You need a gutter guard for your Ballarat home
The evidence is well and truly in that rural Victorians can no longer afford any degree of complacency when it comes to the bushfire threat. Since 2015 there has been a major fire in the local region almost annually, with the most recent in March 2019 being the worst yet.
Even more alarming, there are indications that the situation will become much worse in the years ahead as climate change continues to race ahead faster than we can take action to mitigate it.
Nobody wants to lose their home, so what can you do to make sure that when the next fire sweeps through the area, your home has the best possible chance of being spared? The simple answer is that you want to keep any flammable material around your home to a minimum.
Most people don’t seem to have any problem with successfully managing this at ground level, but the roof is often neglected or just simply not thought of at all. Which is amazing, because the roof is actually the most likely place for a bushfire to claim your home as one of its victims.
Fire is a unique kind of natural disaster. It moves through a landscape, devouring everything in its path. Unlike most other catastrophic forces of nature, fire has an ability to jump, grow, and spread. Just about everything else – cyclones, floods, earthquakes, and even volcanic eruptions – has a clear beginning and end. Fire just gets stronger the longer it goes until it either has consumed everything it can, or it is put out.
The three main ways fire spreads are:
- Following a direct path of combustible material. This is very rapid, but self-limiting due to natural barriers of terrain.
- Radiant heat that causes materials to spontaneously combust. This is one way fire can bridge a gap where its direct path has been blocked.
- Drifting sparks and embers carried by the wind. These allow the fire to spread over much greater distances.
It is this last pathway that is responsible for many house fires that otherwise would not have a chance of starting. The majority of houses have roads and short green lawns around them, which don’t burn. The direct fuel route is not usually an option. Radiant heat can sometimes cause wooden fences and stored flammable liquids to ignite, but even these problems don’t usually reach as far as the house itself. But embers aren’t limited by geographic boundaries.
If the home owner has not cleaned out the guttering for a while, there could well be a large accumulation of dried leaves and twigs that have found their way there. A stray ember landing on this highly combustible pile can start a blaze.
From there, the entire roof can be on fire in a matter of seconds. Once the support for the roof has burned away, the roof will collapse in on the rest of the house. At this point there is little hope of the house (or anyone inside it) being saved.
This entire tragic scenario can be easily prevented with an inexpensive gutter guard installation for your Ballarat home. In addition to reducing the risk of fire damage, your gutter guard also will help you avoid the chore of having to manually clean your guttering by acting as a leaf guard to help you have clean gutter and peace of mind.
Choose Aussie Gutter Protection as your gutter guard installer in Ballarat
A gutter guard should not be an expensive addition to your home, but even so, you do need to make sure you get a good product that is installed properly. The best way you can be sure of that is to choose Aussie Gutter Protection as your installer.
Our expert team has plenty of experience installing gutter guards, and the product we use is the best in its class. Strong, durable mesh that is UV stabilized for long life and outstanding performance.
