A gutter too far

My gutters are horribly embarrassing. At some stage they must have collected some leaves; leaves built up, weed seeds floated in and now I have a few little "rooftop gardens" in the gutters.

I'm no stranger to rooftops, but my current place is high, the pitch o the roof is quite steep, and my ladder too short.

Is there any wildly inventive way to get rid of the gutter muck without risking my life, or hiring someone to do go up there ?

I seem to remember a product called "gutter blaster" which was like a long pole with a u bend fitting at the top attached to the end of a hose. I haven't used one so I don't know how good they are.

Thanks bashworth - I did rig up a device like that myself, but not enough leverage or pressure to do much good

Gutter design really is poor. There should be a way to clean them without having to get on the roof with a stick.

Gutter guards do well, are cheap and easy to DIY

that's true perthhandyman but I think cabinfever is looking for something after the fact to help with his problem not before.
It's a mucky job cabinfever. You might either have to invest in a bigger ladder or pay someone to do it. While up there they can install some Gutter guard after the clean. On the bright side if you do pay someone professional to do it at least if they injure themselves they'd be covered by their insurance. ( I would hope)

Professional =in this case I mean someone like a handyman service or hire a hubby place rather than getting a relative or friend to do it.

Gutters seem very retro to me. Poor technology. I think I need an Opera House roof that naturally channels water into ground-based recepticals and tanks...

I have not come across a gutter guard that works in 12 years of working on roofs/houses.
They all have there failings over time.
I make money uninstalling all types of gutter guards.

The best advice I can offer is wack a bit of rolled up chicken wire or the like into the top of the downpipes and clean the gutters every 6 months.

That's very interesting Housewash. Seems to me that gutter technology has been static for decades.

Hire a Hubby have a gutter guard they install.

I havnt used it but i hear "good" reports back from users of the same product in some of the houses and businesses i service

I am a hire a hubby in Semaphore and Woodville areas in Adelaide and this is "feedback" only as in 3 years i have only repaired possum breakins with "prior" installs and not had to install it myself yet




its only my opinion but a poor gutter guard installed by someone with pride in their work and a good level of mechanical aptitude will be more than sufficient

and "the best product in the world" installed by someone pretty average is not worth its weight in horse dung

cheers Eden


( do it right the first time )

Thought I would renew this topic as we hopefully are getting closer to start of build. We are 2 storey with catchment going to tanks for garden/toilet/laundry use. I'm wondering about the accumulation of leaves etc in the gutters and what ,if anything, should be done during construction stage to minimise future problems and/or maintenance .
As I see it, there might be the following options:
1. Gutter guards. There seems to be varying opinions on their usefulness ?
2. Freeflow to tanks (standard setup) and get someone in every year to clean the gutters ?
3. Freeflow to a small "catchment" tank of some sort prior to main tanks ? I guess that does not eliminate the problem of having to clean the gutters every year or so ?

Would love to hear anyones more recent experiences and suggestions.

EDIT:
p.s. Found an interesting site "rain harvesting" which has a lot of answers for me. BUT still would appreciate any advice from personal experience, really can't beat first hand knowledge.

As a former roof plumber I agree 100%.

No matter what type of gutter guard you choose its the smaller foliage and dirt/moss etc from the roof over time that slips through the guard and remains in the gutter. The ONLY successful way is to get someone up a ladder, which is a problem on some 2 storey homes, and clean them manually

Yes Arfur, thinking along those lines.
I'm thinking an unrestricted flow to a catchment point near the tanks is the logical thing. I also might (after the build is finished) work out some type of extension pole for my hose that could reach (and I can move along) the 2nd floor gutters and put some pressure on the surfaces during dry spells.
Just running thoughts around in my grey matter at present.

Just pulled all the gutter guards off my Mums house to clean up the accumulation of silt , moss & grass that was growing in there. Job took ten times longer than if the guards weren't there in the first place. It saved someone having to routinely clean them out but after five years you have to spend half a day up there doing this job - I can't say I recommend it.