Best Ways To Keep Gutters Clean

Do you have an annual maintenance checklist for your home?  If not, it may be time to start considering creating one.  One of the most important things to include on that is to clean out your gutters.  Why bother with that, though?

You see, if we don’t routinely clear out the leaves, twigs, or other natural detritus, it could cause a whole slew of further problems.  Of course, there are ways that we can clean them on our own, some of which we’ll be touching upon today.  Unfortunately, it won’t always be safe to clean your gutters all by yourself – sometimes you may need to bring in some external help.

Either way, we’ll be covering some methods to clean gutters here today.  Make sure to stick around if you haven’t been thinking about that and incorporating it into your annual maintenance routine.  After all, if we don’t, it can cause all sorts of problems down the line.

Gutter Cleaning 101: Best Ways To Keep Gutters Clean

Of course, we’ll start out with the basics here today!  Most folks plan to do this in the Autumn, thanks to falling leaves.  This will probably depend on how many trees you have in your yard or the neighborhood as a whole.  Most of us wish we could somehow stop the leaves from our neighbor’s homes from getting into our gutters, but the wind will carry them anyhow.

Thankfully, we don’t have to do all that much with these draining systems besides making sure there isn’t any debris building up.  A blocked downpipe could end up with your home getting flooded, so while the tasks aren’t all that difficult, not doing them can cost you a whole lot.

One reason that it can be dangerous to do this on your own is because of how high up you have to get.  On this blog, they detail the dangers of falling and hurting yourself while doing maintenance on your home.  It’s a warning we’d do well to heed.

A recommendation for cleaning gutters is to be cognizant of your surroundings and to be very careful if you do end up having to climb a ladder to do so.  At first glance it may seem like it’s the best way to get the job done, but in reality, this is far from the case.  It can be very risky to climb up a step ladder or even a telescoping one while you’re reaching out to clean a gutter.  

That’s why if you are going to climb a ladder to do so, make sure that you get a sturdy one.  An extension ladder can get the job done relatively easily compared to the other options out there, so it may be something to think about.

Now, you don’t always have to climb up high to clear debris out from these drainage systems.  You can also do so safely from the ground.  The downside here is that it tends to take a long time and you have to be very methodical about it.  After all, you won’t be able to see what you’re removing.

In that sense, it can still be somewhat risky.  If there’s a nest of insects up there (or some other type of critter), you could end up getting stung or bitten.  Even the safest options do entail some dangers for the average homeowner, so make sure to think about that as you decide whether you want to do it on your own or if you want to bring in some external help.

These types of things are listed in guides like this one when it comes to living here in Australia, so there’s a good chance you already knew about them.  We felt them worth highlighting just in case anyone has recently moved to our country, or if any readers out there weren’t quite familiar just yet.

Residential Gutter Cleaning

Thus far, we’ve only been covering methods of cleaning the gutters by ourselves at home.  The thing is, there are a lot of issues that can crop up along the way.  It’s why so many folks have started to bring in professional gutter cleaning services instead of worrying about it otherwise.

Most of the time, you should be able to find one that’s local and in your area.  If you want, you can even look for family-owned ones, since they tend to provide a more personalized service.  Each home has its own unique needs, after all, even if they all have a gutter system.

How do we pick a contractor or organization to work with, though?  Well, one option is to ask our friends and family if they have any recommendations.  If they’ve had a positive experience with one, then it may be worth checking them out!  In a similar vein, we can also look for online reviews to get a gauge for what we can expect out of a gutter cleaning service.

They are easier to find for residential properties, since these are the typical types of buildings that require these services in the first place.  If you’re still hesitant about it, then keep this in mind: blocked downpipes can really wreak havoc on your home.

It can cause foundational damage, if you don’t know – the excess water could end up seeping all the way to your basement if you have one.  Beyond that, there’s also the fact that it can ruin any special landscaping that you have set up.  Gutters are a prime location for bugs to make their homes, too, if we don’t keep them clean.

While it may not seem like that big of a deal at first glance, hopefully we’ve helped you to understand why cleaning them out should be a part of your annual checklist for home maintenance.  Admittedly, it’s not super safe or efficient to do it on our own.  We can easily hire professionals to get the job done without any risk to our own safety, and for reasonable prices to boot!