1. Defer doing the project until things get really bad.

On any given weekend, you could get out your ladder, gloves, and other tools to sweep your gutters, remove debris, and do the usual maintenance. But other, more fun stuff typically beckons. You want to watch the football game with your son or try that new brunch place everyone’s been chatting about. So you wait and wait and wait. Meanwhile, your gutters stay clogged. Leaks then sprout in your roof. The end result? Massive water damage, respiratory dangers to your family, and structural damage to your house. Your pocketbook, all told, gets walloped to the tune of thousands of dollars.

So, stop deferring, and do something about those gutters right now!

2. Fail to learn from your gutter cleaning mistakes (and successes).

When DIY Bay Area gutter cleaners finally get around to doing the dirty work, they often do a minimal job “just to get it over with.” This can be a major mistake. By making small repairs now — e.g. installing gutter screens, patching up holes with roofing cement, polishing off rust spots, rinsing out your gutters, and installing overhangs — you will not only protect yourself against the dangers we discussed above (e.g. leaks, fire hazards, etc), but you’ll also make next year’s job that much easier.

Imagine this. Say you invest five hours this year systematically identifying what needs to be done every time you clean the gutters. This efficiency then saves you three hours of work every year you clean. If you own your home for ten years, then your investment of 5 hours up front pays back in 30 hours saved over the life of your home-ownership!

3. Do it all yourself.

Truth be told, with some elbow grease and good tools, you can do a fairly decent job of keeping your gutters in ship shape. However, unless you’re a professional, odds are, you’ll miss certain clues regarding potential damage – or cost saving shortcuts. Moreover, you have better things to do! (e.g. the football game we talked about above or the special brunch place, etc).

Instead, consider outsourcing the tough job to the expert gutter care team at Century Roof and Solar. Find out more about us online, or give us a call today for a free estimate about your job.

Unless you live in a dwarf house or you are a giant, you are likely going to need a ladder.

Adhere to the many (and many crucial) rules of ladder safety. Avoid wearing inappropriate footwear (e.g. flip flops, sandals, easy slipping shoes, et cetera) follow all safety instructions on the ladder itself. Avoid putting too much weight on ladder, standing too high (creates an imbalance), placing the ladder on a dirty surface, or getting up on a ladder in the middle of a rainstorm – particularly a thunder and lightning storm.

Hidden Risks, Surprising Resources  

Your gutters might just be full of fluffy leaves or pine needles or other soft materials. But you never know. The edges of gutters can be sharp, and they could cut your hands. Nails and other sharp debris blown onto the roof can accumulate in gutters and pose other hazards. You could even discover – horror of horrors – a dead bird or animal in the gutters. So wear gloves and use tools, like garden shovels, to scoop out the debris.

To avoid the whole “risking your neck on a ladder and combing through gunky mulch with your bare hands” thing – what we just talked about – you can utilize homemade ad-hoc tools or even purchase special gutter cleaning solutions at your local hardware store.

One intrepid blogger described a contraption that he built that turns a leaf blower into a gutter cleaner by attaching vacuum tubing to the blower to blast air through the gutter and knock out the leaves and debris. This is a nice fix to reduce ladder work or possibly eliminate it completely.

Watch That Back!

Lastly, pay attention to your own physical needs. Avoid straining your back (particularly the lower back); maintaining an awkward posture for an extended amount of time; working in extreme weather conditions (very hot, rainy, cold, etcetera); and doing extensive ladder work without a spotter nearby to help you if you get into trouble.

To avoid the hassle of cleaning your own gutters, connect with the Bay Area roofing professionals at Century Roof and Solar. For over 15 years, our team has won a reputation as the most trusted name in roofing, and we are proud to be the Bay Area’s leader in lightweight roof systems and gutters.

Call our team at 888-233-748 to get a free roofing quote – we serve the entire East Bay Area –