Gutter Cleaning Tips | How To Repair And Unclog Gutters

Not cleaning your gutters or cleaning them improperly can lead to the gutters becoming clogged.

There are several gutter cleaning tips that you can follow that will help you clean and mend your gutters right the first time.

If you would rather save time and hire a professional, Rain Guard offers gutter cleaning as well as gutter cleaning alternatives.

Cleaning out your gutters is an important part of being a homeowner, yet gutter cleaning is often overlooked. This is until the gutters begin to sag, overflow, and become a nest for unwanted critters. Suddenly, the gutters can no longer be ignored. You will be forced to clean out and repair your gutters, or to hire someone to do so. Let’s explore what you need to know when it comes to DIY gutter cleaning and gutter cleaning tips from professionals.

Why Is It Important to Clean Gutters?

Gutters are an integral part of the home, redirecting water away from the home and its foundations. If you don’t clean your gutters regularly, your gutters are more susceptible to clogging, and let’s be honest, clogged gutters are the worst! Clogging leads to many issues including, but not limited to:

Pests: Rats, snakes, and squirrels might end up nesting in your gutters.
Tiger Striping: Overflow of gutters which eventually leads to staining on the siding of your gutters or in some cases even your home. (this is known as tiger striping)
Damaged Foundation: When gutters are not able to properly redirect water away from your foundation, it can lead to foundational water damage
Mold and Mildew: Overflowing water and excess moisture can lead to mold and mildew on the siding of your home–gross!

How Often Should I Clean My Gutters?

At the very least, gutters should be cleaned at least twice a year. It is best to make spring gutter cleaning an annual event, as well as fall gutter cleaning too. If you have many trees or live in an area with a very diverse climate, you may need to clean your gutters more often as more debris leads to your gutters, becoming more susceptible to clogging.

DIY Gutter Cleaning Tips

You can clean out your gutters on your own, but it can be tricky and time consuming. As professional gutter cleaners, we have a duty to provide you with DIY gutter cleaning tips that are safe! You will need several hours and some tools. If you are committed to cleaning your gutters on your own, here are tools you will need:

Sturdy Ladder (and potentially a ladder extender)
Small Hand Trowel
Scoop
Pressure Washer or Garden Hose
Gutter Cleaning Solution
Eye Protection
Gloves
Trash Barrel

1. Practice Ladder Safety

First thing is first, the number one gutter cleaning tip we can give you is to practice safety to the fullest extent. More times than not, someone falls off a ladder attempting to clean their own gutters. If you’re committing to DIY gutter cleaning, you might seriously consider hiring professionals, or just getting a helping hand! There is no way to clean your gutters without a ladder, so work safely. Here are some things to keep in mind when using a ladder during gutter cleaning:

Never go above the second to last step/rung
Do not try to extend your reach, use an extended scoop instead
Use a step ladder on solid level ground whenever possible
Use an extension ladder for two-story homes or hire a professional
Use a ladder stabilizer to help keep your ladder in place, especially if using an extension ladder
If you are not comfortable on ladders, it might be best to hire a professional

2. Remove All Debris

Once your ladder is up, it’s best to start by hooking a couple of buckets to your gutters. It’s crucial that before you put weight on your gutters, you make sure they’re not sagging or busted in any areas close to you. Use your gloved hands to remove large pieces of debris, such as large sticks. You can then use your scoop to get out small pieces of debris like leaves, twigs, pine needles, etc. When your gutters are free of debris, you can move on to the next step. This first step might take a little longer depending on how big your guttering system is and how many times you have to move the ladder.

3. Flush Gutters

When you’ve removed all of the debris, you can then flush your gutters. To do this, use a pressure washer to spray dirt and all left behind debris through the gutter system. Be sure to push the water towards the downspout. If you don’t have a power washer, a water hose should work fine as long as you have a nozzle that has pressure adjustments. Be sure that when you’re using a strong stream of water, you do not spray your shingles as this can cause damage or fully knock off your shingles. If you don’t clear enough debris from your gutters before this step, then you’re going to have a much more difficult time.

4. Clear The Downspout

Sometimes when cleaning your gutters, you’ll notice that the water is draining out slowly. This means that you need to clean the downspout. To do this, you’ll want to remove the downspout strainer to clean it out. From the ground, you’ll need to spray into your downspout with your hose or pressure washer to knock out anything that may be stuck inside. If this doesn’t work, you’ll need to use a plumber’s snake in the downspout to dislodge clogs.

5.Remove Clogs

Test your gutters and downspout using your hose. If the water is still not flowing out properly, you will need to figure out where the clogs are and remove them with your gloved hands or scoop. This takes time and effort, but it is an absolutely necessary step. If you’re wondering how to know if your gutters are clogged, it might take some digging around your guttering system.

6. Flush Gutters Again

When you’re confident that everything has been pulled out of your gutter system, it’s time to give your gutters one last flush. Be sure to check for leaks this time instead of just clogs. If your gutters have no leaks and no clogs, then congratulations! Your gutters are clean. If you find another clog, remove it and flush again. Repeat as necessary. If you find a leak, then move on to the next step.

7. Fix Gutter Leaks

For this step, you’ll want to make sure your gutters are completely dry. *This is one of the mega important gutter cleaning tips! This is also a good time to wipe down your gutter exteriors and repaint your gutters and downspouts if desired. To repair leaks, you will need to cover the cracks in your gutters with a sealant. Here are some gutter leak repair tips to keep in mind:

To repair leaks at the end caps, add sealant along the inside of the joint.
To repair leaks at the seams, make sure the gutter lengths are tight against each other, and run a bead of gutter sealant on both sides of all joints.
To repair holes in the gutter material, you will need to hire a professional.

Gutter Cleaning Alternatives

The dread of cleaning your gutters seems to be universal. If you’re a home or business owner, cleaning your gutters is an absolute must. Having a busy lifestyle, inexperience with gutter cleaning, or just the lack of help when it comes to gutter cleaning (because let’s be real, it’s at least a two person job), then you might consider gutter cleaning alternatives. Some gutter guard options include Gutter Helmet and Leaf Filters. Both of these options highly reduce the need for cleaning gutters regularly.

Gutter Helmet

Gutter Helmets are a specific type of gutter guard system designed to keep debris out of your gutters while allowing rainwater to flow through efficiently. The term Gutter Helmet is also a brand name, but it’s often used to refer to similar reverse-curve gutter protection systems. They use a nose-forward, curved design that extends over the edge of the gutter. This design allows water to follow the curve (thanks to surface tension) and flow into the gutter through a small slit, while leaves, pine needles, and other debris are deflected off the edge and fall to the ground.

Leaf Filters

A LeafFilter is a great alternative to cleaning gutters. It’s a type of gutter protection system designed to keep leaves, twigs, and other debris out of your gutters while still allowing water to flow through. A LeafFilter typically consists of a micromesh screen that covers the top of your gutters and is installed at a slight angle to help debris slide off. The goal is to prevent clogs, reduce maintenance, and protect your home from water damage caused by overflowing gutters. This gutter maintenance alternative features a specially angled design that lets water flow in while shedding debris.

Gutter Cleaning Tips From Professional Gutter Cleaners

If the process of cleaning your gutters sounds tiresome, you can always save yourself the energy and call a professional. Here at Rain Guard Inc, our trained professionals can clean your gutters and check for damage, so you don’t have to worry about it. If you’re interested in gutter cleaning alternatives, then we have you covered there too! We carry different types of gutter guards to fit your specific needs.

We are open 5 days a week and we are ready to help you with your gutter cleaning tasks. From new gutters, to downspouts, to underground drainage systems, we will keep your gutters in shape! Contact us today to discuss more gutter cleaning tips!