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Category Archives: Gutter Installation

Once Upon A Gutter Cleaning

       Once upon a time there was a very industrious lady who enjoyed working on her home. She learned how to drywall, paint, and even replaced a tub surround. One day, she decided her gutters needed to be cleaned. Standing above her garage was a 75’ tall Hemlock tree that shed needles and cones relentlessly. Her poor gutters were overflowing with debris. How difficulty could it be?

Using a ladder, this lady climbed onto her garage roof with the aid of her adult son. Discovering how slippery a roof covered in needles can be, and ignoring her fear of heights, she made her way over to the side of the garage with the gutters. What she found there was a rain gutter packed from end to end with dirt, needles, and cones. Reaching in to grab some of the debris, she discovered how sharp dry hemlock needles can be. Taking a screw driver, she thought she would easily be able to dislodge the debris. It is amazing how rock hard a little dirt and debris can become. Needless to say, the screw driver didn’t do much good. After getting cut on thousands of little spikes, she surrendered the job to her son. Several hours later, the gutters were clean with a big mess to be cleaned up on the ground.

I hope you were able to guess that I was that lady. Gutter cleaning was the one thing that stopped me in my home improvement efforts. I wish I had known about America’s Best at that time. It would have made our lives a lot easier and a lot less painful.

So why rain gutters? Other than diverting the rain over the front door so that we can come in and out without being drenched, why would we submit ourselves to having something on our home that is so difficult to clean? I mean, a little water never hurt anyone, right? As I began to look into the reasons for gutters, I discovered that water can cause A LOT of damage to your property. I knew that water inside the home is a big no-no, but I had no idea that water falling off our roofs could cause damage to the home.

Although there are several different types of rain gutters, they all are used to divert rain water away from your structure. With the use of downspouts, gutters feed the water down to ground level and away from the building. Without this diversion, water can cause serious damage to a structure’s exterior walls, window frames, foundation and footing. Damage to the foundation and footing can weaken the structural integrity of your building. Water may also leak into the interior of the basement or crawl space causing further damage.

Ok, so now that we know gutters are important, we’re faced with the dilemma of cleaning them. If we don’t face this issue, we will end up with clogged gutters which can cause other problems such as stagnant mosquito-breeding water, ice dams during winter, and even dry rot in the wood roof deck, fascia boards, and supporting rafters. If the damage goes so far as to allow water into the interior of the home, you could be facing anything from damaged drywall and flooring to mold abatement. Weeds and saplings are commonly found growing in clogged gutters. The sooner we get those out, the better.

Experts suggest that you have your gutters cleaned twice a year as a norm. This can be adjusted depending on your climate. If you live in the high or low deserts, having them cleaned once a year may be enough. Those who live near trees, or in places subject to sand storms, should have their gutters cleaned several times a year to prevent blockage. America’s Best offers high quality gutter guards that help prevent large debris from getting in your gutters. Even with these in place, you will still need to have your gutters maintained periodically.

The good news: America’s Best has been cleaning gutters for over 30 years and is available in many states. When our crew arrives, they will scoop out the debris and flush the gutters and downspouts to ensure water is free flowing. We also carry a $2,000,000 worker’s comp and liability insurance policy in the event there are any accidents.

So, there is a happy ending to my tale. Now that I know America’s Best cleans gutters, I can schedule a crew to come out and battle the hemlock needles while my son and I relax inside the house with sweet tea. It is truly a “sweet” solution. Give America’s Best a call today for more information regarding gutter services they offer or to schedule an appointment.

(866) 946-2532

Click here for more information on gutter cleaning, gutter installation, and gutter guard services offered by America’s Best, Inc.

History of Spring Cleaning


It’s spring time and after all the rains and cold weather, nature is calling to all of us to come outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. I imagine that every year, for thousands of years, it has been the same. Spring comes and all we want to do is take time off to go outside and enjoy. If this is the case, then why has mankind, rather than answering this call to make the great escape, chosen to engage in furiously cleaning everything they own from top to bottom every time spring rolls around? What is “spring cleaning” and who came up with it?

I have to admit that this year, as much as I want to get outside and enjoy the birds singing and the sunshine, I also have an urge to empty everything out of my closets and paint my master bath! I began to do some research as to where this “spring cleaning” comes from and found that there does seem to be some logic to it. After all, who wants to paint their house when it is snowing? Spring seems to be the perfect time to get all of that work done. The weather is neither freezing nor roasting. In the sunny Southern California mountains where I live, the weather ranges from over 110 degrees Fahrenheit to 12 degrees. Spring and fall seem to be the only times of the year where it is comfortable to do any sort of house work without the aid of air conditioning and heating.

So why spring and not fall? Some have suggested that the reason we clean in the spring is biological. Because of the reduced sunlight we are exposed to during winter, we have more melatonin that is produced by our pineal glands resulting in sleepiness. When spring rolls around, the extra sunlight causes a reduced melatonin level allowing us to “wake up” and desire to do the things we’ve been putting off all winter. That certainly rings true for me. This spring I suddenly have an urge to get out and run in the field across the street from my house, break out the jet ski, and sand blast the peeling texture coating from my house.

The wisdom of cleaning in the spring rather than the fall is partially because you have just come out of the cold of winter. Historically, during the cold months, the yuck and muck would have been building up in mattresses, rugs, drapes, blankets…you name it. Imagine yourself, in the dead of winter, washing these items without the convenience of electric dryers and vacuum cleaners? Mattresses once upon a time were made with straw tick or other natural materials. In order to clean these, they would typically wait for spring to replace the old fillings with fresh dry hay, etc. Rugs would be taken out in the sunshine and beaten to loosen the debris and expose them to fresh air. Laundry would be washed and hung out to dry. I imagine it was much more comfortable to clean any number of things in the temperate weather of spring. In 2012, it’s difficult to comprehend cleaning without Windex, Pledge, Easy Off, vacuum cleaners, or electric washers and dryers. I have a great respect for our ancestors who did this work day in and day out, year after year, without the aid of modern conveniences. I certainly respect their wisdom to save the bulk of it for the right time of the year.

There appear to be some religious and cultural ties to spring cleaning. From ancient times in Israel, just prior to Passover (Pesach), the people would rid their homes of any leavened food products as a remembrance of their hasty flight from captivity in Egypt. Observant Jews continue today to thoroughly “spring clean” their homes followed by a removal of even small crumbs of leavened food on the evening before Passover begins. The ancient Catholic tradition of thoroughly cleaning your home the first three days after Palm Sunday seems to have been converted from the Jewish tradition. In Greece and other Orthodox nations, many observe Clean Week, a week of spring cleaning occurring before the first week of Great Lent. In China and Iran, spring cleaning was observed in connection with their new year. The Iranian practice, literally translated, means “shaking the house.” I do not know whether or not our “spring cleaning” comes directly from these cultural and religious practices, but it is fascinating that so many different places and peoples value cleaning at this time of year enough that it has become part of their tradition, both modern and ancient.

So here we are, during the week between Palm Sunday and Easter according to the Gregorian calendar. What better time to break out the cleaning tools, dump out those closets, fill up those bags for the Salvation Army, paint that master bath, and sandblast that house! While you are at it, why not give us a call at America’s Best and have us come out to make those windows sparkle and freshen that house or pool deck with a pressure wash in preparation for all the fun you are going to have during the hot months ahead. Let us come repair or replace your missing screens so you can fling wide those windows and doors and enjoy this beautiful world God has made for us.

- Happy Easter and have a blessed Passover from America’s Best, Inc.

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