Cleaning Gutters FAQ

I assume the the brush unscrews from the pole.

DIY a wooden semi circular plate to attach to your pole (or a shaped plate to the the profile of your guttering.)

Obtain a plastic end cap for your guttering, cut out the end wall and reduce its profile so it fits inside the gutter and attach that to your pole.

Attach the rubber end from a cheap sink plunger to your pole

Make one! A simple piece of ply, MDF or aluminium shaped to fit in the gutter and attached to a pole at the angle you want

The slates overhang the gutter by a margin. Getting an item that's actually gutter-shaped into the gutter, risks damage to the slates. Then there's the P clips that hold the (plastic) gutter - they always get in the way.

I have a long tube with a hooked end made to fit to my power washer. However, using it also requires wearing a hooded waterproof boiler suit, goggles, face mask, rubber glove and wellingtons, as everything cascades out of the gutter onto the operator below.

Cleaning gutters above lean-to conservatories on bungalows is particularly difficult IME, if the roof of the conservatory fits under the existing bungalow guttering. There was a time when I would get up there, lay planks and clear the gutter by hand, but not any more, due to my deteriorating sense of balance, so a couple of years go I installed 'hedgehogs' (long, enormous pipe-cleaner brush things (e.g.

That's part of why, when I built our conservatory, I built it with a

The same is likely to be the case with any commercially bought equipment.

Make the plate much smaller than the gutter profile but shape it to scrape along the bottom of the gutter and when turned sideways to scrape along the sides. The debris will normally be at the bottom of the gutter and you need to draw that towards you.

Irrespective of mechanical cleaning I've also found it beneficial to use a garden hose with a jet attachment to flush the gutter after removing the majority of debris.

Errr, make it small enough to fit(!) and, if helpful, hinge it so that it folds flat when moved in one direction

Over the years I’ve either done it myself from the roof where it is high - the geometry of our house is unusual - our had a chap who knocked on the door with a ladder do it for £40 but he hasn’t been around for a couple of years and Senior Management moaned when I wanted to go on the roof. She thinks I’m getting too old. So, we used a local company which using a glorified vacuum cleaner.

It looked like a giant ‘wet and dry’ vacuum, with a long hose etc.

The rear of our house is probably a bit higher than a typical modern two storey house but he did most of the work from the ground. It was slightly complicated due to our having that one piece gutting which had rods inside to mount it.

The still used a ladder to check the gutter was clear and remove the old ‘mole’ fit a new one ( the giant loo brush thing to stop leaves clogging the gutter.

Certainly it was quick.

He cleared two 51 ft cutters far quicker than I do with a brush etc.

I also move the drainpipe exit from over the drain and just let it wash onto the path. Apart from the seed debris (sycamore and ash), there's now a fair amount of "tile powder" as they're about 60 years old. I don't want that entering the drains as it's heavy. Fortunately this is a bungalow and it's relatively easy to climb up a ladder and get the hose jet to move the debris along the gutter and down the drainpipe.

Make up a few litres of bio washing liquid diluted with water, and pour into the end of the gutters away from the down pipe. Repeat every month or so until the problem has gone away. I killed the weeds growing in one of my gutters (it’s slightly overhung by trees and a favourite place for pigeons), which disappeared and none returned for two years. Summer/Autumn temperatures will speed the enzyme action.