What tips do you suggest when cleaning gutters with metal mesh guards? Or, do most of you avoid them?
Blow the tops off with a blower if possible (walkable roof). Spray them down with a sweeper nozzel and a garden hose. Carry a 1/4 nut driver with you in case you have to remove a section to clean it out. If the roof isnt walkable, the sweeper nozzel will usually take care of that problem unless their water pressure isnt very strong.
Steve
If there is a lot of debris on them they can be severely matted and will take 3-4 times longer to clean than normal gutters. I’d charge accordingly. I also find they do a horrible job of keeping debris out of the gutter so you may need to use a hose to flush the gutters (usually the debris has broken down into good old Iowa topsoil ;))
I try to sell the customer on removing them. If they are paying me to clean the gutters, the guards are obviously not doing the job.
Those are the worst… if they’re older, brittle ones we try and take as few apart as possible and use water to clear the gutter but you’ll have to take a few off to loosen the debris that piles up.
If they’re newer, not bent, and just come off by pushing the lip in I’ve found it’s easier just to take them off and put them back when done.
I just did a house last month with mesh guards, some areas were packed full other areas not so bad. I am assuming that my customer had them professionally installed because they were up in their 80’s with health issues. There were areas where the guards had failed or fallen out. The guards were not screwed into place, they clipped into the front inside of the gutter then slid under the first row of shingles. Some areas had to be cleaned by hand, some areas could be blown then cleaned out at the end of a run. In the areas that had heavy build up, I was able to pop out 1 or 2 pieces of guard then clean, then slide the other guards to the area where I had just cleaned (with out having to pop out every guard) then replaced the pieces that I had popped out at the end of the run. Just doing that saved a lot of time. The job was about 300 ft with downspouts (1 story home) and took about 5-5 1/2 hours. People have these mesh style covers installed, and think that they do not need any sort of maintenance then after a few years of neglect they are packed full and pulling the gutters off the house.
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Yo MisterTony…Good old Iowa topsoil… Are you a organic gardener ? I’m mean being in Iowa you’d think a fella like yourself would be into growing veggies. Did you ever work on a farm ? So do you and your wifie have one (veggie garden) in your backyard ?
The Dangerous one (but only to dirty windows).
As previously stated by Prisim I would remove them for my normal charge, explaining that if the guards worked i would not be talking to them. If they want to keep the guards I charge double my normal price. I would also try to sell them Rain Flow.
Charge extra…that’s all I’m saying…
I’ve planted a few gardens and done some farm work (hated every minute of it). Oh, and I hate veggies. I’m strictly a meat and potatoes guy!
Isaac, here’s a video of my experience w/ these type of gutter covers. I sold the customer on removing them and replacing them w/ Rain Flow.
