I've been cleaning my gutters by leaning the ladder right up against the gutters, but this seems to be a bad long term solution. I see the aluminum gutters being squished in by my weight, and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before I crunch one.
So, it seems that the thing to do is get a ladder stand-off to push the ladder away from the wall so that it clears the gutter. However, when I went around to the local shops (including a Lowes) to get one, they all claim to push the ladder out by 10 inches. Well, my eaves stick out further than that (probably at least a foot) plus the with of the gutter (5 or 6 inches), so there is no way that the one's I have seen are going to help the ladder clear the gutter. I asked for advice from some of the guys at the mom-and-pop type hardware stores, but just got an "I don't know" type answer.
If I lean the ladder up against the wall below the gutter (even with the spacer), I don't think I could safely get my head above gutter height to see what I'm doing.
I've cleaned the gutters from the roof, but the pitch is a bit too steep for me to feel safe - especially if it's a bit wet.
I've heard the idea of sticking a piece of 2x4 in the gutter where you are resting the ladder, but it seems you've got to put the ladder up there and climb up first before you can do that. And then it would obstruct the gunk that you wanted to get out of the gutter.
At the highest places, the gutters are 15 to 20 feet above the ground.
So what's the solution?
Thanks.
-Jonathan