bird sitting on gutter

7 Gutter Cleaning Tips that Will Save You Time & Effort

With temperatures dropping and wet weather on the way, now’s the perfect time to clean your gutters out and get them winter-ready.

Dirt and debris accumulate in your gutters over time and need cleaning out. Left unmaintained, you run the risk of overflowing and clogged gutters which can lead to some major water damage. And as the debris dries out over time, it can become a potential fire hazard when the warmer weather eventually arrives.

While gutter cleaning is an important chore for every homeowner, it is also one of the most dreaded. We’ve been in the gutter cleaning business for over 25 years and are sharing seven of our top gutter cleaning tips that will help you save time and reduce the effort if you want to tackle this job on your own.

1. Get the Right Equipment

Having the best tools for the job, ready to go, makes the gutter cleaning process significantly easier. Getting all your equipment out and in place will go a long way in minimising the time it takes to clean gutters.

There’s nothing worse than having to climb up and down a wonky ladder repeatedly because you keep forgetting your tools. Not to mention you’re increasing your risk of falling and hurting yourself!

For a successful gutter cleaning session, be sure to grab the right tools and equipment:

  • personal protective equipment (PPE) – eye protection, non-slip shoes, waterproof clothing, protective gloves, safety harness
  • pressure washer and attachments
  • hard bristle broom
  • leaf blower
  • hand trowel
  • green waste bags and bin
  • ladder
  • cleaning solution
  • garden hose

These tools and equipment will set you up for success with the gutter cleaning process.

2. Put Your Safety First

While cleaning gutters is an important part of your home’s maintenance, your safety is even more important.  If you’re going to tackle this job yourself, it’s critical to make your personal safety your top priority.

It’s vital that you take these important safety precautions:

  • ensure you are using a reliable and sturdy ladder
  • protect your hands with a pair of gloves and your eyes with protective eyewear
  • wear waterproof clothing when working with a pressure cleaner
  • if on the roof, always wear a safety harness
  • prevent falls by wearing non-slip shoes
  • stay clear of electric cables near or above where you are working

If you’re not confident in your ability to clean your gutters, it might be wise to enlist help from a professional gutter cleaning company like Metropolitan Plumbing.

3. Clean Your Roof

Clearing moss from roof is an important step in one of our essential gutter cleaning tips.

Chances are, your roof is still dirty and covered in leaves, moss, and other debris. There’s not much point in cleaning your gutters when all this debris can fall down into your gutters again, undoing all your hard work.

Before you start on your gutters, get up on top of your roof (with a harness!) and clean away whatever leaves and debris are up there. Use a leaf blower to blow it off your roof and onto the ground or grab a broom and sweep it away. Moss can build up on your roof too. You can remove this easily by simply grabbing a hard bristle broom or brush and loosening it up.

It’s wise to have some green waste bags or a bin handy here to collect whatever debris you find on your roof.

4. Clear Gutter Debris by Hand

Now that you’ve cleared your roof of debris, you can get a start on cleaning your gutters. You’ll find dirt, leaves, moss, branches from trees and even some plants in your gutters.

First, you’ll want to start clearing your gutters by hand to remove the bulk of the gunk. Grab yourself a trowel and scoop out the gutter debris into a green waste bag, bucket or bin.

If you skip this step and try to wash away the debris immediately, this could lead to it getting stuck and causing blocked downpipes! This can lead to even more problems.

5. Pull Out the Big Guns

With the majority of the debris cleared away, you can pull out the pressure cleaner. Combined with the right attachments and a multi-purpose cleaning solution, this will really take your gutters to task.

Spraying a multi-purpose cleaning solution on the bottom of the gutter will help to break up and dislodge any build-up. With the right attachment, your pressure washer will be able to slice through this grime and leave your gutters spotless in no time.

When selecting an appropriate nozzle, there are a few things you need to consider. The material and condition of your gutters will affect the strength of the pressure spray you can use. Too powerful and you might accidentally blast your gutter to pieces!

A nozzle with a fan spray pattern is best suited for cleaning gutters. The right nozzle diameter will mean you can clean the entire gutter surface in one shot!

While you’re cleaning out your gutters, now is the perfect time to inspect if they’ve rusted out or aren’t properly secured to your roof.

6. Clear Out Your Downpipes and Drains

When it comes to directing water away from your home, there are more than just gutters that come into play. No matter how spotless your gutters are, if your downpipes or drains are clogged, they will still overflow.

You can manually clear out some debris that might be blocking your downpipe or drain. However, if the blockage is severe, you’ll need the help of an experienced plumber.

7. Protect Your Gutters with Gutter Guards

gutter with gutter guard and dead leaves

If you find that you need to clean gutters too frequently, you should consider installing gutter guards. These are fitted to your gutter and prevent leaves and large debris from accumulating in your gutters.

While gutter guards won’t completely stop you from needing to clean out your gutters, they will certainly reduce the frequency you need to clean them or at least make cleaning easier.

Clean Gutters Just A Phone Call Away

Cleaning gutters is a lot of hard work, even with all the tools and equipment ready to go. We have gutter cleaners available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week who can take care of gutter maintenance for you.

Give us a call or book an appointment and we can have an expert gutter cleaner with you today!


Published: 2021-06-01

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