Cleaning Gutters and Down Spouts

Cleaning Gutters and Down Spouts

  

Spring is here once again and it is time to start those annual chores to ensure that we have a great summer season. One job no one likes is cleaning the gutters and down spouts but it has to be done.

Gutters and down spouts route the rain and debris from the roof to where it can drain away from the house. This protects the siding, windows, doors, and foundations from water damage. It also helps prevent basements from flooding.

You could hire an outside contractor to do the job for you or you could take it on yourself and save at least $100. If you decide to do the job yourself, will first need to decide what you are going to do with all the leaves and other matter that has collected in the gutters over the past year.

Choose a sturdy ladder, and place it on a firm, level base. A tall stepladder can be easier to use than an extension ladder. If you must lean an extension ladder against a gutter, protect the gutter by placing a short piece of 2 by 4 inside it. Stand on the ladder with your hips between the rails, and don’t lean out over the sides. Never stand on the top two rungs.

When cleaning gutters, wear work gloves to protect your hands since gutters often have sharp metal parts or screw points sticking out into their troughs. Also wear safety glasses or goggles. In some situations,

There are various methods to cleaning out the gutters themselves including:

Scoop and Drop Method 

This when you scoop out the gutter contents and drop them to the ground onto a plastic tarp or drop cloth. This method is fastest and all you have to do is move the plastic tarp along with you as you move the ladder. When it gets full, just dump the leaves into your compost or trash bag.

Gutter Bucket Method

This method is fairly common and involves taking a plastic bucket with a metal handle, cutting the handle in two at the center. Then bend the ends of the handle halves into hook shapes that you then hook onto the edge of the gutter. You simply scoop out the gutter and empty it into the bucket. Be ready to do a lot of up and down on the ladder though with this method since that bucket gets filled up quickly.

Gutter Bag Method

When you have dry gutter contents a better way to clean out and collect the dried leaves and sticks is what is called the gutter bag method. You take a plastic bucket and fasten the handles similar to what we did in the gutter bucket method in the previous section. But here, you will cut off the bottom of the bucket creating a bottomless bucket.

Now, take a trash bag and fasten it around the bucket just under the metal handle. You can fasten it tightly with a large rubber band, or duct tape. Now you can easily empty the dry contents into the plastic bag with the bucket serving as a form and throat for the bag. The reason this works well is that the leaves are dry so they are light, but bulky.

With your method of leaf collection established from the previous two sections, it's now time for the fun part. Cleaning the gutters!

Once the gutters are cleared of debris you'll want to make sure the downspouts are cleared BEFORE you rinse the gutters.

Take a hose and place it into the downspout. Have a helper turn on the water and check for downspout flow. If it's clogged do the following to clear it out:

·        Pack the downspout opening around the hose with a rag sealing the hose tight.

·        Turn on the water pressure as hard as it will go, looking for the clog to clear and water to flow freely from the bottom of the downspout.

·        If the clog persists you'll have to clear it. Remove the hose and manually clear the clog using a plumbing snake. Feed the snake from the top of the downspout until it hits the obstruction which is usually at the point of a curve.

·        Once you think you have it cleared, test for flow with a hose.

OK, got everything cleared out? Good! The next step is to rinse the gutter and downspout system and flush it out.

Do this with a hose supplying water at the farthest gutter section from the downspout opening.

Once a gutter section is rinsed clear, repeat the entire process in this tutorial on the next gutter section proceeding around the house.