Leaf blower and vaccuum on top of roof

Hi:

I need some advise as to the lightest leaf vaccuum that I can use in the following situation.

I have a courtyard style home - the house itself wraps around a central courtyard with a pool in the middle. There are a few large trees on the outside and their leaves will fall on to the roof and into the pool, so an overhead screen enclosure was erected to keep leaves and insects out. Here are two pics and it's easier to see than describe:

formatting link
you can see, there is a valley or built-in gutter around the entire perimeter which now traps the leaves, there are also leaves on the lowest part of the screen.

The challenge is how to clean the leaves out.

I cannot use a blower since there is no where to blow, would end up landing on another part of the gutter or screen anyways. I cannot clean the gutter from below on a ladder because the screen is in the way. So I need to get a leaf vaccuum.

I noticed that are four kind - electric corded, electric rechargeable, backpack and gas. My concerns is basically I am little afraid of height, walking on that roof is ok, but I am concerned about walking on that roof with a 15 pound blower that may cause me to lose balance when changing directions, or if I have to lean over to get the leave on the low side of the screen. So I need the lightest possible blower that would work as a vaccuum for leaves, but in researching the matter everyone seems to think gas blower is the only way to go. Also, the courtyard is about 50 feet by

45 feet so if I use an electric one I need a very long cord I would think.

Any suggestions on what brand/model blower/vaccuum I need? or if you have another idea to do the job without the risk I rather not have to do it, hiring someone to do it is a posssibility but the normal lawn people will hesitate to go up to the roof as they don't carry insurance if they fall for any reason is my problem again.

Thank you for your time.

MC

Reply to
MiamiCuse
Loading thread data ...
[snip]>
[snip]

I, too, don't like the idea of trying to walk around on a sloping roof carrying a heavy vacuum. There are probably a few factors that don't come out in your post or pictures -- e.g., how many leaves are we talking about; where does the rainwater drain out, etc.

Some ideas / suggestions you may have already considered:

  1. From my experience -- using a blower to blow leaves out of a gutter isn't effective (as you said). Leaves go everywhere.
  2. You may have another problem -- you don't want to be walking on your roof tile any more than necessary
  3. An outdoor vacuum may not be very effective, especially if the leaves mat up and are wet
  4. There is a gas-engined power head to which you can add various accessories -- one of the accessories is a vacuum. Ryobi, John Deere, and others make the power head and accessories. Don't go that route because it's too awkward and heavy.
  5. My first efforts would be to use something I didn't have to carry -- a. A regular garden hose with a good nozzle, assuming there are few enough leaves to wash them down the downspout where the rainwater goes; b. Or a small electric pressure washer if you need a little more oomph. You'd have to carry the unit to the roof plus run electricity and water to the unit, but electric pressure washers are light-weight and comparatively inexpensive. c. If you have a good number of leaves, and they're wet, sweep the leaves down the gutter with a broom and then pick them up manually with one of those 3' long grabbers available at the BORGs. d. If I had to use a vacuum, I'd take the wheels off a light-weight wet-dry shop-vac (one with 2 1/2" diameter hose), buy an extra length of hose for more range, then carry everything onto the roof and use the 6' wand and a medium nozzle to pick up the leaves (actually, in this case you could probably use the same equipment attached to the blower end to first-of-all corral all of the leaves in one small area).
  6. Also, before anything else, I'd look to see what my neighbors in similar houses do --

Regards --

Reply to
JimR

If I understand you correctly, there is a grating (grill) over your gutter. If your gutter isn't draining, maybe what you need is a snake for you down spout.

- Bill Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

Reply to
Bill Rose

I had a similar situation and hired the gutter guys to do it. Then they designed a nifty gutter guard system so it would not happen again. The problems is with the screen enclosure design- they never put enough consideration into the maintenance end of things.

Reply to
Buderschnookie

wrt blowers I now use a corded one and its fine for single blowing yard use; I used to own a pro gas model, and it came with a free vacuum attachment (an echo option), but I can't comment cause I never used/needed it. I bet it would be great sucking out window wells. The tube may be larger than a shop-vac's (4" instead of 2" for example). I would think a rechargable would do a decent single purpose job. Maybe test drive them.

You may conside an extension pole, and/or something to step on. It'd be concerned with creating a clean-out opening option. Maybe a combination or suck/blow/water blast. Or just flop it down (a 16" high gated hinged window mesh/ wire frame) and use a rake. I have down crazy things to get at leaves. After you've done it thousand times, nothing is dumb

Reply to
bent

It is very rare for anyone to be satisfied with the performance of any of the handheld leaf vacs. They just don't create enough vacuum to pick up much.

I don't have a solution to your problem except my advice to look at something other than a handheld vac. Sorry...

Reply to
Art

I looked at a Stihl leaf sucker/shredder a couple of weeks ago that was kind of interesting. It was on sale at the local fix-it shop for $279. (I let it go cuz I'm a cheapskate)

You also could wait for a very windy day to blow the leaves. :-) A long hose -- at least 3/8" -- from an air compressor on the ground would handle that.

Bob

Reply to
zxcvbob

I think I'm starting to see Frag's problem.

- Bill Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

Reply to
Bill Rose

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.