How to Clean Gutters

• Make Safety a priority

When doing any home maintenance task, safety should always be the number one priority. No matter how clean you manage to get your gutters, it will never be worth an emergency trip to the hospital. Here are our top safety tips for gutter cleaning:

Don’t do it alone, if you have marked off a day in your calendar to clean out your guttering, make sure that you have another responsible adult there to assist you, be it for holding ladders, passing you equipment or generally just on standby as help in case of accidents.

Wear all the safety gear. This includes gloves, goggles and sturdy and sensible footwear. Safety hats can also be worn as an extra precaution when necessary, to protect from falling debris and dirt when using an extended hose. Some less obvious safety equipment includes a ladder bucket hook or s hook, and buckets to store tools and collect dirt and debris. This is important as it means all equipment can be easily and safely reached and no potentially dangerous tools (trowels etc.) will be stored on clothing and become hazardous in the event of a fall or slip.

• Know when to call in the pros

For whatever reason, if cleaning your guttering sounds intimidating, then call in a professional to do the job for you, yes it may be more costly, but if you are not confident with the idea of DIY then contacting an experienced, licensed and insured professional is by far the more sensible decision.

The right tools for the job

As well as safety equipment you will also need other tools in order to do the job properly. There are so many great gutter cleaning tools out there, from hose extensions to robotic remote devices! Below are our recommendations for basic gutter cleaning.

• Tarp
Spread a tarp underneath the section you will be working on, this will catch any falling debris and dirt and allow for easy clean up. Make sure the tarp is non slip and secured properly.

• Ladders
Ladders always need to be placed on level terrain, and the top two steps should not be used when cleaning your gutters. If you are working on a two story building, you will need an extendable ladder. As we mention above, safety precautions should always be taken when working at height and of course the greater the height the greater the risk for more serious accidents. ladder stabilisers and stand offs can provide a more sturdy work zone, anti slip mats and ladder levellers are also great pieces of safety equipment to invest in.

• Gloves & Goggles
No one wants to scoop up years worth of trapped gutter grime with their bare hands, but this isn’t the only reason gloves are necessary when cleaning your gutters, you may also come into contact with sharp nails and screws and the dirt itself may also contain sharp materials. The dirt trapped inside gutters can be thick and stubborn, so naturally it can splatter during the removal process, goggles prevent the flying debris from entering our eyes, and so are important for the gutter cleaning process.

• Trowel or scoop
You will need either a trowel such as a plastic or metal gardening trowel or a scoop that has been specifically designed for gutter cleaning.

• Plumber’s snake
This is an essential tool for cleaning downspouts, it may be necessary to unscrew the downspout if it continues underground when performing this task.

• Screwdriver
Removing and reattaching the downspout will require a screwdriver.