How to Clean Rain Gutters

You know how sometimes you just have a burning desire to clean rain gutters? No? Well most people don’t but still it’s an important job that needs to be done and this TaskEasy tip is all about making cleaning rain gutters easy, so here we go!

First off, rain gutters are meant to protect your home by preventing all the water on your roof, from rain or melting snow, from pouring down the side of your home, or from falling at the base of your home’s foundation and causing erosion or leaking into window wells and basements. I know you probably don’t stay up late at night thinking about how amazing your rain gutters are at protecting your home but… maybe you should.

Okay so before you go all crazy cleaning your rain gutter you need to make sure you have some tools. Below is a quick list of the basics:

• Ladder
• Gloves
• Garden Hose (with spray nozzle)
• Rake
• Trowel
• Bucket or Garbage Bags

#1 When in Doubt Secure the Ladder

Yes I know you’re thinking this is ridiculous to have as the first tip, but you’ll be doing some tricky work cleaning out your gutters and the last thing you want is an unstable ladder. After all our goal here is to have a clean rain gutter and protect your home… not fall off a ladder and put yourself in the hospital!

#2 Debris Be Gone

Now that your ladder is secure and you’re wearing gloves (safety first remember) let’s go to town on these gutters. The stuff that you’ll find in your rain gutters can very from leaves and branches to barbie dolls and little animals and everything inbetween. So using a hand trowel or rake (with a smaller head) go about cleaning it. Keep in mind though to be careful while cleaning because you don’t want to damage your gutters.

#3 Time to Rinse

With your rain gutters mostly clean, grab your hose with spray nozzle and flush out any dirt or any remaining debris. Be thorough here because the way the water from your hose reacts with your rain gutter is pretty much the same way rain and melting snow will react with it.

#4 Double Check, Triple Check

Now that your rain gutter has water in it (and it should be acting like every little good rain gutter should) check to see if there are any clogs. A lot of clogs will happen in the down spout so check what's going on there. And while you’re checking the downspout see if the water that’s coming out is going in the right spot. The last thing you want is water coming out your rain gutter and creating a giant puddle near the base of your home.

#5 If it’s Broken, Fix It

Now that your rain gutter is all squeaky clean, check to see if there are any repairs that need to be made. During winter, a lot of weight from snow and ice can really hurt your rain gutter so making sure that it’s in tip top shape now is critical. Check all the points of contact that the rain gutter has with your home and double/triple check that it’s fastened down correctly.

#6 A Rain Gutter’s Best Friend

Pro-tip of the day for cleaning your rain gutter is to get a rain gutter cover. These allow the water to flow into your rain gutter but prevents a lot of the leaves and other debris from clogging things up. Of course getting rain gutter covers will not completely remove your need to clean your gutters but it will be a tremendous help!

Now these tips probably aren’t ground breaking but they’re important so use them. And as always if you’re afraid of heights and you don’t enjoy digging leaves out of rain gutters feel free to use the team at TaskEasy to solve your problems… because cleaning rain gutters is pretty much our favorite thing to do.