Cleaning the gutter doesn’t have to be hard!
It’s a chore many people forget about or ignore, even though it’s quite essential: cleaning the gutter. If your gutters are clogged and water can’t get away, you can end up with flooding and water leaks. That’s why it’s important to properly clean your gutters at least once a year.
Gutters
Every house has multiple gutters that drain rain water via rain pipes. Over time a lot of debris can accumulate there: leaves, twigs, moss and dirt are usually the biggest culprits. When all of this debris heaps up, rain water has no way of getting away, which can have nasty consequences. The water remains on the roof, flows out into unwanted spots or leaks straight through the roof. You’re in much more trouble when that happens! So, cleaning the gutters is definitely the better option.
Spring
A lot of people dread this particular chore because they think it’s a lot of hard work, but it doesn’t actually have to be terrible if you follow these tips! The best time of year to clean your gutters is during spring time. Generally speaking, cleaning them once a year should be enough, but do you live in a place with a lot of trees, for example? Then you might want to clean them twice a year.
This is what you need:
- ladder
- gloves
- garden trowel
- garbage bag or can
- scouring pad or steel brush (if need be)
- garden hose
This is how you do it:
First, pay attention to how you place your ladder; don’t put it too vertically, but don’t put it too slanted either. There’s an easy way to make sure you’ve placed it correctly. Place your ladder against the roof and then stand before it with your feet touching the legs of the ladder. Reach your arms out in front of you. If you can grab the ladder with stretched arms, your ladder is placed safely!
- Scoop: Use the garden trowel to scoop all of the loose debris out of the gutter and into your garbage bag. This works best if the debris is slightly wet. You could spray it with your garden hose to make things easier.
- Flush: Next, use the garden hose to flush the gutter. Put the hose inside the gutter and slowly move the nozzle closer to the rain pipe. You can scrub away stubborn filth with a scouring pad or steel brush if need be. Do be careful not to spray mud all over your roof, though.
- Rinse: After you’ve cleaned everything, use the garden hose to rinse the gutter and flush it through one last time.
Read more: With THIS trick your windows will shine like never before!
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Image: Pixabay