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Cleaning gutterssaves your home and foundation from serious, expensive water damage.
Regularly cleaningguttersmaintains water flow from the roof to the ground, andaway from the house.
All it takes is a ladder and some time.
Willowpix / Getty Images
But for many homeowners, climbing a ladder toclean guttersis a major obstacle, especially with two-story homes.
The bottom of the tube connects to a shop vacuum.
Vacuuming leaves is cleaner than blowing the leaves.
Most leaves are deposited in the vacuum or on the ground rather than on the roof or the siding.
Vacuuming is best for dry leaves only.
Vacuuming will remove some damp leaves but not heavy clumps of wet leaves or solid sludge.
Tip
Vacuum power decreases with the height of the house.
At the top is a curved gutter-cleaning elbow.
The inlet at the bottom of the pole connects to a pressure washer.
Blowing leaves from the gutter with a pressure washer is a dirty project.
Leaves and mud end up on the roof,siding, and windows.
For thick sludge and heavy material, though, pressure washing leaves can be a better choice than vacuuming.
The pressure-driven water breaks up mud and sends it down the downspouts.
After the leaves dampen and decay, they become much more difficult to clean from the ground.
venture to clean the gutters in anticipation of rain, snow, or wind.
High wind may blow large items like branches or pine cones into the gutters, hindering leaf removal.
Purchase additional vacuum tubes to reach second-story gutters.
Keep all extension poles, particularly metal poles, far away from power lines.
Do not direct the water flow toward electrical devices.
Wear eye and hearing protection when using shop vacuums and pressure washers.
Fit the gutter elbow on the end.
see to it that the vacuum is on wet mode, with no filters or bags.
The vacuum should be clean to start with.
Some accessory kits come with an optional nozzle.
Do not use the nozzle on vacuum mode.
It is meant for blower mode.
Test the Length of the Tube
Raise the tube to the gutter.
Begin at the Downspout
Turn on the vacuum.
Raise the tube to the gutter, starting at a downspout.
Rest the end of the nozzle on top of the leaves and let the vacuum slowly suck them through.
If successful, you’ll hear debris skittering down the tube.
For light debris, you may be able to slide the nozzle between gutter hangers.
Leave the shop vacuum running.
Slowly lower the tube.
Hold the gutter elbow, with debris attached, over a yard waste container.
Turn off the shop vacuum.
The debris will fall off.
Assemble the telescoping tubes, adding only as many tubes as is required to reach the gutters.
Add theguttercleaning elbow to the top of the tube assembly.
Test the Pressure Washer
Connect the tube assembly’s water inlet to the pressure washer.
Attach the tube assembly to the support harness, if any.
Turn on the faucet for the hose feeding the pressure washer.
Turn on the pressure washer and give it time to gain pressure.
Test the pressure washer in the air to get a feel for it.
The gutter elbow should be angled slightly away from the downspout and toward the center of the gutters.
Gradually move the gutter elbow toward the center of the gutters.
Blast the leaves over the top ridge of the gutters.
Water and small particles should start to flow out of the bottom of the downspout.
Work toward the center until no more leaves are blown out of the gutters.
Power off the pressure washer and disconnect all tubes.
Replace the downspout extensions.
Call aprofessional gutter cleaning companyto dive into the gutters with ladders and to clean the gutters by hand.
