Down In the Gutters

Our work continued today on the outside of the house.  As the title implies, that encompassed both washing the siding and getting close to the house gutters on the front and back sides of the house to give them a good cleaning.

The day dawned much cooler than the last couple of stormy, hot days, so I got outside just after 8:00 a.m. to cut the lawn.  Rick and I have been alternating weeks to cut the grass, and this week was my turn to finish that task.  I wanted to cut the lawn before Rick hauled out the power washer and hoses to continue our work on washing down the house.

The lawn was completed in about an hour.  It really needed to be cut!  This past week blessed us with hot temperatures and lots of rain, so we had perfect grass-growing conditions.  Additionally, we had put weed and feed on the lawn earlier this year, so all of the conditions were right for a good, healthy lawn.

Rick sprays the facia and the front gutters on the front of the house.
Since we have gutter guards on the gutters, dirt accumulates where
the water flows over the lip of the guards into the eaves trough. 

Once the grass was cut, we hauled out the equipment to continue to work on the filthy siding on the house.  Rick had completed washing the moldy north side and the moldy porch roof in the back.  Today was our day to tackle the front gutters and facia, the garage door, and a small area of siding as our house steps from one level to the next.  Thankfully, most of the house in front is covered in brick, so that did not need attention.

Rick washed what he could from the ground on
the small bit of siding seen from the front yard.

The front does, however, contain a deep porch, and it has been years since the ceiling on the porch was scrubbed.  We hesitate to spray water there because it gets into the attic through the ventilation holes, but the holes were so plugged with dirt -- probably from the road construction last year -- that no air was getting through the holes either. Something had to be done to restore that ventilation to the area above the porch.

After about an hour's worth of work, the gutters, facia, ceilings, and soffits look much better.

The rest of the siding had to be washed from the roof.

Then Rick went back onto the roof.  He washed down the top of our gutter guards.  That should prevent some of the dirt from washing onto the front lip of the gutters for a while.  Then he sprayed, scrubbed, and rinsed the small section of siding that is only accessible from the roof.  That, too, looks much lighter and brighter.

The good news is that the job is complete.  The bad news is that Rick said our roof soon will need to be replaced.  That is not really a surprise since the roof is probably 25 years old.  The roof will be yet another item on our "to do" list for which we need to start putting aside funds.

After he finished the front, we moved to the back yard and washed both walls on either side of the porch along with the gutters on that side.

The house looks both brighter and cleaner.  We still have the south side to complete, but that will have to wait for a cooler, hopefully cloudier day.  That's the last side to complete, and we both admit that this is a job we hope we do not have to repeat next year!