Gutter Cleaning

Fall is gutter cleaning season. With all of the trees losing their foliage much of it ends up in your gutters and downspouts. While cleaning your gutter system is fairly easy it does require being on a ladder and getting dirty. If you don't feel comfortable working on a ladder you should probably pay someone to do it for you.

Many people will put off cleaning their gutters indefinitely. This is less than advisable as the accumulation of debris impedes proper drainage of your system and may cause issues with leaking or water damage to your home. In addition, overloaded gutters may break free from your home during the winter due to ice and snow build-up.

What You Will Need

If you are ready and willing to tackle gutter cleaning there are only a few tools that you will need. An extension ladder, narrow garden trowel, trash bags and a garden hose. If your downspouts are severely clogged you may also need a plumbers snake to break up the obstruction.

Getting Started

The best place to start cleaning is to work out from an end that has a downspout attached. Doing it this way will help you to keep unnecessary amounts of extra debris from making its way into your downspouts. Place your ladder against the house and not the gutter as they aren't meant to be a load bearing structure.

Begin by using your garden trowel to scoop out the large piles of debris before turning the hose on them. Depending on how dirty your gutters are you may encounter caked on dirt that is more challenging to remove. If so, do not use your trowel to dig it out as you can easily damage the gutter. Instead use your hose to loosen it up a bit and then try and scoop it out with your trowel again.

Finishing Up

Once you have the gutters clear you can then begin working on cleaning the downspouts. Most of the time you can simply use your garden hose to flush them out. For more difficult clogs you may have to resort to a plumbers snake. Care must be taken when unclogging a downspout as they are rather flimsy and easily bent.

Once done your gutter system should freely move water to the downspouts and then away from your home. If everything is flowing smoothly the job is done.

Resources