Gutter Cleaning! Gutter Guards!

Snap In Type Gutter Guards!

          Today is the day! It's my first post back after the Christmas Holiday, and we're talking Gutter Cleaning! I got this idea while standing at a family members sink, looking out the window, and seeing the water come out over the top of the gutters. I thought everyone had "Gutter Guards" now a days. The do it yourself models, or install it yourself models, do the job quite nicely, and there is no reason to go for the really expensive ones, unless you like the looks. If you are building a new home then it may be a nice upgrade to get the better ones. You'll need a pro to install the more advanced systems, but a home owner can install the snap in types found at your local Hardware store. Below are the links
for some examples.

Preferred Down Spout Screen!

          If your home is one story you may want to clean your gutters and then install the gutter guards your self. For larger homes you will want to hire your local handyman, painter, or contractor. Anyone who has those large ladders needed for the job. For the debris you can take a trash bag and tie it the top of the ladder, never tie it to your self, it may make you unbalanced on the ladder. For a larger amount of debris place canvas tarps on the ground. We find the newer gadgets that use water to blast out the debris, by water pressure are not strong enough to get the caked in debris out. For that you would need a pressure washer. We have tried this and found it is too much trouble to run hoses and hook everything up. We find just doing it by hand is faster. What does help, is having a scoop that fits inside your gutter attached to an extension pole so you can clean a wider area than just where your arms can reach. That certainly helps on the up and down trips on the ladder. If your Down spouts are clogged you may have to take them apart. We have 24 Ft. Extension Poles, normally used for painting, that we use these to clean the downspouts. We use these to try and push the debris in downspouts from the top, down and out through the bottom. If this doesn't work, or you have a curve in the down spout then you will have to take them apart. 

What Not to do!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVjQCv5Bths

What to Do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD0U6Df3ReA                                                                                                                                               l