MOLINE, Ill. — "Winter is coming," Daryn Smith, owner of Power Washing Services QC, said.
Smith has cleaned his fair share of gutters. His company has enjoyed a few more months of business thanks to the warmer weather, but he knows it won't last forever.
"People need to get maintenance done on their homes," he said. "It's going to get really cold pretty soon. We're going to get snow and things whenever."
He said you can prepare for the winter weather by picking up gutter guards to prevent leaves from clogging your gutters up. The guards will keep the water moving so it won't be trapped, and eventually, frozen. He also recommends adding a downspout extension to your gutter to help push the water further away from your home. Smith suggests looking into a stand-off attachment for your ladders as well, which should stop you from leaning directly into your gutter.
"If your gutters are clogged now, the gutters will be clogged with water. Then when it freezes, it becomes a block of ice and that's not going anywhere," Smith explained.
Jeff Haefner is never far from a ladder, with 25 years under his belt as a fleet washer. He started his own company, Premier Power Wash, in 2020 and they've put up Christmas lights for the last three years.
For those brave enough to go on top of their roof, Haefner says jump on it soon.
"The ground is not getting any softer as it gets colder out," Haefner reminds us. "Start soon, start early...This morning, I went outside and there was frost on our roof. You don't want to get on the roof when there's frost, you don't want to get up there when it's wet. If you can do the work from the ladder, do that."