Gutter Cleaning Tips for Greater Safety at Your Home

If you’re like most homeowners, you probably don’t love cleaning out your gutters. It is a task that needs to be done a couple times a year, but one most people would probably be perfectly happy to skip altogether. Nevertheless, it is a necessary task to ensure your gutters remain in good condition and to prevent water from spilling out and damaging the foundation surrounding your home and garage.

If you’re going to clean out your gutters, you may as well do it properly and safely. With this in mind, here are a few tips for cleaning your gutters in Pensacola, FL that you can employ the next time you need to tackle this particular job.

Use ladders safely

In most cases, you’re going to need to use a ladder to be able to get up high enough to reach into your gutters. Therefore, make sure you practice good ladder safety when taking on this job. You should always let another person know you’ll be up on a ladder and, if possible, have someone out with you to supervise and steady the ladder if needed. Make sure the ladder itself is safe and sturdy and in good condition. Ideally it will have a shelf that is strong enough to hold a bucket to collect debris. We recommend using a four-legged step ladder made out of metal or fiberglass. Wooden ladders are generally wobbly and difficult to balance.

If you’re going to be cleaning your gutters for a long time, be sure to take breaks, as being up on top of a ladder can ultimately throw off your balance.

Use the proper tools

To complete the job quickly and safely, make sure you have the proper tools on hand. You can use a garden hose with a pistol-grip spray nozzle to allow you to adjust the water pressure. This can help you spray some of the debris out of the gutters.

We also recommend using a gutter scoop to get out the heavy, leafy debris. Just make sure you don’t use a metal scooping tool, because this could damage the interior of the gutter. Get a plastic scooping tool instead, which you’ll be able to find at most hardware stores.

Protect your hands and eyes

You should always wear gloves when cleaning out your gutters, because you can never be entirely certain what sorts of substances you’ll encounter. The rotting debris can include bird and animal droppings that are full of bacteria. You might also encounter sharp metal or other materials, so having thick gloves can prevent cuts. You should use gloves made with a thick suede material.

Eye protection can also be beneficial, especially if you’re going to be spraying out the gutters with a hose. You can use simple protective eyewear that you’d find in a workshop or lab.

For more information about the steps you can take to practice better gutter safety in Pensacola, FL, or to schedule professional cleaning and avoid the DIY job altogether, we encourage you to contact the team at Gutter Master today.

Categorised in: Cleaning Gutters

This post was written by Writer