Winter Gutter Cleaning

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1

So I have seen Tony’s(MisterSqueegee) vid on this with the heat gun, but I would like to know how many of you actually clean gutters when there’s snow on the ground.
It snowed 6-7 inches last night and today and we are super backlogged on gutters, almost to the point that we’re getting folks to schedule in January(which is going pretty well, actually) for windows or blind cleaning. Things will thaw up a bit, but the rest of the week it looking to be cold enough to where we’re going to have to get the prybars out to chip away at the ice.

Any tricks up your sleeve, other than the heat gun thing?

We have lots of gutter cleaning knowledge, but it’s always a challenge when it gets to be this time of year. Thought I would throw the question out there.

2

I would stay away from it. Not worth the added headache of snow. JMO

3

How do you rinse gutters if their outside spickets are closed/frozen?

4

You don’t, We clear it out with a leaf blower if we can.
Honestly, we pretty much shut down on gutters until the snow melts off. The reason for the post was just to if anyone kept working.
As John said above, it’s a real headache to deal with a lot of snow on the ground/roof. Each job take 2-3 times as long.

5

Man. I feel your pain.
I’ll get the man power to get it done, which luckily, most of my competition WON’T.

Use it to your advantage. I request that the customer schedule for the next year/season at an earlier date.
(at the same price)

  • I just did a job that took 16 man hours last January (4 men, 4 hours) in about 20 minutes for 2 guys… same price. :slight_smile:
6

It happened last year to us. We just tell them “Sorry, the weather got the best of us. We’ll be out as soon as it warms up enough that it’s safe for us to work.” The last thing I want is someone getting hurt cleaning leaves out of a frozen gutter. If they have a problem and are upset we’ll offer them a few bucks off, but not much. “Act of god” not our fault.

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7

We do not use heat guns, hammers or ice picks when cleaning this time of year. We try to educate our customers on the challenges we face cleaning gutters when the temperature falls below freeziing. We explain that while we can add them to the schedule, we may have to wait 24 to 48 hours of temperatures above the freezing mark to come out and do the job properly. Most understand. Last year, several of our clients waited until early March for us to come out and complete the work.

8

I think I may be confused by the question…
Is the concern about snow on the ground (and roof) or fighting iced-up gutters?

Snow’s gonna happen. Whether you are cleaning windows, gutters, or whatever…

Icy gutters can be tamed. You just need to think about the dynamic of the situation.
The goal is to separate the iced up debris from the channel of the gutter.
(people tend to want to forcefully “chip away” with a screwdriver or prybar)

GENTLY slide something thin like a yard stick under the ice, and pour HOT water in the channel… UNDER the ice.
Work toward the downspout (gravity of the pitch draws the hot water.)

Granted, this won’t work for 15º, but if done right it will allow you to pull out multiple feet in one scoop/pull.

9

Good idea, thanks!