It’s weird how many gutter cleaning jobs I’ve been doing considering it’s summer. We’ve been having a lot of thunder/rain storms lately in the North East. I guess when people see their gutters overflowing, they start looking on the internet.
The thing is, I have been going to a few jobs where the gutters themselves are clean but the downspouts are totally clogged. I have just been charging them for clearing their downspouts and giving the customers a discount. I’m not going to b.s. them and tell them their whole gutter is clogged and make them pay full price.
I’m wondering why just the downspouts are clogged? I’m thinking that is has to do with the last company who cleaned the gutters doing a poor job and not flushing out the downspouts, or is it just that the debris is being sucked into the downspout (which doesn’t seem to explain the fact that they are crammed full and empty everywhere else).
I wondering how you guys clean the gutters?
I have been totally spraying out the whole gutter lately. It doesn’t seem adequate to just pull out the leaves and large debris. I have noticed that the shingle grit (the granules from the composite shingles) is often of a mixed substance that can have gritty particles, but also clay-like substance that can gum up the gutter.
So even though there isn’t a lot of it, it can prevent the water from flowing very well.
I find that the best job is a job that leaves the gutters free of all grit, sand etc.
[COLOR=#333333]blowing of roof and gutters for little debris[/COLOR]
Yeah, I think either pressurized water or a good leaf blower will do a decent job. I have a backpack leaf blower that I like to use when I can walk the roof. I like to had scoop first if the debris is wet, though, so I won’t leave a huge mess.
It’s nice if it dry because then you can just blow 'em out.
I tried using a handheld leaf blower at first, but found that I really needed the power of the backpack model for a lot of the jobs.
For those of you that blow the gutters free of leaves and debris, what do you do with stuff that gets blown out? Leave it or pick it up from ground.
I’ve always done the gutters by hand, pick up leaves and debris, check the downspout and do a complete flush. I always haul the debris away.
If I were to use a leaf blower I wouldn’t feel right just leaving a mess all over the place and would have to clean up, and to me that’s like doing the job twice. That’s why I would rather just ladder up and be done in one go. I use the gutter scoop on a pole so I am able to clean 5-6ft of gutter on each side.
[COLOR=#333333]For those of you that blow the gutters free of leaves and debris, what do you do with stuff that gets blown out? Leave it or pick it up from ground.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]I’ve always done the gutters by hand, pick up leaves and debris, check the downspout and do a complete flush. I always haul the debris away.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#333333]If I were to use a leaf blower I wouldn’t feel right just leaving a mess all over the place and would have to clean up, and to me that’s like doing the job twice. That’s why I would rather just ladder up and be done in one go. I use the gutter scoop on a pole so I am able to clean 5-6ft of gutter on each side.[/COLOR]
I only use a blower when the debris is dry and there are woods surrounding the house. After I blow out the gutters, I blow all the debris into the woods. I always ask the HO first. They always say, “go ahead.”
If I went to a house that had a perfectly manicured “golf course” lawn, blowing out the gutters would be out of the question.
in the main the gutters here are half moon profile and i use this tool fitted onto a pole of up to 20ft to rake the debris along towards me. as you push the tool away it folds down so it doesnt push the debris back along the gutter nor jam on anything
[COLOR=#333333][INDENT]in the main the gutters here are half moon profile and i use this tool fitted onto a pole of up to 20ft to rake the debris along towards me. as you push the tool away it folds down so it doesnt push the debris back along the gutter nor jam on anything[/INDENT][/COLOR]
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Nice! I wish the gutter here were the half moon type. Unfortunately, we have gutter hanger obstructing any chance at a clear shot.
Now that I am older and do not have the balance when I was younger, I can’t walk along the roof or get up on a ladder like I use to. Has anyone come across a tool that can reach up to a second floor house? I looked on the internet but some of the home made gutter cleaning tools look flimsy. Need advice and suggestions?
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