Gutter cleaning tool

[riptides]

I need a good gutter cleaning tool that can do two story work. My SO is NOT fond of holdiing the ladder. Quite frankly when the wasp was coming around my head, I decided she was right.

So I am open for suggestions. I should have never put gutters on the house in the first place.

I need something that can do wet work too. Not just dry leaves.

TIA
-Mike Z.

 

[sawdust_maker]

I need a good gutter cleaning tool that can do two story work. My SO is NOT fond of holdiing the ladder. Quite frankly when the wasp was coming around my head, I decided she was right.

So I am open for suggestions. I should have never put gutters on the house in the first place.

I need something that can do wet work too. Not just dry leaves.

TIA
-Mike Z.

We've gone through the gutter guards. They have caused more problems than they are worth. Some are hornet hotels, the rest just get crudded up with the cottonwood gunk and other seeds.

I use a combination of things, although most of our gutters are only 1 story up.

A high pressure hose to get rid of any wasp nests in advance.

A Little Giant ladder to climb up there when I need to. Its sturdy and easy to configure for the exact spot I need it, plus it has a wider stance than my old extension ladder had.

I've made a few useful toys. I've got a leaf blower/vacuum. For the blower, I used a rubber gasket with some hose clamps to put a 135 degree bend on the end made of pvc pipe. So now my blower can be used to blow down and off to the side. I blow out the junk I can reach.

When the gutters are dry enough, I made another attachment for the vacuum nozzle, this one is just a 180 bend in 5 inch pvc. Again, its attached with a rubber coupling to the vacuum tube. This will suck out any crud it can reach. Both of these tools are perfect for all our first story gutters, and I can pull off the couplings in a matter of seconds with a screwdriver. (I also always use a GFI protected extension cord.)

For higher gutters I took a long piece of copper pipe, added garden hose fittings to one end with a ball valve to control the flow. At the other end, I put a 135 degrees worth of elbows on it, then I add a high pressure nozzle. I used type L 1/2 inch copper pipe for strength. I made another out of 3/4 inch copper pipe. Its more rigid yet, but it would be heavy when filled with water. A pvc version would probably work too.

John

 

[JimWalch]

I need a good gutter cleaning tool that can do two story work. My SO is NOT fond of holdiing the ladder. Quite frankly when the wasp was coming around my head, I decided she was right.

So I am open for suggestions. I should have never put gutters on the house in the first place.

I need something that can do wet work too. Not just dry leaves.

TIA
-Mike Z.

I use one of these: GUTTER KIT MODEL GA-2010 OrderTree - Poulan | Parts & Accessories Blower Attachments f
or a weedeater blower. Only thing is the way i use this is with the gutter kit backwards. Made an adapter to suck instead of blowing the leaves out of the gutters. Blowing them out of the gutter and on the roof and having them back in the gutter in five min. was not the answer. Not to mention that the gutters usuall have water or wet leaves in them and blowing this out and getting wet leaves on my face is not fun.

 

[Bird]

I bought the Orbit one piece telescoping wand with gutter cleaner from Lowe's. I had seen some cheaper ones that didn't look like they'd last long, but this one seems to be really heavy duty. It comes with a shut-off valve and I also made up fittings so I can use it with with water or with compressed air. Of course, it's only 5' long so I guess for a two story home, you might need to rig an extension.

 

[ToadHill]

If you have a power washer, Harbor Freight sells a 20ft. extension wand similar to the one Bird showed. I have a two story house and this works well for me.

 

[riptides]

Appreciate it but I also need to clean out the insides. So this makes it 1/2 way there.

Thanks!

 

[Travelover]

I bought the Orbit one piece telescoping wand with gutter cleaner from Lowe's. I had seen some cheaper ones that didn't look like they'd last long, but this one seems to be really heavy duty. It comes with a shut-off valve and I also made up fittings so I can use it with with water or with compressed air. Of course, it's only 5' long so I guess for a two story home, you might need to rig an extension.

Bird, does a lot of water rain down on you when you use this thing?

 

[2manyrocks]

Manlift or helicopter.

 

[NuBota]

I have two story house with walkout basement - so gutter in the back is three stories. Have a forty foot ladder, went up once and said "never again". Roof pitch is too steep to come from the front. I live in the woods, so lots of leaves.

I tried a bunch on contraptions and methods and settled on this...

Gutter Sense Rain Gutter Cleaning Tool

Picked up a 30' extension pole (for window cleaning)

It is not easy working this thing at 3 stories, but I have it down after a couple of years. Neck and shoulders get stiff. Wear a rain coat and eye protection. It's tedious, but works great. Two stories should be a breeze

 

[riptides]

Bird, does a lot of water rain down on you when you use this thing?

I'll bet it does if the gutters are clogged.

 

[Chuck52]

My roof has a low enough pitch that I can walk along and blow out the gutters with my electric leaf blower. Works wet or dry, though I have to concentrate on the wet gunk a bit. A gas model would be easier so you wouldn't have to move the wire. Probably many folks can't do it this way because of too steep a pitch, but an extension for a strong gas job might work from the ground except for the three story places. I always blow the stuff off the roof while I'm up there and since it accumulates in the valleys that's probably a good idea in itself. I also must say that climbing up on the roof used to be way easier, though I always sit and admire the view for a while after making the climb.

Chuck

 

[riptides]

I have a metal roof. No way I set foot on it. Pitch is not the issue.

 

[beenthere]

The reason I leave the gutters off the house. Handle the water after it hits the ground.

 

[JB4310]

Well I'm a glorified gutter cleaner, been a part of my building maintenance business over the years. I clean some gutters you could lay down in, and are 60 feet off the ground.

But as far as residential gutters go, for the most part, IMO, those clean from the ground gadgets are not going to work adequately. for some they may be ok but not the majority.

JB.

 

[Murray B]

I need a good gutter cleaning tool that can do two story work.

My eavestroughs are thirteen feet off the ground and I do not like heights. Until recently I was hiring people to clean them but that is expensive. This year I purchased a GCB cleaning tool from a company in Florida. It works as advertised and they say it is good for 20' with extensions.

The tool needs a wet/dry vacuum with 2.5" hose. I used a Shop Vac brand model 85P450 with 9.1 Amp motor. It worked fine and took up the mud and stones too. [I still don't understand how small stones got up there.] It also seemed to work okay, but slower, with my dad's old Shop Vac brand model 725A with 5.6 Amp motor. In both cases I was using the pleated paper filter so there was no dust or other mess.

Now I can clean my eavestroughs any time I want.

 

[riptides]

Thanks for the reply, I'll check it out.

This past winter, I did not have to clean my gutters. I just had to pay someone to reattach them, twice.

 

[Murray B]

Thanks for the reply, I'll check it out.

This past winter, I did not have to clean my gutters. I just had to pay someone to reattach them, twice.

You are welcome. It sounds like you have unusual gutters if they fall off. That can't be good.

 

[riptides]

You are welcome. It sounds like you have unusual gutters if they fall off. That can't be good.

We had unusual heavy snow, at least three times. They didn't really fall, just sort of bent over on themselves.