There are many advantages to living in a house such as having your own backyard, more privacy, and a property that is entirely yours and yours to deal with. But, as always, there are also some disadvantages that come together with those advantages. For most homes (houses), there is always the need for some kind of maintenance that you usually would not experience in an apartment. Taking care of the lawn, the garden, and most importantly, cleaning the gutter that goes around the house. This is something that not a lot of people think about.
Believe it or not, but taking care of your gutter is essential to the health of your house and the safety of your family. There are a number of problems that could arise if you leave this part of your home unattended. Flooding in your backyard, a leak on the inside of your home, and several other similar situations are possible.
The first sign that there is something wrong with your gutter is when the water stops running and during the heaviest rains. If you do notice that, you will have to clean it as soon as possible before any other problems develop.
If you do not have any kind of experience with this kind of task, you will find this article very useful because I am going to share all the tips I could find about cleaning gutters. I am also going to mention a few useful tools.
Contents
1. Analyze the situation
img source: gutterhelmet.com
Before you give yourself the task to get up on the roof with a ladder, you should first analyze the situation and figure out whether there really is a problem. You have two options for this analysis. You could either wait for another day for some rain or you could grab a garden hose and start spraying water onto your roof.
After a few minutes of raining or spraying with a hose, watch the drainage of the gutter closely. If you feel that the water is running down properly, there is probably no need to do anything.
However, if the water is not freely running down, that may be a sign that it is clogged. This means that you will have to take the next step.
2. Climb up on the roof
img source: squarespace-cdn.com
Before you grab any kind of tool, I would first suggest that you climb up on the roof to inspect the situation. You have already determined that something is clogged, but it would still help to have some kind of visual information. Be sure to climb up using a reliable ladder for your safety. You can get one of those telescoping types of ladders featured on BestOfMachinery, which are compact and conforms to standard safety of use.
Most importantly, before you get up there, I suggest that you have someone with you, in case something goes wrong. Climbing up high is a dangerous task, so make sure there is someone to hold the ladder.
After you are up there, make sure to check every nook and cranny, so you can get an idea of exactly where you will need to make an intervention to clean up this mess.
3. Clear roof
img source: ecocleaningspecialists.com
Before you start working on the gutter, I would suggest that you do a quick cleanup of the roof. This is done mostly because you do not want all the sticks and bees that are already on the roof to end up back in the gutter.
4. Grab a pair of gloves or a small shovel
img source: amazon.com
Now that you have finally gotten a good idea of what exactly you will need to clean, it is time to get some tools. First the most important is a pair of gloves. You will be working with dirt, leaves, bugs and who knows what else. Anything can be stuck up there in the gutter, so make sure you always have safety on your mind. I would also recommend grabbing a facemask, to prevent yourself from breathing something in.
Now that you are ready, climb up there and start grabbing these texts, the leaves, and any other debris with your hands while wearing gloves. You should not have any kind of trouble using your hands, but if the debris is too stiff, you could grab a small shovel or any other tool. With it, you will be able to pick away the debris and then throw it down.
If you are unable to remove certain debris or if there are certain locations that you cannot access, you might have to consider calling professional services as suggested by Guttercleaningspecialists.co.uk. These services are usually quite affordable and they will be able to do this job quite efficiently. For certain situations, they could probably be done in less than an hour.
5. Use a hose
img source: therange.co.uk
For those that do not feel the need to call a company to fix this problem, there are some other things you can do. If there is too much mud or sticks, you could probably get a hose up there and start spraying everything with water. The water will soften down any hard debris and will dissolve the month. This will allow you to grab that trash with your own hands or with a tool.
Keep in mind, when handling a hose while up on the roof, you will need to be very careful. Make sure you do not tangle yourself with a hose and be careful while working with water because things can get slippery. Again, do not forget to have someone to watch over you while you are working.
6. Use a pressure washer
img source: cleanproguttercleaning.com
If a regular hose does not do the job, if you cannot deal with this problem with your own two hands, you might have to take things to the next level. Yes, I am talking about a pressure washer. This is a device that can tear through anything. The water pressure with this tool is so high, there simply is no chance that the debris will still be in the gutter after using it. Just make sure that you spray at an angle, instead of directly at the debris. Otherwise, the debris will start splashing and spraying all over the place which is something that you definitely do not want to happen.
These are some of the most essential tools you could use for this kind of situation. I also hope that these tips will be of good use to you.
