The first thing you might consider doing to rinsing the gutters off with a garden hose. You probably dripped and made a little bit of a mess when you were scooping so you should use the hose to wash the inside and outside of the gutter system as well as the siding. Once you have washed away any loose drips or pieces, you need to inspect your gutter to see if any scrubbing in necessary.

A gutter brush is a round brush similar to ones you might have used in high school chemistry to wash out test tubes, except bigger. The round brush will scrub the bottom and both sides of the gutter at the same time. When mold or mildew builds up it can be hard to get off without a little elbow grease. If you can still not remove the stains then you might consider some kind of heavy duty household cleaner. But be careful to test the cleaner on a small area of the gutter first to make sure that it does not discolor or damage your gutters. Once the inside of the gutter system is clean, you will rinse with the hose again.

Your next step is to turn to the outside of your gutters. Many people are so concerned with getting out the clogs that they overlook the fact that the outside of the gutters is dirty and stained as well. You can clean the outside of the gutters with a sponge or cloth. If something more intense is needed then a scrub brush can be used as well. Remember to follow the same rules about cleaning solutions and pay even closer attention because everybody can see the outside of your gutters. You will be amazed at how much better your home looks from the curb with clean gutters.

First, you can make a pretty serviceable tool from an empty milk or juice container. You can reference my previous post for information on how to do this. You can also use any kind of powder scoop. You just want to make sure that the scoop has the right width. Gutter scoops are made in sizes that correspond to common gutter sizes so that the scoop is exactly the right size to fit into the gutter and scoop out all of the debris without having to do multiple passes. If you substitute other kinds of scoop then you will have to measure your gutters and the scoop to make sure it will fit and that you can collect a majority of the debris with one scooping action in each section.

Garden trowels are another alternative. The only problem with this kind of tool is that they usually do not have high sides like a gutter scoop and most of the things you dislodge with your scooping action will fall off the trowel before you can get it to the trash bag or collecting container you are using. This will slow you down considerably because you will have to pick up the same material over and over again. Secondly, you run the risk of dropping things off the trowel after you have left the gutter and dripping wet leaves and dirt down the side of you house.

If none of the tools you find in your home or shed seem to be quite right, then you can always use your hands. If you decide to clean out your gutters by hand then there are a few safety considerations. You do not want to touch the gutter debris with your bare hands so you must wear gloves. Any nitrile or latex glove will do. You just want to make sure that you will not come in direct contact with the possible bacteria or mold that might be growing in your gutters. Make sure the gloves extend past your wrist and when you put them on, try to pull them over your long sleeved shirt so that no skin is exposed.

First, rotting leaves and other tree debris can be breeding grounds for bacteria of several different varieties as well as mold. Touching possible mold contamination with your bare hands is not a good idea because a majority of the population suffers from some kind of mold allergy. The effects can range from a slight irritation of the throat to death. Even if you wear gloves you risk inadvertent exposure. By distancing yourself form the debris with a long handled gutter scoop, you minimize your chances of mold exposure.

Second, gutter cleaning can be a little bit messy. When you pick up piles of wet debris with your hands, material seeps out between your fingers and from others areas of your fist. As you move that hand from the gutter to the garbage bag you brought up the ladder, you could be dripping dirty water and debris onto your siding. A scoop with high sides will make sure that material does not fall out in the short amount of time it takes to go from the gutter to the trash bag.

Finally, using a gutter tool like the scoop will make the gutter cleaning go much faster. A piece of equipment can pick up significantly more material with every scoop than your hands can. In addition, the long handle allows you to clean a larger section of gutter system before having to climb down and move the ladder. That step is clearly the most time consuming. All in all gutter scoops are a good way to protect yourself, the cleanliness of your siding, and the amount of time you need to spend cleaning your gutters.

If you want to make your own gutter scoop then you probably have or will have all the things you need in your house right now. The first thing you will need is an empty plastic bottle such as a milk jug. You will also need a pair of scissors and a pen. If you wait a few days an empty container is bound to show up and I think that pretty much everyone has a pen and a pair of scissors in their home.

It is important to remember to keep the lid of the container. If you throw away the lid then there will be a hole at the end of the scoop where you intend the debris to settle. That would make the tool unusable. Your next step is to orient the bottle so that you can hold it by the handle and it is on its side. You want to handle on the upper most side. This means that the bottle will be oriented so that the bottom of the bottle is facing you in a diamond shape. Once you have the right orientation you need to start making your cut lines.

Start at the bottom corner and draw a V up to the two middle corners. You will now have a V on the former bottom of the milk jug. Remember that the top corner is the same side of the container as the handle. Next, put a dot somewhere between the bottom of the handle and that last unmarked corner. Finally connect the dot to the two middle corners. The lines will go down the former sides of the milk jug. If you cut along these lines, you will get a perfectly serviceable gutter scoop. So you can make a gutter scoop for at virtually no cost to you.

Gutter scoops are just as they sound. They are tools for scooping out the debris. They usually have high sides so that their capacity is as great as possible. The more debris you get with every scooping action, the faster the chore will go. For the same reason they are usually quite long. The picture to the right shows a good example of a gutter scoop.

Another attribute is that they often have long handles. The reason for the long handle is that cleaning your gutter takes place on a ladder. Therefore, you can only reach so far before you have to climb down and move the ladder. The longer the handle, the larger the section of gutter you can clean before getting down. This will also help shorten the time you will spend on this necessary household task. Moving the ladder is often the most time consuming step.

These tools can be purchased at a large home improvement warehouse like Home Depot or Lowes, or maybe even your local hardware store. However, you do not have to buy something called a gutter scoop specifically. Any large scoop will do. A garden trowel, a large spoon, or even an empty milk jug with one side cut out can serve as serviceable gutter scoops. The only rules are that the tool be able to scoop out debris and be easy to handle.

You can purchase scoops and brushes with long handles or even extensions so that you can reach up to four or five feet away without having to lean at all. The set to the left has three extension pieces that can let you reach up to eight feet. That means that you can keep your body close to the ladder and your center of gravity directly beneath your core. That is the key to maintaining your balance. If you feel balanced and stable, you will be less frightened of the height.

An added benefit is that you do not have to move the ladder as often. The most time consuming step of gutter cleaning is the time it takes you to climb down the ladder, move it a few feet down the side of the house and climb back up. If you can only clean one or two feet on either side of the ladder at a time then you will have to move the ladder two or three times more than you would if you could reach four or five feet. The long handles gutter cleaning tools save you time.

When you buy your first home, there is much excitement and joyous celebration at first. Then, as time goes on you realize that there are many chores and responsibilities that come with home ownership. One of those responsibilities is gutter cleaning. Your gutters are the collection system, on the edge of your roof. They are designed to divert water that is running off your roof to downspouts. Without gutters, the water would run off your roof in curtains. Unfortunately, your gutters also collect debris like leaves, twigs, and dirt. If too much of that debris collects in your gutters, there is nowhere for the water to go and gutter cleaning becomes necessary. Gutter cleaning is not a pleasant chore, but it is something that every homeowner has to do for many reasons. This site, will give you gutter cleaning tips and suggestions about gutter cleaning tools. This information could mean the difference between a beautiful home and a disaster.

Why Is Gutter Cleaning So Important?

Although gutter cleaning is a chore, if you do not complete it you could end up with far worse problems. Gutters are the first line of defense against erosion of soil around your home foundation. A gutter system is supposed to carry water running off your roof to down spouts so it does not saturate the soil next to your house. If this soil is saturated, then you run the risk of getting the foundation wet. A foundation exposed to water can lead to a multitude of problems.

When water comes across a barrier, it will look for the path of least resistance to continue. If that barrier is your foundation, water can find its way into small cracks in the foundation. No concrete foundation is going to be perfect and crack free. As water travels into the cracks, it will find another barrier because the cracks do not go all the way through the foundation. Therefore, the water will turn around and flow out of the crack, but it will take small pieces of concrete foundation with it. Every time water overflows your gutters and finds its way into the foundation, it erodes away at it. After enough time has passed, the cracks will work all the way through the foundation and water will leak into your basement. Water in your basement can lead to problems with mold, mildew, and other bacteria.

If your gutters are not cleaned regularly and they start to overflow, allowing water to find its way to the soil directly next to your house can also be a problem. As the soil on top becomes water logged, the water will travel deeper and deeper into the soil layers. If the soil underneath your foundation becomes too saturated then it could give way causing a cave in of your home’s foundation. In other words, your house would collapse into a giant sinkhole and could be unlivable. The picture below gives you can idea of what could happen if your gutters are not properly cleaned and maintained.

If your gutters are clogged that means that they are heavy. Too heavy, in fact. The fasteners that are used to attach your gutters to your home cannot withstand the weight of a gutter system full of wet leaves and debris. When your gutters are too full they start to pull away from your house. If they are not in position to catch rainwater running off the roof, the problems to your foundation and possible sinkholes are even more of a concern. Not to mention that a gutter that has pulled away from the house in an eyes ore. Your house will look very unattractive and not well taken care of. If you are thinking of selling your home, gutters that are sagging or out of position could be a deal breaker.

How Do I Clean My Gutters?

Fortunately, the actual process of cleaning out your gutters is not a difficult one. It may be time consuming and unpleasant, but not hard. The tools you need to clean gutters are things that you probably already have around the house. Even though there is specialized gutter cleaning equipment out there, it is not necessary to do an adequate job at gutter and downspout cleaning.

The first thing you will need to do gutter cleaning is a ladder. You need to be able to reach the gutters safely. Make sure that you are using a sturdy ladder and leaning it up against a solid surface. Never lean the ladder against the aluminum and relatively unstable gutter system. The aluminum gutters will buckle under the weight of a person climbing on a ladder. When you climb up the ladder, you will only be able to clean the gutter sections that you can reach. Therefore, you will have to keep climbing down and moving the ladder after you clean each section. An alternative that might make the gutter cleaning go faster is a scaffolding system. Scaffolding is a modular system of pieces made of metal that support people when they are working up in the air. Metal is the most common material of construction, but you can find scaffolding systems made of other materials or a combination of wood and metal. While you will be able to reach more of the gutter system before having to move the scaffolding, there is a downside in that it takes time to construct the scaffolding.

Once you can reach your gutters for cleaning, you will need some kind of gutter cleaning tools to clean out the debris. The cheapest way to clean your gutters is with a pair of gloves. What? You cannot use gloves to clean gutters. Well, I should say that you need to put your hands in the gloves. That’s right, your hands are an effective gutter scoop. You definitely need a pair of gloves, though. You do not want to be touching the moldy leaves and possible bacteria that have contaminated your gutters. The one problem that you might run into with your hands in a pair of gloves is that your progress will be slow. You can only pick up so much debris at a time with the hand. An alternative to using your hands is using a gutter scoop.

You can buy tools made specifically for cleaning out gutters. They are scoops with high sides to allow for maximum capacity and thin enough to fit into your gutter system. Make sure you measure your gutters before purchasing a gutter scoop because they come in many sizes. Not only will you be able to pick up more debris at a time with the scoop for gutter cleaning, but your reach will be extended. There are long handle gutter cleaning tools that allow you to increase your reach up to two feet in both directions. A long handle and high capacity will make the gutter cleaning process go much faster.

As you are scooping out all of the dirty leaves, twigs, and other debris that clog your gutters, where do you put it. There are two choices. First, you could just throw it on the ground as you go. Then, you can walk around your house picking up the debris later. Or, you could take a garbage bag with you when you go up the ladder. That way, you can throw away the debris as you go. There are advantages to both methods. Not having a garbage bag with you on the ladder allows you to work with both hands more easily. You will be able to clear debris much faster. On the other hand, walking around your house later to pick up the debris on the ground, will just add time to the chore anyway.

Once you scoop out all of the large pieces of debris, you might find that there is a residue on the sides and bottom of your gutters left behind. A slimy layer of mold or mildew could be coating your gutters. While this may not obstruct the flow of water, it will give off an unpleasant odor. It is important to clean this residue out as well. For that, you should use gutter cleaning brushes. Of course, there are brushes marketed specifically for this purpose, but any brush that will fit into your gutters will get the job done. Gutter cleaning brushes with longer handles and a round head are best so that you can reach as far as possible without moving your ladder or scaffolding and so that you can scrub in all directions without having to move the position of the brush in your hand.

Once you have cleared away the large debris and scrubbed the inside of your gutters to get rid of any residues, you will need to rinse. The easiest way to accomplish this task is with a garden hose. Just turn on the garden hose at one end of your gutter system and let the water rinse as it travels throughout. When it completes the rinsing trip, it will run out the downspouts and you will be done.

If you want to skip all the steps that require you to scoop and scrub debris, then you might want to look into using a pressure washer. Pressure washer and gutter cleaning will go together if your clogs are not too severe. You can turn the pressure washer on and spray the high powered stream into one end of the gutter system. The high pressure should be able to loosen any small clogs and carry any debris either over the sides of the gutter or to the downspouts. One problem with this approach is that it could create a big mess. As the high pressure water stream goes into the gutter system, it might spray up over the sides carrying debris and mold down the side of your home. Also, most pressure washers do not have a very long hose or handle so you will have to find a way to bring the pressure washer up to the level of your gutters.

If you do not want to wrestle with heavy machinery on a ladder or scaffolding system, then you might look into a gutter cleaning wand. Gutter cleaning wands operate under the same principle as the pressure washing technique, but they are made especially for gutter cleaning. They usually have an extremely long handle so that you can stand on the ground and reach up into your gutters. They spray water under pressure into your gutters in a controlled manner so that there is not too much spill over.

One final alternative is to use a gutter cleaning robot. There are devices out there that are designed to move along your gutter system and clean as they go. Companies like Looj or iRobot make small machines that will fit into the gutters and have brushes on the front that scrub your gutters clean. I would not recommend using a machine like this if you have significant clogs because they could stall the gutter cleaning machine.

Safety Considerations for Gutter Cleaning

Cleaning your home gutters can be a dangerous job. There are a few safety considerations that every home owner must think about. Perhaps the most obvious, is ladder safety. There are literally thousands of ladder industries every year according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. There are even some deaths associated with homeowners not using their ladders correctly or choosing the worn ladder for a particular purpose.

The most important ladder safety tip is that the base of the ladder much be on solid, level ground. Make sure there is no ice, snow, grease, or mud beneath the feet of the ladder. All of these conditions could cause the bottom to skip out from under you when you are on the ladder. Another important thing to do correctly is to place the ladder in the right position. A good general rule is that for every four feet high that the ladder is going, the base should be one foot away from the side of the house. Another important safety tip is to always face forward when moving up and down on the ladder and never take both hands off the ladder. The video above will give you more ladder safety information.

Another important safety tip for gutter cleaning is to always wear gloves. The moist environment of your clogged gutters is the perfect place for mold and bacteria to grow. You want to expose yourself to as little of these potentially harmful materials as possible. Most people, if wearing gloves will come away with nothing worse than a few sneezes. However, if you have a severe mold allergy, you might not want to clean your gutters yourself. It might be better for your health to hire a professional gutter cleaning service.

Gutter Cleaning Services

Unfortunately, for our gutters, most people wait to clean them until there is a problem. The truth is that your gutters should be cleaned twice a year. You should complete this project in early spring to clear out any left over ice and debris that has accumulated during the winter. You should also go through cleaning your gutters in late fall. This is perhaps the most important time of year to clean your gutters because you need to clear out all the falling leaves and things that gather in your gutter system during fall before the melting snows of winter begin to tax your gutters and downspouts. Complete a gutter cleaning project twice a year may seem like overkill, but if you clean them regularly the task should not be too involved any one time. But still, it sounds like a lot of work. You may be wondering if it would be better to hire a professional gutter cleaning service to do the job.

In terms of gutter cleaning cost, it is cheaper to do the work yourself. You only need a few household items and the only real expense is your time. But, that extra time with your children or spouse might be worth it to you. Gutter cleaning services can charge a wide range of gutter cleaning prices. Factors like the size of your house, how many stories your home is, how clogged the gutters are, and whether the downspouts are clear can all effect the price. You might pay anywhere from seventy five dollars to five hundred dollars. It is a good idea to only hire the services of someone who will give you an estimate. If someone claims to give a one price fits all service, chances are that they might not do excellent work.

There is a touchy-feely reason that you might want to clean your own gutters. There is a certain amount of pride that goes into taking care of your own home. When you make a purchase as large as a home, you want to do everything you can to keep that home looking great and in top condition. When you complete a household chore like cleaning your gutters, you feel like you are contributing to the well being of your home and your sense of ownership and pride becomes stronger. The bond between homeowner and home is an important one.

If you hire gutter cleaning services, the cleaning is usually only part of the service. Gutter professionals will also make sure your gutters are attached firmly to your home so there is no separation. Gutters are typically attached to the home with special hangers and the gutter cleaning service will replace them if necessary. They will also level your gutter system so that they are at the proper angles to maximize efficiency. All in all there are pros and cons of both doing the gutter cleaning yourself and hiring a gutter cleaning professional. I solve this problem by hiring a service once every two years. The other three cleanings I do myself. When the professionals come, they take care of the gutter science, and I just make sure that the clogs do not get too bad in the mean time.

Gutter Guards

If you want to avoid cleaning your gutters as much as possible, then you may want to make the investment into a gutter guard system. Gutter guard systems vary in method, price, and effectiveness. Finding the right gutter guard for your gutters depends on your local weather, foliage, and the pitch of your roof. Essentially, a gutter protection system will allow the water to flow into the gutters, but not the debris that typically clogs them. There are two main types of gutter guards. One is a screen of some kind with holes big enough to let water in but small enough to keep leaves out. These systems will still let in some debris, so you will need to clean your gutters; just not as frequently. The price on this type of gutter protection can range from $250 for a do it yourself project to over $2,000 for a professionally installed option. One popular gutter guard manufacturer is called Amerimax. Hey make a wide variety of gutter systems and gutter protection options.

The other main type of gutter guard works on the principle of water adhesion. A flap of sorts extends from the edge of the roof over the gutters to the edge of the gutter system. As water and debris are running off your roof, the water adheres to the flap just long enough to let the debris fall away over the side of the house and the water to fall into the gutters. This type of gutter guard system can be very expensive. These products cost between eighteen and twenty dollars per foot. An average 1,500 square foot has about 160 linear feet of roof line. That translates into anywhere from $2,880 to $3,200. Nevertheless, most people who have this type of gutter protection think it is well worth it because they practically never have to clean their gutters.

No matter what kind of home you own, a mansion or a cottage, gutter cleaning is an important household chore that cannot be ignored. Make sure that you take care of this task so that your home lasts as long as you do.

Gutter scoops are just what they sounds like. It is a short, but relatively deep shovel or spade, usually made of plastic that you use to lift debris out of your gutter. Because it needs to fit in the gutter the utensil must not be wider than your gutter. Gutters range anywhere from two and a half inches to five and a half inches in width so the scoop needs to be slightly smaller than your gutter width to function properly. Make sure you measure before you purchase. These tools will usually start with just a flat plastic bottom and then the sides will get gradually taller as you move towards the handle. Make sure that your gutter scoop can hold a good amount of debris. You do not want to be slowed down by having to scoop very small amounts over and over. You can accomplish your task much fast if you can take larger scoops out each time. Another way to save time is to find a gutter scoop with a very long handle so that you can reach further down the gutter without having to move your ladder. The most time consuming part of cleaning the gutters is going up and down the ladder to move it. A long handled gutter scoop will allow you to reach a larger area of the gutter without moving.

You can purchase these tools from a variety of places. The most likely place to find one would be a large home improvement chain store like Home Depot or Lowes. You can also find them at many online retailers or general purpose stores like Target or Wal-mart. You shouldn’t have to pay more than five or six dollars for a serviceable product.

Alternatives to buying include using your hands or a garden trowel or making your own. Your hand is the cheapest alternative, but it is slower than using a scoop. Most scoops will be able to hold several handfuls of debris and will make the chore go faster. Garden trowels have the same problem. They are small enough to fit in the gutter, but they do not hold a large volume of debris. Another downside to using a trowel is that they do not have the steep sides to hold the debris in place. Even if you manage to get a large scoop of debris, it will fall off the sides before you can get it to the bucket or garbage bag. Making your own is probably your best alternative. Fabric softeners bottles area good choice because they are thin. You should leave the cap on and turn the bottle on its side. Then cut the bottom off at an angle to make the sloping sides of the scoop.

Whatever tool you decide to use, make sure that you make the choice. Cleaning your gutters is extremely important and cannot be avoided. I would recommend using a gutter scoop to make the job go faster.

When you climb up the ladder and can reach your gutters the next step is to remove the debris causing your blockages. To do this you will need a pair of gloves. I suppose the gloves are not mandatory, but I do not know many people who want to handle moldy leaves without protection. I usually just proceed by scooping out the mess with my hands, but some people prefer to use a gutter cleaning tool such as a gutter scoop to do this job. If you want a tool, you can purchase a small trowel or even gutter scoops of various sizes at your local Lowes or Home Depot. Just make sure that the size of the gutter scoop matches the size of your gutters. Once you remove the refuse from the gutters, you can throw it on the ground or into a garbage bag. If you chose to throw it on the ground, you will only have to go around and collect it in a garbage bag later so I recommend disposing of the debris as you go. If you do the same, make sure you attach the garbage bag to the ladder so that you have both hands free to continue working.

You will have to move the ladder from section to section so that you can clean out all the debris. The alternative is to use long handle gutter cleaning tools. A gutter cleaning wand allows you to clean sections of your gutter that are out of your normal reach. An alternative to doing this part of your cleaning by hand is to purchase a gutter cleaning robot. iRobot makes a gutter cleaning machine they call the iRobot Looj. This contraption sits inside your gutter and propels itself along while it blasts away leaves and debris. You will only have to move the ladder once from the starting point to the end. Of course, gutter cleaning robots do not clean the vertical part of your gutter system or the downspouts, but they convenient for the rest of your gutter cleaning.

After you make sure you have all of the large pieces of mess out of the gutters you will need to make sure the downspouts are clean. The easiest way to do this is to put a garden hose into the opening. The running water will force any debris down the spout and out the bottom where you can collect it into a garbage bag. Next, some people like to use a leaf blower to blow out any smaller pieces that you did not get out by hand. I find handling a large piece of equipment like that on ladder too hard so I usually skip this step. The final step is to rinse the entire gutter system with your garden hose.

As you can see, you probably have everything you need to clean your gutters within easy reach. To summarize, you must have a ladder, gloves, garbage bags, and a hose to clean your gutters. Optional pieces of equipment include a small trowel or gutter scoop and a leaf blower.