Cleaning the gutters - not a question

[Bob F]

I have small (3x4) cedar gutters - I just replaced the old ones. When I had the roof re-done, I specified that the roofing MUST allow for easy cleaning of the gutters. The old roof overlapped so there was barely room to get a finger in some places. They made special drip edges which leave the gutter fully open. I made a air blast nozzle with a 10 foot length of copper pipe, a ball valve, and 2 threaded PVC "L"s to point the nozzle any direction. I just walk under the gutter sliding the nozzle along it to blast everything out. The advantage here is the wood gutters which have no spikes or other obstructions to block the nozzle or catch pine needles. I do need to treat them with shake oil every few years.

They do make special extenders for leaf blowers for blowing out gutters.

The rain here in Seattle is usually so light that 2" downspouts are plenty except for maybe 2 or 3 storms a year. Then they overflow a little in a couple spaces - no problem. It almost nevers rains here like the spring rains back east.

You do need to keep the debris from washing down the downspouts if it goes into a drain field.

Bob

[Doug Miller]

If that's a problem, you get the type with a fine mesh (similar to window screen) that doesn't let the little stuff get through. No big deal.

I have well over 200' of gutter on my house. I use the guards with fine mesh in the areas that are under the pine tree, and under the silver maple. They do a fine job of keeping pine needles and maple seeds out of the gutters. On the rest of the house, standard guards do a fine job of keeping leaves out.

[John]

No Gutter Helmet ends easy cleaning of your gutters forever! In my experience, all of the little things, maple seeds, pine needles, and eventually leaf pieces get under there and make a mess. And now you can't just easily scoop them out. Plus the larger pieces build up on top when wet and wick the heavy water flow up and over the gutters onto the ground. But at least they charge a lot of money for the privilege. That's strictly my opinion.

[JimR]

I use a pair of Ecko-brand kitchen tongs, which are small enough to fit through the fairly small gap between the roof overhang and the gutters, yet capable of grabbing whole gobs of leaves and debris -- plus it keeps my hands from getting into fireant nests that sometimes start in the gutters.

Using the tongs and then rinsing down the gutters with a garden hose keeps my gutters in decent shape, despite the huge amount of debris I accumulate (one gutter is about 100' long, and landscape is lined with bald cypress and bamboo, both of which are real litter machines.)

[mike]

Eigenvector wrote: .

Ah-hem. I do. You need to live in other parts of the country.

Here's a rainfall intensity map (Google the term for other examples):

As you can see, we get off easy in terms of rain intensity, but the months of grayness does suck.

[Al Bundy]

[e-mail] (Doug Miller) wrote in news:3S11h.17591$ [e-mail]:

Chain saw.

[Charles Pisano]

Why do we need gutters anyway? My house in Florida was built without them. I've never really missed then either.

And my home in Pa has gutters but they are up high so I guess if I want to keep 'em I have to do the leaf blower extender thing...

CP

[Eigenvector]

Hell if I cut down the Douglas Fir my drain field would overload in a second. The builders routed the drain field right around it in a ring. It's no wonder to me why that tree is 4 feet across and 120 feet tall after

40 years or so.

[Eigenvector]

Yeah I probably shouldn't argue, I've always felt Seattle's reputation for rain is largely undeserved, but when the winds come in November it sure feels like a monsoon. Heck, today my area started out with a drizzle, then turned to rain, then to snow, then sleet, the clear skies.

[hallerb]

the gutters keep rain water from coming off roof hitting ground splashing on home and worse over time eroding the ground around your foundation/

the work around is a gravel bed and drain system around the permiter of your foundation.

so water hits absorbs cant erode and drains away thru a buried in gravel pipe

[Larry Weil]

You don't have to worry about ice in Florida. In colder climates, you want to route the water away from walkways and the like.