Talk to me about gutter cleaning

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21

I would worry that leaf blowing would limit me to days when everything in the gutter was completely dry. Otherwise, what a mess! Also, for those backed up gutters with standing water, a leaf blower wouldn’t work, although I know plenty of landscaping companies that go that route.

I’m going to hijack for a minute because this has been on my mind:

As a side note, we scoop debris and snake the drains. Generally, we spray the gutters out as well (to get as much remaining asphalt grit as possible). Yesterday, did a job where he had some drains with standing water. Got everything cleaned out and flowing well. Sprayed out the gutters for the most part. Evidently, we left a 3-4 foot section with some asphalt grit still in it. I guess I don’t see that stuff as a big deal (unless it’s very deep), because it is constantly washing off and being rinsed out by the weather.

Well, he called when he got home from work because he put his own ladder up to look at things, and he was barely holding together how upset he was. He was very angry that it was not “cleaned down to the bare metal.” Now, I would say about 95% of the gutter was that clean. Obviously, I need to make it right in his eyes. I assured him the drains were all flowing and they wouldn’t back up, but we would come back next chance we get to spray out the gutters better. I apologized for not being on the same page as him (even though over the phone he only talked about his clogged drains).

I could go on and on about this, but I’m more concerned with figuring out what I could have done to prevent this (or to better set expectations). I guess I don’t see the need for a gutter to be so clean that you can eat out of it. I don’t see how a little asphalt grit (he described it as “1/2 inch deep”) in 4 feet of gutter could be a problem. By contrast, we did another gutter job where the grit and dirt was literally 3-4 inches deep in every foot of gutter. Obviously that is a problem, and that needs to be completely cleaned out.

I tell people that we will ensure the gutters are free of debris that can clog them, and we will make sure the drains are flowing freely. Do you guys find that customers generally expect bare metal with absolutely nothing left? In 6 years I’ve never had anyone complain, and I get lots of repeat/referral. More importantly: is there something I’m missing about leaving a little of that stuff behind? Could this really be a problem, and should I change my process?

I guess I’m just curious what you guys would suggest, either With my communication or my process. Or is this just “one of those” customers that we all deal with sometimes?

22

i don’t know of any customers of mine have ever gone up to check but none have ever called. i try to do a pretty good job but the pretty factor varies.
re shingle dust: it is very heavy so large build ups can cause sagging and damming. leaf blower removes it effectively in many cases. because they are small when blown out they just disappear.
the blower is also one of the most effective to the metal methods but certainly there are places i won’t use it.
i use the leaf vac and walk the roof when feasible. (leaf blower with vacuum kit)
dig stuff out by hand if thats the only way.

23

In this case, that gutter was full of standing water, so it was pretty muddy.

Thanks for the input.

24

if you’re prepared to hose down the gutter after the blower makes short work of standing water too.

25

if home i will sometimes talk to the customer about the method i will use to get a good job done in a reasonable time (cost).

26

Truthfully, I basically did a 90-95% job, which I figured was good enough because I 100% took care of the problems he was concerned about.

I rushed. The reason is that he is at the extreme farthest edge of our service area. Like, another mile and I would have told him no. I only go that way a couple time a year, and I initially told him it would be May 31st before I Could get there. He seemed disappointed and concerned about his clog, and I couldn’t stop thinking about trying to help him. So I shoe horned it in yesterday In way that cost me twice as much time as normal and absolutely did not fit with the rest of my day. Because of that, i tried to do it as fast as possible.

Honestly, I regret bending over backwards, because even though I fixed his problem, he wasn’t even remotely appreciative.

Sorry for the tangent to the OP

27

I actually never rinse out the gutters. I only do it if they special request it and I charge more. I have always scooped out the debris and pulled damp rags through to get the fine stuff as I go. I explain my process to them and explain that if it can’t be scooped out or wiped out with a rag it’s too small to effect the gutters. I still get them to where there is pretty much nothing in them but if it is wet and muddy it still has smear marks from me pulling a rag through them. I’ve never had any issues with any homeowners not happy with it. I think the way you explain the process and the end result is key with these things. But it sounds like you just got one of those kinda people to me. I will sometimes blow out the gutters after I remove the debris if the roof is easy to walk just to get perfect results.

28

If you blow leaves onto the yard, it is your responsibility to clean up after yourself. The only way the customer should know you were there is you cleaned what the work order called for, and you didn’t leave a mess behind.

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29

I bought the Unger Waterflow Brush and Squeegee. It was 10" and I had to cut it down in width so it would fit inside a 4" gutter. I think they sell a narrower one too, but I could only find the 10" wide one. I attach it to a 16’ extension pole and drag the debris to where my ladder set is and scoop into a bucket from there. I can even clear the supports that are every two feet by going under and over as needed. It works well to drag the shingle sediment that gets caked in the gutter which can get heavy and cause gutter sag and pooling.

waterflow brush

1 Like
30

you need to set expectations.

packages for gutter cleaning (obviously super generic, but you can fill in the blanks):
Level 1- basic clean out- $XX
Level 2- basic clean out plus blah blah- $XX
Level 3- Level 2 plus blah blah- $XX

That way you give the customer the opportunity to decide what’s important to them, and then make that purchase. If you had done that in this case, the customer would have selected level 3, you would have known exactly what he expected and been able to deliver, and you would have been able to charge at a premium price.

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31

I tend to get called when the gutters are packed full, so to me $1 per foot isn’t working for me. $2 per foot for gutter cleanout; usually heavy debris. $1 per foot is reserved for light debris before it clogs, or maintenance so that it doesn’t reach that point.

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32

I haven’t used it, just vaguely recall people talking about it on here.

33

I charge a buck a foot regardless of what’s in there, and I’m slowly realizing how bad of an idea that was.

$1/foot for light debris, $2 for heavy sounds pretty good. $25 to snake downspouts?

34

I’m at $1/first floor, $2/second. But on a recent job we did it was so much work that afterwards I thought I should’ve charged another $100-150. I’ll need to re-think how I’ll charge per job vs just having a standard pricing.

35

Like has been said here already, it seems like the opinions on the vacs go both ways. Some love them, some have little use for them.

There has to be a better/easier way then to move your ladder every 4 foot on gutters. Most gutters here, that I have noticed, have those bars every 3-4 feet.

36

set your ladder use and extension pole and scoop or some kinda tool to pull the debris to you. I run into the same issue here with the hangers ever 3-4 feet.

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37

There isn’t. Tried it all. Ladder up and get it done.

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38

Ok, ok, I see where this conversation is going. There just isn’t any easy way to clean gutters. Fair enough.

So I need one or more scoops. Got it.

What size pole are you guys using to do gutters with? Do the scoops utilize the lock of the Unger or Ettore poles, or do they “press fit” on the pole tip? Thread on?

I have a 30 foot Ettore that I would rather not use, do to the weight. I also have a 20 ft? Libman pole that has ACME threads that I could use. Buying another pole is no big deal, if I need to. I assume you guys are not using more than 10 ft or so of pole to reach ahead of you?

39

that gives you 10ft in both directions to work with. That’s plenty, some gutter are full to the lip (so thats a lot of debris to pull or push.) As you can see from the pic i posted… :unamused:

40

Yeah, the first pic was disgusting. It had to have been at least 5 years since they were cleaned, with weeds sprouting from the gutters. Yuck.

There has been some talk of pricing. Do you guy have a set price per foot, or are you inspecting each job first, to adjust your prices for conditions?
Charging to snake or cleanout drains and downspouts?