Gutter Cleaning

[Mojo88]

I went to work at 17 for my father who was a painting contractor. From there I worked the majority of my career in the coatings industry, either selling or applying coatings. To say I have been on a few roofs would be an understatement. One thing I saw without fail were clogged gutters in commercial or residential. Owners would think their roof was leaking when in many cases it was a clogged gutter. If we were painting we would let the home or business owner know and explain what we saw.

As a home owner for many years I get up on my roof twice a year to inspect the roof and clean the gutters. Several of my neighbors are unable and hire someone to clean their gutters. If you are in the situation of using a contractor make sure they run water from a hose. In many cases the gutters haven’t been cleaned for years. The downspouts can be plugged and the cleaning while it seems good does nothing. I have seen it multiple times and the leaking still persists unless the downspouts are cleaned also.

 

[steveclarkus]

I went to work at 17 for my father who was a painting contractor. From there I worked the majority of my career in the coatings industry, either selling or applying coatings. To say I have been on a few roofs would be an understatement. One thing I saw without fail were clogged gutters in commercial or residential. Owners would think their roof was leaking when in many cases it was a clogged gutter. If we were painting we would let the home or business owner know and explain what we saw.

As a home owner for many years I get up on my roof twice a year to inspect the roof and clean the gutters. Several of my neighbors are unable and hire someone to clean their gutters. If you are in the situation of using a contractor make sure they run water from a hose. In many cases the gutters haven’t been cleaned for years. The downspouts can be plugged and the cleaning while it seems good does nothing. I have seen it multiple times and the leaking still persists unless the downspouts are cleaned also.

Great advice. I'm 74 years old and have developed an aversion to ladders and finally had gutter guards installed. The contractor did flush the downspouts. Now I just spray the leaves and seeds of the gutters and am good to go.

 

[DesertIguana]

I often wonder why p we pile even do rain gutters.

I live in snow country, when it snowed, it build up ran off roof. When we had heavy rains, it ran off roof.

Needed no gutters.

 

[ColtRevolver]

My basement would take on water if my house had no gutters.

 

[Mojo88]

A ranch home on a slab typically is not a problem. Homes with basements are another story unless you have French drains or some type of perimeter system. I have seen basement flooding because of clogged gutters. All that rain goes directly to the foundation.

 

[ExtremelyDanger]

Even on a slab, if you don't get that moisture routed away from the building it's still bad news if you live in frost country.

 

[Mojo88]

Even on a slab, if you don't get that moisture routed away from the building it's still bad news if you live in frost country.

My son lived in Florida in a ranch. I was watching the rain and it was bouncing on the foundation and right on the siding. His house was T111 and the edge was not painted. I told him he had two options. Paint and seal that raw edge or plan on replacing it. I don’t know if he called a gutter guard company, but with all that moss I don’t know if the combination of gutters and guards would have worked.

 

[Mustard Seed]

We had Leaf Filter installed this year. I know.... I know..... it is expensive but it works. Wife and I are well into our 70's and do not step on ladders anymore. The Customer Service of Leaf Filter means they will come out and remove any leaves, etc on the filter. No charge. They are serious about us not getting on a ladder. So far, any leaves from our oak trees have just washed our blown away with the wind.

 

[DesertIguana]

When I live in snow country my yard was graded so rain, and mention snow moved away from home.

 

[ExtremelyDanger]

When I live in snow country my yard was graded so rain, and mention snow moved away from home.

Okay, we're north of Montana, and Dad's place is on a freaking hill; no eaves troughs (hard to put them on 100+ yr old Eaton's hip-roof house) and so the rain and snow melt runs off each corner of the house. Because of this one section of wall of in basement has been pushed in by frost so bad it's snapped and split a 2x6 stud...
He has since strategically placed several large flat stones to help divert the water farther away from the house but eaves trough and downspouts would be a lot better.

 

[Whisky]

I rented a Hi-lo a couple years ago, cleaned out probably 5yrs of decomposing leaves from previous owner, and put gutter screens on. I use a drone with a camera to inspect them and rigged up an angled attachment for my shop vac. I use the blower outlet on the shop vac and simply blow any leaves off that have accumulated. We're going to have the gutters replaced in the next couple of years and will probably go with a better type of gutter guard. In placed out gutters are a good 30-35ft off the ground and hard to get to even with an extension ladder.

 

[garyg]

They are a p.i.m.a .. this little rancher collects leaves & other detritus from our overgrown trees. Despite going up top in March to blow them out, yesterday I noticed a problem downspout backing up. Sure enough as in prior springs little round droppings from a maple were in that corner thick. As winds were higher than comfortable for my 70+ yo behind to go on the roof, I tried to clear using an aluminum ladder. That ladder blew over while I was next to it, gashing me arm and sending the loosened gutter screw into the hostas. Next dry & calm day I'll drag the leaf blower up and go around.

Takes more than one climb in the spring (the locust will drop green jobbies next) and a whole bunch in the fall. I find that using a blower extension from ground level leaves the stuff being blown all over the roof adjacent, where they run back down into the gutters. I tried gutter guards a couple houses ago and wasn't impressed