Clean gutters are a homeowner’s unsung hero. They whisk water away from your home's foundation, preventing leaks and damage, which could save you thousands. Here's a step-by-step guide that will teach you how to clean gutters like a professional.
1. Get a Ladder, Bucket, and Trowel
Before you ascend, gather the necessary gear: a sturdy ladder, bucket, and trowel. While these tools are relatively easy to acquire, you need to make sure you get the right type of ladder. For a single-story home, a simple A-frame ladder is often sufficient. Two-story homes typically require you to use an extension ladder. Consider using a ladder stabilizer to avoid leaning the extension ladder against your gutters and damaging them.
- Ladder: Verify it's tall enough and securely positioned on level ground.
- Bucket: Use a 5-gallon bucket with a handle for ease of use.
- Trowel: This tool aids in scooping out debris that collects in gutters and downspouts.
2. Remove Debris from the Gutters
There are two ways to clean gutters: from your roof or from a ladder. If the pitch of your roof isn't too steep, you can climb onto it and blow out the gutters with a leaf blower; this approach is fast but more dangerous than working from a ladder. If accessing the gutters from your roof isn't an option, you'll need to remove debris from a ladder. This approach is more time-consuming, but it's often the safer option.
- Hand Scoop: Use a trowel to scoop the major debris, such as leaves and twigs, into your bucket.
- Work Downwards: Start with the highest gutters on your home, working toward downspouts, and then lower sets of gutters.
- Safety Partners: It's best to have someone hold the ladder for you and spot you as you move along.
3. Clear Plugs from the Downspouts
Gutters are not the final destination for debris; the downspouts that move water down and away from your home can often get clogged. Dirt, leaves, and moss can clog downspouts, forming a plug. If water isn't flowing freely through your downspouts, here's how you can address the issue.
- Use Your Hand: When a plug forms at the top of a downspout, you can often remove it by hand.
- Tap on the Downspout: If debris collects within a downspout, you can sometimes dislodge it by gently tapping on the sides.
- Use Water: Heavily compacted debris will often require you to flush it out using water.
4. Flush the Gutters with a Hose
With the big chunks of debris removed from your gutters, you'll want to flush out the small debris with water. You can use a garden hose to do this, but you may need to use a pressure washer to unclog compacted downspouts. Once clear water is flowing freely through your downspouts, you've successfully cleaned your gutters.
- Flush Toward Downspouts: Start as far away from your downspouts as possible and flush small debris towards them.
- Use a Gutter Attachment: Connect an angled gutter cleaning attachment to your pressure washer to make flushing downspouts easier.
- Beware of Kickback: When you pull the trigger on a pressure washing gun, you'll feel some kickback so make sure you're securely holding onto your ladder.
5. (Optional) Install Gutter Guards
To minimize how often your need to clean gutters, consider investing in gutter guards. They prevent large debris from entering the gutter system but are porous enough to allow water to pass through. Multiple types of gutter guards exist, each with their unique pros and cons.
- Brush Gutter Guards: Circular brushes that fit inside gutters to trap debris while allowing water flow, easy to install and affordable, but may require frequent cleaning and can damage gutters over time.
- Foam Gutter Guards: Polyurethane inserts that allow water through while blocking large debris, easy and cheap to install but prone to mold and may need frequent replacement.
- Screen Gutter Guards: Flat, holed screens that fit over gutters to keep out large debris, easy to install and fairly priced, but can't trap smaller debris and may need yearly cleaning.
- Mesh Gutter Guards: Similar to screen guards but with smaller holes to catch finer debris, less maintenance required but more expensive and may need professional installation.
- Micro-Mesh Gutter Guards: Finely woven mesh screens that excellently prevent small debris from entering gutters, durable and low maintenance but more expensive and require professional installation.
- Surface Tension Gutter Guards: Curved edge guards that block large debris and allow water flow, long-lasting and low maintenance but may not block small debris and can be expensive.
How Often Should You Clean Gutters?
How often you should clean your gutters depends on the location of your home and the surrounding environment. For most homes, twice a year, in spring and fall, is a good rule of thumb. However, if you have a lot of trees around, you might need to do it more often.
How Much Does it Cost to Clean Gutters?
The cost of cleaning gutters can vary depending on the size of your home, the number of stories, and the condition of your gutters. On average, a professional gutter cleaning service charges between $1-2 per linear foot. If you choose to do it yourself, expect to pay for the cost of any necessary tools and materials, which can range from $150 to over $500.
Cleaning your gutters is an essential part of home maintenance and can help prevent costly repairs down the line. At Guardian Pressure Washing, we provide a professional gutter cleaning service to San Antonio homeowners. Call us at +1 (818) 934-2369 for pricing or get a free estimate online.
