and June: after the maple keys and oak catkins have fallen, take a second look, especially if trees overhang the roof. Check the eaves for early wasp nests before you climb, and leave any active nest alone.
- Reconnect rain barrels and extensions that came off during winter, and point them away from the foundation.
Watch for: seedlings sprouting in leftover debris, and water lingering after a rain.
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Summer: July to September
- After each big thunderstorm: walk the house and check for overflow marks, fresh trenches in the soil and downspouts knocked loose.
- Once a month: look at the eaves from the yard. Note any new sag, dripping seam or plant growth.
- July and August: trim branches that touch the roof, using an arborist for big limbs, and never work near a powerline.
- Late summer: do the jobs that need dry weather. Reseal leaking joints and end caps, tighten hangers and lengthen short extensions.
- September: test the flow with a hose, so any repair is finished before the leaves come down.
Watch for: wasp and hornet nests at their largest, and standing water that could breed mosquitoes.
Fall: October to early December
- Early October: a quick flush of the downspouts is enough. The heavy drop has not happened yet.
- Late October to November: the main clean, once the trees over your roof are mostly bare and you have a dry, calm day above freezing. Scoop, then flush every run and downspout.
- After a late windstorm: look again, since a storm can strip a tree overnight.
- Before the first lasting snow: check the discharge points, drain and put away rain barrels and hoses, and confirm that no run holds water after the flow stops.
Watch for: oak leaves still on the trees, and how quickly the forecast is turning cold. The home exterior maintenance schedule for Ontario places these jobs among the rest of the house.
Winter: December to February
- Stay on the ground. Ladders and icy eaves do not mix.
- After each thaw, look for icicle clusters, overflow ice and downspouts that have frozen at the base. Keep the ground at each outlet clear.
- Never chip ice out of a trough or salt the roof. Note the spots and deal with them in spring.
- If one stretch of eave keeps growing ice, look at the attic and the insulation. The cause is usually heat loss, not the gutter.
- If water enters the house, photograph it and call a roofer.
Watch for: sagging runs under heavy snow and ice, which show up as dips you can see from the yard.
Keep the log, and get help where it counts
At the end of each season, add a line to the log: what you cleaned, what you repaired and what to watch next time. After a couple of years the log shows how your own roof behaves, and you can trim the calendar to fit.
Some steps in this calendar are better left to a crew, especially work on second-storey eaves. D&D Home Services offers gutter cleaning in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and nearby towns from $125 for a typical Kitchener-Waterloo home, with free quotes confirmed in writing before work begins.
Key Takeaways
- Two big jobs, a fall clean after the leaves and a spring clean after the seeds, plus short ground-level checks, cover the year.
- Spring is for clearing winter debris and repairs, summer for storm checks and dry-weather sealing, fall for the main clean and winter for ground-only watching.
- Never chip ice, salt the roof or climb an icy eave. Persistent ice on one stretch of eave points to heat loss in the attic.
- A dated log with photos for each run shows how your roof behaves and lets you adjust the calendar.
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