If you wanna know the best way to remove leaves from gutters…
Then stick around because I’m about to share with you the 4 best and safest ways to remove leaves from your gutters…
Let’s get to it…
What’s The Best Way to Remove Leaves From Gutters?
The truth is…
There’s no one best way to clean leaves from gutters.
There are 4 main options, and which one is best really depend on your own situation…
I’ll list them out and break them down for you so it’ll be easier for you to decide which is the best for you…
The 4 main ways to clean gutters are:
- Clean Gutters By Hand
- With wet dry vac
- Pressure hose
- Leaf blower
To work out the “best” option for you, let’s explore each one.
Clean Gutters By Hand
This is one of the best ways I know of to remove leaves from your gutters.
Actually, it’s still one of the best ways to clean gutters full stop…
You can either work straight off the ladder with a bucket, one section at a time… or you can walk around on the roof with a harness and go along removing all of the leaves.
I personally like to walk around on the roof with a harness and a bucket. It makes the process so much quicker because you don’t have to keep getting up and down the ladder to move to the next section.
Another reason why I like the clean-by-hand method is that you’re up there and you can see everything that is clogging your gutters and downspouts.
Cleaning your gutters from the ground makes it harder to see if you’ve removed all of the gutter debris and leaves.
The problem with cleaning gutters by hand is that you have to walk around on the roof or work from the top of a ladder.
If you’re getting to the point in life where you don’t feel safe climbing up tall ladders, this is not the option for you.
But if you do, make sure you get the right ladder, with all the safety equipment
The other problem with cleaning by hand on the roof is that it can be killer on your knees. You have to squat down and work your way along the roofline removing leaves. This is definitely a job for people without any knee pain.
If ladders and heights aren’t your thing, you could always try…
Cleaning With a Wet-Dry Vac
I love this option because using a vacuum cleaner to remove the leaves and debris from your gutters is so easy…
If you don’t like to get up a ladder you can get extensions so you can reach from the ground…
The problem is… the type of vacuum cleaner you’d buy from Bunnings only come with small, narrow hoses and whilst they are great for removing dirt and sand from your gutters… they are no good when it comes to leaves…
You’ll constantly be getting your hose blocked up and it’ll take all day.
You need one of these bad boys to get the leaves out but they are so expensive you would only buy one if you clean gutters for a living.
With all of that said… I wouldn’t recommend cleaning your gutters out with a vacuum cleaner if your gutter is full of leaves unless you get a professional gutter cleaner to do it for you.
So that leads us to…
Cleaning With a Pressure Hose
To clean your gutters out with high-pressure water, you don’t actually need a pressure hose…
Using a trigger head on your garden hose will give you enough pressure to remove leaves and debris from your gutters and downspouts.
You can purchase an extension wand from Bunnings and spray your gutters out from the ground…
Cleaning your gutters from the ground like this is obviously safer than the alternatives, but… you can’t see what’s going on up there…
And while you’ll spray out most of the leaves and dirt from your gutters, you also don’t know what you’re leaving behind.
The other problem is… this is a really messy option…
If you start flushing a gutter that is full, you’ll be spraying leaves and dirt all over the roof… the side of your gutters and fascia… and all over the ground below…
Whatever you spray out of your gutters, you’ll have to clean up later…
This can make the job bigger than it needs to be.
But if you don’t mind the clean up then this could be a good option for you…
If not… then you could try…
Cleaning With a Leaf Blower
The idea with this one is to walk around on your roof holding the leaf blower, blowing out the leaves from your gutters.
Removing the leaves from your gutters with a leaf blower is actually really effective…
You can get up there and blow all of the leaves onto the ground…
The problem is, you have to get up there… unless you get a kit like this…
You’ll have to walk around on your roof holding the leaf blower… blowing all of the leaves out.
And, if the leaves are wet, you need some sort of rod to loosen up the leaves or they won’t blow out.
Similar to the pressure hose method… you’ll have to clean up the mess when you’re finished.
This is more effective than pressure cleaning from the ground because you can actually see if you’re getting all the leaves out…
However… it’s actually pretty dangerous and I wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t feel comfortable walking around on your roof.
So that’s the 4 best way to remove leaves from gutters.
And the truth is, you need to get your gutters cleaned because if you leave them too long, it’s totally possible for water to leak into your house.
Which one you choose really depends on your own preferences, but there is actually 1 more option…
Call a Professional Gutter Cleaner to do it For You
Seeing that you’re here on my site and I’m a professional gutter cleaner, it would be crazy of me not to give you the option to call me…
If you don’t like the idea of getting up on the roof…
Or if you just like cleaning your own gutters anymore…
Then this could be the best option for you…
Here’s how it works…
I actually use a 3 Step Gutter Cleaning Process
First I get up on your roof and clean your gutters by hand. This way I can see what’s going on up there and make sure all of your down pipes are clear.
I also check for leaking or damaged joints and can repair them for you on the spot.
I can also recommend any other problem areas that may need to be replaced.
These are all the things that could be missed if you clean gutters from the ground.
Next, I spray your gutters out with a hose and trigger head. This removes any dirt and mud sitting in the bottom of your gutters.
This is also a great way to clear blocked downspouts, which I also check for you…
And then, if your gutters need it, I use a vacuum cleaner to remove dirt and sand that is left behind.
Using a vacuum cleaner is also a great method if you receive your water from rainwater tanks.
Make sure your gutter cleaner disconnects the storm pipes that feed into your water tanks if they are going to spray your gutters out or they will end up contaminating your drinking water.
You’ll have to pay to get your tank cleaned, then get fresh water delivered.
So… that’s my 3 Step Gutter Cleaning Process…
And, that’s how I can offer you the most thorough gutter cleaning or your money back…
If you’re interested in getting a price, I have a really easy and quick quoting method…
Here’s what you need to do…
If you want to get a free gutter cleaning quote, you can call me on (03) 9015 4451 or fill the form below with some basic information.
We need to know
If you have gutter guards…
If you have a single story or double story home…
How long it’s been since your last gutter clean…
How big your home is…
Your address…
We take this information and check the satellite image so we can give you a price right away without needing to come out to your home.
Then I text you the quote…
So here’s the form:
Or you can call me on (03) 9015 4451
I look forward to hearing from you…
Sincerely,
Jason – Your New Gutter Cleaning Guy
FAQ’s
The best way to remove leaves from gutters depends on your comfort level on a ladder. There isn’t 1 best way, there are 4 different ways. By hand, with a vacuum, with a blower, or with a pressure hose.
There are some great gutter cleaning tools out there, here are just a few of my favourites. Gutter vac with extension pole. Garden hose with an extension wand. Leaf blower with extension pole.
One of the cheapest tools you can use to clean gutters from the ground would be the garden hose extension wand. If you have a double story home, you’ll need an expensive gutter vac with extension poles.
Gutter cleaning prices vary based the size of your home and how many stories you have. Prices usually start at $250 and go up to over $1000 plus.
The Gutter Guards question is a tricky one. They don’t keep all of the debris out of your gutters but they do keep out most of the leaves. The problem is, you still need to get your gutters cleaned but the gutter guards make it that much harder to do. It becomes more expensive to clean.