Clearing guttering

I can show you how NOT to do it

Last time (ok time before actually) I cleared mine, I was rewarded with a handful of dead chick ...

On Saturday 21 September 2013 17:32 Cursitor Doom wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Hose on a stick with a loop at the top so you can gently flush the gutters down the downpipes?

Depending on whether you want the crud down your drains or not, you may need a sieve at the bottom of the downpipe.

Step ladder & hosepipe.

No pleasant way unfortunately. The easiest way is to don a stout pair of gloves and clean all the bulky rubbish out by hand and into a bucket, and then use a hose pipe to wash the remainder away (don't forget to clean out the rainwater gulley[s] after).

As for the "silty earth", if you have concrete tiles then it's usually the surface aggregate that's 'rubbed off of the tile' by the rainwater over several years (my 40ish year old roof was a b***ard for it before I had it renewed).

Cash

Cursitor Doom grunted in news:l1khni$p1k$1@dont- email.me:

Er - no.

But once they're clear, fit some of this stuff:

There won't be anything too fearful in there. Just get stuck in. Unless you have some poisonous trees overhead (yew etc), put the detritus in your compost bin. It's all good stuff. It's good clean muck and WILL wash off. Bungalow level.... consider yourself fortunate. Hth Nick.

It's reindeer s*it.

Bill

Had some jobbing fascia guys fix a bit of guttering for me recently, on the proviso they clean the gutters at the back of the house. Opened the door to let them in, but they never came. 30 minutes later the gaffer said all done. I said they hadn't cleaned the rear gutters. Then the Mrs piped up they had. Turns out they did it from the roof. Gaffer called the lad over to confirm, and he said they always did it from the roof for bungalows.

Well, that's five minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Why didn't the dozy f***er fall off?

Is unfortunately the correct answer. I did mine two days ago :-(

Seconded. If you have trees adjacent to your property it is very good indeed. Does not stop the very fine particles but excellent against leaves and lumps of moss. I first tried it on a section of guttering that always needed clearing a couple of times a year and the next year fitted it all round.

Take 'em off, clean and refit with the correct amount of fall?

I've never lived anywhere that has ever suffered blocked gutters. Not lived in a place with with a large leafed tree overhanging the roof though. We have birches close here but they have small leaves.

Or have people got a fettish about having spotless gutters?

Errosion from the roof tiles, dust blown up there or falling with the rain, every rain drop has a particle of dust in it.

Something I half wish I was ignorant about and 100% glad I am wiser now for seeing:

Rain, trees birds slate wear and tear etc, I'd imagine. brian

I recall someone not too far away buying a new pressure washer and tried to use it to clear gutters, what a mess.. oh dear. brian

There's a franchise thing now that uses a long hose vacuum cleaner. They give you a before and after video apparently. Handy for locations where access is difficult

Many years ago I rigged up a temporary tool for this job. Piece of 1/4" ply cut to the profile of the bottom of the gutter mounted on the end of a lon g lath. This enable me to pull the crap towards me whence I can scoop it wi th a rubber gloved hand into a bucket.

Temporary ? Its still going strong. Very handy

I use a drop scraper on a set of drain rods to the same effect...