Gutter cleaning

[Gib Bogle]

Our new house has a roof with what they call Decramastic tiles - these are steel tiles coated with tar then fine gravel. By now most of the gravel is in the gutters, along with assorted organic matter. I'm tossing up the idea of trying to clean the gutters (rather than pay someone to do it). There is about an inch and a half of sediment, amounting to a large volume, since these are big square gutters. Is there any alternative to scooping the stuff out with a trowel? The house is two-story, making any method rather uncomfortable.

[Emil Tiades]

Ground level, remove last bit of gutter drain pipe Sieve under drain pipe

2nd floor level, clamp hose pipe on gutter opposite end of drain pipe. Starting from top of drain pipe and going towards hope pipe, brush off sediment. Rubbish is collected in sieve.

I do my gutters every year. Dead easy.

[George (dicegeorge)]

Bware:about half of all accidents DIYing are falls I'm not sure of the safest way to do gutters up a ladder which is why I'm leaving mine alone ....

Is there a fixing I can buy to attach to the chimneys to attach a rope to?

[g]

[Bob Eager]

Could use this (mentioned in the IET magazine, which is where I saw it):

[Malcolm Race]

?Use a ladder stand off - it means you don't have to lean backwards and because it is at least twice the width of the ladder it is much more stable

Malcolm

[The Medway Handyman]

Spot on Malcolm, I never go up a ladder without one. I also use a Ladder Mat

(halfway down the page) which makes things a whole lot safer.

Best way of cleaning gutters is a set of drain rods with a drop scraper

Means you can stay in one place & scrape the muck to you. Then use a bucket on a rope.

[Chris J Dixon]

Chris

[Gib Bogle]

I've contracted a guy with a suction machine. His fee seems a very reasonable price to avoid risking death or disablement - NZ $170.

[Bob Eager]

And wallet!

[Emil Tiades]

Does the NZ $ 170 fee includes his expenses to come to UK?

[Gib Bogle]

Yep.

[Steve Firth]

Is he walking?

[George (dicegeorge)]

theres a secret tunnel from a hobbit hole in nz to glastonbury, he'll probably stick his sucker tube down/up it.

[Gib Bogle]

Swimming

[Paul Matthews]

Get a price. It cost me £20 to have my gutters cleaned, and there was stuff growing in some. Large detached, so quite a bit of gutter to clean too.

£20 to not work at the top of a ladder for a couple of hours is good value to me.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I made a 20' long shepard's crook copper pipe with the end hammered flat to make a fan shaped jet. This hooks over the edge of the gutter with the hosepipe connected to the other end, and you drag it along from the ground. That length of copper pipe is very unstable -- you have to carry it carefully holding it vertical without water in it or the pipe will bend. Iron pipe would be better.

It worked well. A good deal of the dirt gets washed over the edge of the gutter, so you have to hose down the front of the house afterwards, and you need to wear waterproofs and most importantly goggles, or you end up with your eyes full of the sandy silt.

It also provided much entertainment for the neighbours, who came outside to watch me covering myself with silt.

First time I did it, it blew some loose rubber seals out of the guttering, but having put it back together properly, that didn't happen again. I replaced most of the guttering about

3 years ago, and the new guttering has remained clear and not needed cleaning, possibly because the water channel is still smooth and shiney.