Easy Steps to Clean Your Gutters

Out of sight, out of mind is a saying that easily seems to apply to the gutters around the house. But keeping gutters clean is an important part of caring for your home.

Generally, I try to clean the gutters twice a year. You may need to clean them more often if you live where falling leaves are particularly heavy. It's not a difficult job and usually takes less than an hour to complete, but it is important to plan your gutter cleaning and do it carefully. You don't want to damage your gutters or harm yourself.

If you are not steady on your feet or on a ladder it is a good idea to hire someone to clean your gutters. It shouldn't cost much and is an easy job for an agile young person to complete.

There are two ways to clean your gutters. The slant of your roof, availability of tools, and your sense of security in getting the job done should determine how you go about cleaning your gutters.

The Easy Way to Clean Your Gutters

What you need:
Ladder
Gloves
Leaf blower
Helper

The easiest way to clean your gutters is to find a steady footing for the ladder and climb to your roof with a leaf blower. You will have best results if you do this when the leaves are dry, not following a heavy rain.

Don't forget to have someone hold the ladder. If you need to, you can hoist the leaf blower up on a rope.

In just a few minutes you can walk around your rooftop and blow the leaves out of the gutters. Check the downspouts with a gloved hand as leaves can sometimes fall down into the spot clogging it.

If you are not sure of your footing on the roof do not try to clean your gutters this way.

Climb a Ladder to Clean Your Gutters

What you need:
Ladder
Gloves
Helper

Lean the ladder beneath your gutters and steady the footing on your ladder. Have your helper hold the ladder to ensure that it doesn't slip beneath your foot as you climb.

You should be high enough to see into your gutters. Reach in and pull out the leaves and other debris that may be clogging the gutter. Drop the debris onto the ground. It is too difficult and dangerous to carry a bag with you up and down the ladder. You can rake up the debris once you have gone around the perimeter of the roof cleaning the gutters and downspouts.

If you come upon a down spout that is clogged farther down than you can reach place a high pressure gauge on the nozzle of your water hose and blast water through the down spout.

Cleaning gutters is easy, as long as you can get up and down a ladder. Finding the motivation to do the job is usually the most difficult part of the job.

Source:
Personal knowledge and experience