Winter is more than just freezing cold weather, snow boots, and parkas. The accumulation of freezing rain, snow, and ice will often destroy a roof and gutters. If gutters aren't maintained, bad things happen to a house. Winter is also about having fun. Okay, you have to bundle up, and your nose will get cold. However, if you're having fun, what's a little chill? Why not go and have some fun in and around Seattle while we take care of your icy gutters. Here are some of the things that you could see and do.
Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
Also known as Ballard Locks, they sit among the Carl S. English, Jr. Botanical Gardens. Open year-round, visitors and residents can watch the action in the locks in addition to enjoying the beauty of nature.
Also in this triple play, you can watch the salmon on the way to their spawning grounds. Several species from the salmon family all head upstream in different months, with steelheads going in February and March. Watch as the fish use steps to make their way to the freshwater portion of Puget Sound and return.
Citydog! Club
What could be more fun than watching your furry best friend having a blast with other dogs in a fun environment? It's not a dog park. It's not a grooming salon. It's not a nap place. It's all that and more.
Watch as your furry friend plays, eats only the healthiest food, naps in the cleanest and comfiest environment, has a wash and blow dry, and wags his tail off with other dogs of all sizes and breeds. It's a day at the spa for your fur baby.
Volunteer Water Park Tower
The elevation is 520 feet. Once you get to the top, you will see a 360-degree view of Seattle. Once you've drunk it all in, across the park is the Volunteer Park Conservatory. While your gutters are being cleaned of snow and ice, you'll be strolling among a variety of plants, some of which are over 75 years old.
Learn how to make flower arrangements, buy your favorite plants at the plant sales, and attend the odd fundraiser featuring light shows, or just walk through all that beauty and drink it in.
Seattle Pinball Museum
Sometimes our children are amazed that we can't play their video games. They can't picture us with knees bent, feet hip-width apart, and elbows bent, ready to hit that bumper to fling the ball into the holes for a slough of bell-screaming points.
If you'd like to remember those days and get to play a few, then head on over to the pinball museum. What started as a revitalization project of the downtown quickly became a big hit and is still in use today.
Bill Speidel's Underground Tour
It isn't about subways like New York or pirate tunnels like Savannah, Ga. It's about underground speak-easies and ground floors of other businesses. They were put on the back burner when Seattle burned to the ground in 1889. The city decreed that new buildings had to be both stone as well as built well above street level.
Which left the underground as the perfect way to see what part of the original city looked like. There's even a speak-easy for you to enjoy. Leave the kids at home, though, if you'd like to see the tour and hear the more bawdy stories about the underground Seattle of the past.
You Talked About Winter And Gutters
Ice dams form when snow and ice melt from the heat inside the house, running down the roof into the gutters. Then the moisture refreezes or is caught beneath fresh snow and ice. The gutters can't hold any more. New melting snow and ice runs into the stoppage, backing up on the roof.
In addition, the roof possibly collapsing beneath all that weight, moisture trying to reach the gutters overflow into the outside walls of the house. This is the entry point to the inside walls, insulation, and the foundation. The wet insulation forms mold, the walls are damaged by water, and the foundation is a sitting duck.
Another winter problem with gutters is icicles. These form when the water coming off the roof can't get into the gutters. It slips over and freezes on its way down. It's beautiful in the sunlight, but not so pretty when they break off and hurt someone on their way down.
Experts tell us not to break off the icicles. They can injure the homeowner or someone else. They can also pull the gutter right off the house. Experts advise homeowners to try heating the gutters to melt the icicles.
What's The Answer?
Cleaning gutters is a once or twice per year chore that most homeowners do grudgingly. Gutters have a lifespan of 20 years plus, so homeowners won't need new gutters as long as they stay on top of the cleaning.
However, snow and ice build up in empty gutters. Since they can't access the heat of the house like the roof can, the snow and ice freezes and refreezes. Eventually, the whole thing will come crashing down.
Keep Gutters Clean And Snow Free
Keep leaves and debris as well as snow and ice out of gutters by:
- Adding brackets holding the gutter to the house. It will withstand the weight of snow and ice.
- Buying heating cables for the gutter. It will keep the water above freezing temps and allow moisture to flow out the downspouts.
- Calling Lawn Love to install gutter guards. Gutters still need to be cleaned, but gutter guards will cut down on the amount of debris to be cleaned.
- Adding attic insulation to prevent heat from the house melting the snow on the roof. Proper ventilation is important too.
Your house is your biggest expenditure. All the little things that encompass maintenance will keep that expenditure from getting out of hand. Gutters protect your home from the ravages of nature, so keep them in good shape by calling us for help.
