Gutter Cleaning - Why, How, When, Tools and More

Everyone knows gutter cleaning is important. Cleaning gutters is a job that must get done every year for most homes. It can be difficult and tedious, because unfortunately not every one knows how easy or how much fun it can be when you know how to clean gutters. Yes it is fun. Being on a ladder or on a roof gives you an adrenaline rush and when you finish a tough gutter cleaning job you feel as if you have climbed Mt. Everest and back again. Be Safe, and learn proper gutter cleaning methods and you can have fun!

Why is Gutter Cleaning Important?

Cleaning the gutters on your house is a great way to protect your investment. When they are properly working, gutters collect the water from your roof and channel it away from your home. Cleaning your gutters on a regular basis prevents them from getting clogged and over flowing. Clogged gutters can spill over into areas around your house and cause flooding and water damage. Gutters that are not cleaned regularly can rust through and then have to be replaced. This can be very expensive.

Cleaning Gutter and Fixing Clogged Downspouts

Clogged gutters are annoying and occasionally they are hard to deal with. The best way to unclog gutter downspouts that are over flowing is to start by uncapping the clog at the top of the down spout with your hand. 50% of the time this will get them flowing again. Be careful it doesn't clog back up with the loose debris. If that doesn't work, try unclogging the downspout with a toilet snake or a long garden house (be careful on ladders.) and snake your through the clog. If that doesn't work, or if the clog is further down, you will have better luck un-attaching the downspout, cleaning it out, and then re-attaching it. Where a rain suit if you have one or else do this from the side or you will get very soaked. :)
Another reason why people have their gutter cleaned is because they can see the weeds growing over the top. In the late Spring it is not uncommon to see 3 to 4 ft weed growing out of the gutters on some houses. When your neighbor start commenting on how beautiful your (roof) garden is, this is a good indicator that you need to have you gutters cleaned

Gutter Cleaning Tools

There are really several tools you need to clean gutters. Let's look at each of these gutter cleaning tools listed in order of importance and explain why each type of tools is needed.
The first tool you need is a good ladder. If you have a smaller build, I would suggest an aluminum ladder. If you have a bigger build, you may need a fiberglass ladder. Aluminum ladders typically hold 200 to 250 pounds. Fiberglas ladders hold 250 to over 300 pounds. Fiber glass is a little heavier than aluminum. In most cases a 24 to 28 ft ladder will work fine for 2 to 2 1/2 stories. It is also a good idea to have a ten foot a frame for getting on the roof on the first level.

Other useful gutter cleaning equipment you might need include gloves, a square bucket with a handle, a gutter cleaning rake, and safety line and a safety harness for extremely high or steep roofs. A gutter rake is my favorite gutter cleaning toll. You can buy these for less then $25 dollars. b They can greatly speed up the time it takes you to get a job finished, allow you to reach around windows, and stay further away from the edge. They makes the job faster and less dangerous. You want to use a flat bucket, because it balance better then a round one.
Your line and harness should be high quality. If you don't know how to install it properly ask a contractor or work with someone that does. You may also need some spiked roofing shoes for ceder roofs. One brand that I like is called Korker roofing shoes. When buying safety equipment

I usually upgrade to the most expensive equipment out there as soon as I can.
Other gutter cleaning tools you might need:
A down spout unclogging tool. (Usually a elongated coat hanger works great.)
A hose,- for flushing the down spouts when you are finished clearing them
A hammer and nails for fixing gutters as needed
A flat and a Phillips screw driver.
A sealer for patching gutters or filling nail holes in the roof.
In some cases, a wet dry vac can also be used to clean out the gutter.
These is every gutter cleaning tool I use to clean gutters on a regular basis. If you have anything else you would recommend, or think would be useful, please feel free to leave a comment. Thanks, Spencer

My Experience Gutter Cleaning

For the last two years I have been cleaning gutters in some of the richest suburbs surrounding Portland, Oregon. Nearly every house is situated on a steep hill surrounded by trees and a lot of these houses are in excess of 3 stories. After two years of gutter cleaning, most extreme sports don't seem very extreme any more. Portland is likely to be the hardest place on earth to clean gutters and we were extremely busy with our start up business Fall, Winter and Spring. This is the land of perpetual rain. And in the winter, you will often have the intensity of a tropical rainstorm, down around 35-40 degrees. We have a ton of deciduous trees and pine needles. I have learned that Pine needles fall year round and the Spring time blossoms can clog almost as many gutters as the leaves in the Fall. I this job. It is very fun and exciting. Every job is a new challenge and it is always fun finding new and inventive ways of gutter cleaning, that both save me time and increase my profitability. I will try and give you the best advice I can, but you also need to be extremely careful because gutter cleaning has many variables including wind, slippery roofs and frost bite. Always dress warmly and wear the proper safety equipment. Even though it is fun to work fast, you should never rush.

How to Clean Gutters in the Winter?

If you are cleaning your gutters in the winter, then I definitely feel sorry for you. For two years, I cleaned gutters for a living, and I would be busy from about the middle of September until the middle of April. Clean gutters in the winter was one of the hardest parts of my job. When there is snow on the roof, you typically do not want to clean gutters, and you definitely do not want to go on the roof. It is possible however to clean them. To do this, you will want to use a hammer and break up the chunks of guys that are in the gutter. With the hammer you need to be very careful that you do not accidentally hit the gutter. You can dance or permanently damaged the gutter very easily when you are swinging a hammer into it. I suggest that you hack away at the ice with a 45 to 50° angle. This way most of the impact, is going sideways instead of straight down, and you are less likely to damage your gutters.

After you break the chunks out pull them out of the gutter and let them fall to the ground or else put them in a bucket and bring them down your ladder. Do not attempt to get on the roof to clean out your gutters. It is much too dangerous once there is snow and ice on them. You will have to do it from a ladder. If the ice is not very thick, you may be able to remove it in about twice the time it would take you to think out and ordinary gutter. If the ice is thick, you may want to wait until the sun has a chance to melt the gutters or at least melt the edges so that you can just pull out the chunks of ice floating in the water. In order to unclog a downspout that is full of lies, you'll want to remove the downspout from the house, and then you want to run hot water through it until you are able to remove all of the ice that is clogging it. This can take you three or four times longer to do then when you are cleaning them under good circumstances. Gutter cleaning is a lot better to do in the fall or in the spring. Cleaning gutters in the winter when there is snow on the roof and when the gutters are full of ice can take you five or six hours just to clean the gutters on an ordinary house. The average time it takes to clean out gutters is two hours or less.

EASY TIPS TO CLEAN YOUR GUTTERS

Are you anxious and filled with dread at the prospect of your next gutter cleaning task? Cheer up! This article will give you some simple tips to make gutter cleaning faster and easier.

Tip Number One:

Planning ahead is the secret to a successful gutter cleaning. You just can’t pick up any day to clean your gutters. You must choose an appropriate time for this task. First of all, you need to be in top physical shape to be up for the task at hand. If you are not feeling well, do not force yourself to do this job! Next, make sure that the weather is nice, and not too hot. You cannot work under too much heat. A rainy weather can also be very dangerous since it could lead to falls. Once you’ve picked out a day, make sure you don’t have any other commitments occurring on that day, so you will be free from any interruption.

Tip Number Two:

Prepare the tools you are going to need, such as hand gloves, face mask, trash bag, a gutter scoop or any improvised scooping tool, a garden hose that connects to a water source, a gutter brush or any hard- bristled brush, a scraping tool and a prying tool. If possible, use long-handled tools that will extend your reach over your gutters. Most importantly, prepare the ladder you are going to use. Make sure your ladder is sturdy and working properly. Finally, get a friend to help you out. Some people prefer to do it alone, but it is always best to have somebody to assist you in case you need something, and also in cases of accidents.

Tip Number Three:

Cleaning starts by manually removing the debris that accumulated inside your gutters. If you have a gutter blower, then you can use this to blow away the trash instead of scooping them one by one. (You can also use a gutter rake or a gutter scoop.) Try to reach as far as you can (without endangering yourself in the ladder). You will need to get down, move the ladder, then go up again to clean the next section of the gutters. Since you need both hands to remove the trash faster, tie your trash bag to your ladder, instead of holding onto it with one hand. Dump all your trash into the bag.

Tip Number Four:

Wash of your gutters with water. You can ask your friend to turn on the water source. Washing will
soften up the dirt and grime, making it easier for you to brush and scrub them later on. As mentioned earlier, it is best to use a long-handled brush to give you the extended reach you need to cover a larger section of your gutters. After brushing and scrubbing, flush the gutters again with water. If there are materials that block your drainpipes, you can use a prying tool to remove it.

Tip number Five:

As you make your way cleaning through the entire gutters, make sure to keep an eye for any damages, so you can fix them promptly, instead of going down the ladder, and moving it and then going up again.

This will exhaust you and consume more time than necessary. For every section you clean, always check for any breaks so you can fix it while already in that position.

Always remember, that for every undertaking you perform, a quick eye, good presence of mind, and readiness will ensure your success.

Using a Gutter Rake to Clean Gutters.

What Is a Gutter Rake?

A gutter rake tool specifically designed to make cleaning leaves, pine needles, twigs and other debris out of gutters easier and faster than other methods. Invented by a home maintenance contractor, it fits the most common sizes of gutters and will easy go under or over any support braces that are inside the gutters.

The head on gutter rakes are unique and make all the difference to using a pole or other similarly shaped tool. The straight end is used to pull the debris toward you while the curved part pushes it under the braces or struts. Because the head is tilted and angled back, it is able to easily get at what is in the gutters and “scoop” it along as you move the gutter rake.



The rake head is attached to a pole, around 5 feet long, so you can reach quite a bit of gutter on either side of you without moving your ladder. Usually they have a threaded end so you can attach them to a longer extension pole increasing the length of the tool for areas that are hard to reach or to quickly clean very long gutter sections.

When not attached to an extension pole, gutter rakes generally only weigh about a pound, which makes them lightweight and pretty easy to maneuver and control. They are not hard to manage as you stand on a ladder to clean out the gutters.

How to Use a Gutter Cleaning Rake
A gutter rake is simple to use. First you need to place your ladder on level ground so it is stable. Either position an A-frame ladder close to the gutters or use an extension ladder you can lean directly against the house, which will probably be more secure.

Then start pulling the debris through the gutter toward you so you can easily remove it. You can either attach a bucket or garbage bag to your ladder to collect the debris as you pull it out or you can throw it on the ground and clean it up later. Once you have cleaned out all of the gutters you can reach from where you are, you will need to move the ladder to the middle of another section of gutter to clean that area out again. As you work, you will be able to quickly figure out the best
places to put your ladder to most efficiently clean the gutters.

When to Use a Gutter Rake
Most gutters need to be cleaned out at least twice a year, usually in the spring and fall. However, if you live under a lot of trees that drop pine needles and leaves, you may need to clean them more frequently, maybe 3-4 times annually.

A gutter rake works best when the gutters are not completely crammed with debris, about half full or less. The debris can be either wet or dry, but the rake will be best for leaves and other lightweight materials.


Gutter rakes are great tools

A gutter rake can save you a lot of time when it comes to clean your gutters. You will have to go up and down your latter is much either. With a gutter rake and an extension pole put together, you can reach 15 feet on either side of the latter. This makes gutter cleaning a snap. To use a gutter rake simply put your latter up next to a downspout. Make sure that the area in front of the downspout is cleared out first. Then user gutter rake to clean out up to 15 feet on either side of the downspout. Pull everything towards you and loaded into a 5 gallon bucket. When you have finished cleaning out the area or when your bucket is completely full, take it down and throw it in the yard waste container. Using a gutter rake has helped me to cut down on the time it takes me to clean my gutters by as much as 50%.



Looking for a Portland Gutter Cleaning Service?

The Truth about Gutter Cleaning

Well the truth is that some jobs that are more disgusting then cleaning gutters, like being a podiatrist, a dentist, or a trash collect, but a professional gutter cleaner job combines both the disgusting and the dangerous to give you a job that can be both dirty and exhilarating at the same time. And if you like living on the edge, you can't get much closer. This is a job that is always in demand, especially in areas with lots of trees. Although demand varies by season and location, peak demand is usually in the Fall and Spring, and anytime it is raining.

What I love best about it is that I can easily sell upgrade client to other related thing like roof cleaning, trimming trees, moss application and removal, gutter guard installation, gutter filter installation, window cleaning and more. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or much of a salesman to turn a $100 job into a $300 job. An the truth about it is you are doing something for them they need to get done and you are saving them the hassle of finding someone else to do it. Plus the longer you clean gutters, the faster you get. As you get faster, you can see your hourly rate or margin increase from $20 an hour to $75 an hour.

You do need to be careful though. It is very important to have the right safety equipment and a good idea of what you are doing. As a general rule, ladders are safer then roof tops, (but roof tops are faster.) Two story or steeper and slippery roofs should always have a safety line when you have to be on the roof.

There are really a lot of important things having to do with gutter cleaning that I could talk about. I love cleaning gutters. I am so happy I started this blog. Maybe I can give someone a safety tip that will save their life. (By the way, never get on a wet roof when it is near freezing.) You will never know unless you stay tuned to this blog and subscribe to my feeds. Also, I have been having a difficult time find a place online that sells the right tools I needed to start my gutter cleaning business. I would like to include the tool you need on this site, just in case you are knew or looking to trade in those football cleats or buy a nice gutter cleaning rake.

Also just because I blog doesn't mean I know every thing please comment and allow me to learn from you as well. Thanks