HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Whenever you declutter your home, it’s important to consider the exterior, like cleaning out your gutters. With the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season here, it’s a pivotal time of year to take care of the task.

Annually, debris piles up in your gutter system. This prevents water flow from passing through, resulting in costly problems.

“During this time of year, when you have torrential downpours and nor’easters and hurricane-type rains, if you don’t keep them clean, then the water will back up and it goes into your your roof line,” said Lines Seamless Gutters president Lawrence Lines.

While Lines advises using a professional, he said if you plan to clean it yourself, you expect a full day of labor and heavy use of a ladder, and he advises to make sure to pay attention to the downspouts.

“It’s really important,” he said. “People don’t see that part of it because it’s internal. Well, it’s important not only to keep the trough of the gutter clean, but also the downspouts as well.”

According to Lines, the best systems are made of stainless steel.

“So you really got to do some homework and research,” Lines said. “But the main thing they can do to prevent maintenance or prevent having to clean them out is to install a good quality leak protection system. So we like to use what we call extreme gutter guard. It’s a micro mesh and I really am an advocate for the micro mesh.”

Key indicators to clean the gutters include leaves falling and water overflowing.

“That water seeps into the ground,” he said. “And after a period of time your house will just start to settle more on one side than the other. And then you’ll see cracks in your walls and foundation in your windows. So it really is important to have them and to keep them operating properly to protect your largest investment from destruction.”

Hurricane season ends in November.