Top 4 Gutter Cleaning Tools
In order for your gutters to work properly, they will need to be cleaned between two and four times each year. You can attempt to do this by hand while wearing a pair of thick gloves, but utilizing a few tools will make the job go much faster with less need for elbow grease. Here are the top four tools to consider when gutter cleaning.
Gutter Vacuum
A gutter vacuum is not an actual vacuum, but rather an accessory tool that can be attached to your Shop-Vac. It is specially designed to reach safely inside your gutters so you can suck up any dirt, leaves, or debris that have fallen inside the gutter. You can use this tool while standing on the ground if you live in a one-story home. Otherwise, you'll need a ladder to reach the gutters.
Gutter Cleaning Robot
There are several gutter cleaning robots on the market that can do a lot of the cleaning for you. Traditional gutter cleaning involves getting up and down a ladder multiple times to wash out different sections of your gutter, but the robot eliminates the need to do this. Start the robot at one end of your gutter, use the remote to move it along, and pick it back up at the opposite end of the gutter.
Gutter Tongs
Gutter tongs resemble the tongs you use to pick up the lettuce in your salad. They work exactly the same way too. The best part is they fit on extension wands, which means you can even use them to reach into the gutters on your second floor and pull out all the leaves. This is especially helpful if you have pine needles you need to clean up, as those will prick you if you try to grab them with your bare hands.
Pressure Washer
A pressure washer may be a tool that you already have handy. As long as you follow the operating manual, you shouldn't have any problem blasting dirt and debris away. While you have the pressure washer out, go ahead and clean any leaves or twigs off your roof so that they don't end up falling into the gutters at a later date.
Keeping up with gutter cleaning and maintenance will reduce the chances of your gutters leaking or cracking. In addition, you won't have to worry about wood rot from your clogged gutters not being able to do the job they were intended to do. These tools are excellent in reducing the amount of overall time you spend keeping your gutters spic and span.