Good old-fashioned gutter cleaning in Sacramento

Good old-fashioned gutter cleaning in Sacramento - Tips to Stay Safe 

Summer is the time of year to get your house in order before winter sets in. For most homeowners, this means it is once again time for a good, old-fashioned gutter cleaning. Here is some Tip to Clean your gutters in the safe way.  

“At its best, gutter cleaning is a tedious and disgusting task. At worst, it can be scary and downright dangerous. One slight misstep and you are heading to the hospital with a broken bone and bruised ego,”

Call for service in your area. (916) 254-2693

• Ladder Safety:

1. Always let someone know you will be using a ladder to work on your roof or gutters. 
1. Use a safe and sturdy ladder, preferably with a small shelf strong enough to hold a five-gallon bucket to collect gutter debris. 
2. Make sure to secure the bucket with a lanyard. 
3. We recommend a four-legged stepladder for a single-story home, and an extension ladder for a two-story home.
4. An orchard ladder is not recommended because there are only three legs for support and they can become unbalanced.
5. Wooden ladders are not recommended because they are often wobbly and difficult to safely balance. 
6. Fiberglass ladders seem to be the sturdiest, but are also the heaviest. 
7. If you are cleaning gutters for hour upon hour, muscle fatigue can set in from moving the heavy ladder numerous times. 
8. If this is the case, you should try using an aluminum ladder, which is the second-choice option for strength and support.
9. Inspect the ladder for defects, dents or loose parts before climbing. 
10. If your ladder is fastened together with screws and bolts, make sure all parts are tightened. 
11. When opening up a stepladder, make sure the extension-hinge arms are fully extended and locked in place.
12. Before climbing the ladder lightly jump on the first rung a few times to make sure the ground is secure. 
13. Sometimes the soil is soft, or there might be a gopher hole underneath one of the ladder legs. Either condition could cause the ladder to collapse under the combined weight of the ladder and a person. 
14. When climbing the ladder, always remember the “three point rule.” As much as possible try to have both legs and one hand firmly secure on the ladder at all times to provide stability and balance while cleaning. 
15. Conversely, do not lean out from the ladder, balancing on one leg while using two hands to clean debris from the gutter. 
16. It is often this stretching and reaching for that last scoop of debris that lands a person in the hospital. 
17. Lastly, if at all possible, have someone hold the ladder to provide additional safety while climbing.

• Garden Hose:

1. To use a garden hose with normal water pressure (30-40 psi - the standard for municipal water services)
2. Simply attach a pistol-grip trigger spray nozzle. This type of spray nozzle allows you to adjust the water pressure with just one hand and to easily hang it on the front edge of the gutter while moving the ladder, or while using a gutter scoop.
3. It is generally best to spray out the gutter when most of the larger debris has already been removed. 
4. It’s difficult to spray out leaves and pine needles that have piled up over the summer and fall. 
5. Spray toward the downspout (leader pipe) so the small, murky debris flows down the downspout. 
6. If the downspout is connected to an underground drain that goes out to your street, the base of the downspout needs to be disconnected so the debris can be released at this point, preventing a potential clog further down the system under your lawn or driveway.

• Safety Gear:

1. An extension pole can also be attached to the gutter scoop for reaching farther to clean the gutter, reducing ladder moves.
2. Wear gloves, Gloves can help protect hands against dirty, rotting leaf debris that often contains bird, pigeon and squirrel droppings that are ridden with bacteria. 
1. Gloves can also prevent painful cuts from the torn metal shards of an old, ragged gutter. 
2. Cotton gloves can soak up dirty water that exposes skin to bacteria. Leather gloves are not as maneuverable and tend to shrivel up when they dry after cleaning. 
3. Rubber gloves can get poked or torn by metal shards in the gutter. 
4. Thick, suede glove material is recommended because it is superior to cotton, thin leather or rubber gloves.
3. Eye protection is a must because one never knows what might fly out of the downspout when cleaning gutters. 
1. People have experienced rats, birds, frogs, wasps and bees leaving at high speeds once they start removing a clog, and the last thing they want to have happen is an eye injury.
4. Rubber shoes, If walking on the roof is necessary to perform gutter cleaning, it is good to use rubber-soled shoes. 
1. Rubber soles tend to adhere best and prevent slipping and falls. 
2. Rooftops tend to be moist in the morning, so it is best to walk on the roof after the sun is well up in the sky and has dried up all the moisture. 
3. Late mornings or early afternoons are the best times to walk on a roof.

• Rake off roof:

1. Rake all debris off the roof first. Otherwise, the next rain will wash all the debris down into the clean gutter, clogging it up again. Also, debris left on the roof can lead to water damming up in valleys or around the chimney, which can cause erosion and roof leaks over time.
2. For wood shake roofs, an excellent option is to wear spiked roofing shoes, which have small, metal spikes which help maintain a good grip when walking on the roof. However, if the gutter cleaning project is bad enough to warrant Korkers, it is probably best at that point to use a professional gutter cleaning company. Wearing Korkers can be tricky, and slips can still occur.

• Downspouts unclogged: 

1. Make sure the downspouts (leader pipe) are clear. 
2. After all the gutters are cleaned out, run the water hose down the downspout at full pressure.
3. If the water backs up out of the top, a clog is present. 
4. Normally, it can be unclogged by tapping on the side of the downspout. But if that doesn't work, the downspout and back need to be removed, and it should be flushed from the bottom. 
5. If a clog is present, and the downspout is connected to an underground drain, it is best to disconnect the bottom of the downspout from the underground drain. Otherwise, the clog may move to the underground drain.
6. CAUTION: When unclogging the downspout, make sure protective eye wear is being used, because anything can escape from the downspout at high speeds once the clog is being removed.
7. If the downspout makes an annoying dripping sound during or after a rainstorm, a special decorative chain can be installed to hang down in place of a traditional downspout. The rainwater runs down the chain gracefully and looks rather beautiful, like a decorative fountain.
8. There are also magnetic sponges that stick to the side of the downspout and absorb water to stop the dripping sound. In place of a sponge, people have tried using men’s underwear and socks in downspouts for just this purpose, but it is not recommend.

• Clean gutters two times a year: 

1. Make sure gutters are cleaned at least twice a year, once in the fall and again in the spring. 
2. One main reason for cleaning out gutters is to eliminate the possibility of water damage from rainwater runoff due to a clogged gutter. 
3. Another reason is to reduce the possibility of rust corrosion. 
4. Even though it may not rain during the summer, if there is debris in the steel gutters, the rusting process can speed up. 
5. It’s difficult for rust to speed up with clean gutters. 
6. The faster the rusting process, the sooner new gutters will be needed.

• Power line hazard: 

1. When cleaning gutters around a power line cable that drops from the power pole to the roof of a home, conduct a visual inspection of the electrical cable where it connects to the roof, to ensure that the protective wire insulation hasn't rubbed off through years of wear-and-tear by weather and nearby trees. 

If the cable appears to have damage, do not attempt to repair it. 

Call a licensed professional electrical contractor to fix it.

Gutter Cleaning Sacramento California (916) 254-2693

1. If it’s raining and there is an electrical wire problem, do not attempt to clean out the gutters until the wires are fixed. 
2. Water is a dangerous conductor of electricity. Whether it’s raining or not, it would be a good idea to have the electrical wiring repaired before cleaning out your gutters.
3. It is not advisable to use a metal ladder near power lines when cleaning out your gutters. A fiberglass ladder is a better safety solution in this situation.

• Gutter guards: 

1. Using a quality gutter guard can eliminate the need for cleaning out gutters. 
2. Consider carefully the manufacturer’s claims before purchasing a gutter protection system that keeps out leaves and pine needles, because many promises are made that can’t be delivered. 
3. Both gutter covers keep out leaves, pine needles and roof sand grit from your gutters. These are in addition, of course, to the usual debris, such as leaves, pine needles, seed pods and sand grit.
4. More information can be found at Http://gutters-sacramento.com 

Keeping safety in mind. Happy cleaning!

Tags: Gutters, gutter cleaning, Gutter installation, cleaning tips, fall maintenance, gutter guards, gutter covers, gutter protection, Power line hazard, Clean gutters two times a year, Rake off roof, Downspouts unclogged, Ladder Safety, Good old-fashioned gutter cleaning.