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What should you look for in a gutter guard system?

Unlike some manufacturers of gutter guards would have you believe, gutter guard technology is far from rocket science. Consider what it is you are trying to accomplish……keeping leaves from clogging the rain gutter so that the water collected in the gutter can flow freely to the downspouts. If the gutter gets clogged, thereby forming a dam of sorts, water will overflow. It will overflow the front of the gutter resulting in pooling around the base of the house which can cause costly damage to the crawlspace area or basement. The water build up in the gutter will moreover seep over the back of the gutter where it attaches to the fascia board & cause rotting of that wood. So what’s the best & most economical way to prevent all of this? What should you look for in choosing a guard?

Well first off be sure that the guard is made of a sturdy material. Inexpensive plastic guards that are readily available at home improvement stores may hold up for a year, yet after wet leaves, or snow put a heavy weight on them they will simply collapse into the gutter & donate leaves a place to stick inside the gutter, actually causing more harm than good.

Secondly select a guard with a screen that is small enough to keep large debris out of the gutter.

Then be sure that the guard is constructed in such a way as to allow air to flow under the accumulated leaves in order to allow the wind to blow the leaves off, & moreover to assist dry them out when they are wet.

Avoid guards that go under your roof shingles & attach to the roof itself. This could cause problems in regard to your roof warranty.

Be sure that the guards will not allow a waterfall effect during periods of heavy rain. Some guards will allow runoff from the roof to overshoot the gutter completely, in which case you may as well not even have gutters.

And finally be sure that there is no large gap to allow leaves to blow into the gutter because once those leaves obtain in there, it is nearly impossible to clean them out properly. Also, birds & bees find these openings lead them to a nice sheltered environment to build nests & hives. And very often this type of guard is the most expensive.

So with all that being said take a look at the website www.everythinggutter.com & see what Gutter RX has to offer. Guaranteed not to clog, economical & sturdy, once installed you can forget you even have gutters. And a lifetime of gutter related issues is a thing of the past.


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Best Gutter Cleaning Products

       When it comes time to clean your gutters, aside from ladders, pressure washers, & a variety of buckets, there aren’t a lot of advertised products designed to reduce your overall time on the ladder. From robots to pressure washer attachments, scoops to gutter tongs, these products are designed to save you time & money, so maintaining vital efficiency of your gutters will be a much smoother & safer task.

Without a doubt, using a pressure washer is the best method for cleaning gutters. Debris & sediment won’t stand a chance against the force of the water, & the grime & film that couldn’t typically be removed using a pair of gloves is effortlessly blasted away. However, using a pressure washer on a ladder has some obvious safety concerns, & there have been many serious injuries resulting from homeowners falling from ladders while trying to negotiate cleaning, balancing, & using a pressure washer. But with a wand & a gutter cleaning attachment – such as the Apache Gutter Cleaner Spray Tip – cleaning gutters is a breeze, & as safe as it gets. The attachment is designed to fit virtually every type of power washer extension wand, rendering the use of a ladder unnecessary.

Not looking to own a pressure washer in the near future? Gutter tongs are another option for those that wish to clean safely from the ground. Gutter tongs, like the Ultimate Rain Gutter Cleaning Tool, can be attached to standard extension poles & are light enough to easily reach gutters on two-story homes. The jaws are opened, clamped around debris, & easily lifted to remove the sediment & foliage found in your gutters. The tongs can moreover clamp onto your garden hose nozzle, allowing you to operate the spigot to flush out smaller debris that might have been missed without having to repeatedly scale the ladder or recruit a friend.

Gutter scoops are another alternative to pressure washer cleaning, yet unlike the washer extension or the gutter tongs, the scoop requires the use of a ladder. Gutter scoops are cheap & available at nearly every hardware store, so getting your hands on one shouldn’t be a problem. It works well for debris that’s a little tougher to grab by hand, like seeds, pine needles, & muddy sediment, yet when you’re already up on the ladder, trying to juggle a bucket & your balance, adding another gutter cleaning tool into the mix seems a bit risky. Most homeowners would say that just using gloves is sufficient yet if you have a lot of sludge in your gutter channel, finding a safe way to use a bucket & a scoop on a ladder should be on your to-do list.

If you’re completely opposed to manually cleaning your gutters, hiring a professional service will be your best choice.

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Ladder Safety for Gutter Maintenance

      When using a ladder to service your gutters or, honestly, for any reason at all, safety should always be your number one concern. Annually, there are approximately 222,000 people taken to the emergency room for ladder-related injuries. What’s more, many of these accidents occur because of improper ladder use, & could have been prevented simply by taking a few precautions before hopping on the ladder. Follow these guidelines for safe ladder usage & to prevent a trip to the hospital.

First & foremost, avoid using a ladder alone. Having a friend assist while you’re working can make your job infinitely safer, & can donate you an extra set of hands on the ground. Give the whole ladder a thorough inspection to ensure the ladder is solid & completely free of rust or visible damage. Make sure the ground you’ll be setting the ladder on is a firm, even surface, free of ice, water, & loose debris. Also, remember to look up & spot the power lines before carrying or using your ladder, & always avoid using metal ladders around electrical hazards.

The proper angle for setting up an extension ladder is based on how tall the ladder is; the base of the ladder from the side of your house should always be a quarter of the total height of the ladder. For instance, if your extension ladder is 12 ft. high, the base of the ladder should be 3 ft. away from the side of the house. When positioning your ladder, don’t lean the ladder against your gutters – not only do you risk crushing or damaging them, yet the coating on your gutters is slick & offers very little resistance against your ladder, thus greatly reducing the stability of the ladder in general.

When you’re ready to make the climb, have your friend hold the base of the ladder while you scale it, always maintaining the three points of contact (2 feet/1 hand or 2 hands/1 foot). Never extend your arms over your head to reach your gutters, because you’ll swing your center of gravity too high & end up in the ER. The same principle applies to extending your reach too far laterally, as well- if you remember to keep your body centered & between the stringers of your ladder to maintain stability, you shouldn’t have any problems. Granted, you’ll have to climb up & down the ladder several times to reposition it as you work along the gutter run, yet your patience will be rewarded with satisfactory health & unbroken bones.

Lastly, as always, make sure to thank your friend for their time & patience, & be sure to return the favor as shortly as you can.

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