Mistakes To Avoid While Cleaning Home Gutters

Cleaning gutters for your home is a dirty job, but it’s an essential part of the maintenance process. If you don’t clean your gutters regularly, you can be left with water damage to your house and other problems that are much more expensive to fix. As such, it’s important that you know what mistakes to avoid when cleaning them so as not to do any further harm or unnecessary work. 

When you clean your gutters on a regular basis, it keeps your house looking nice, and for many people, it is the only time they are able to get up close and personal with their roof. However, cleaning gutters can be dangerous work. There are many hazards to watch out for a while you are doing this important job.

The following are common mistakes you should avoid when cleaning your gutters:

Mistake 1: Improper Safety Equipment

Just like any other job, safety is an essential component of the process. If you are doing something that could cause harm to yourself or others, it’s important that you have the right safety equipment should something go wrong.

For example, if you’re climbing a ladder to clean your gutters, it’s important that the ladder be sturdy and that you use a tool belt or harness to keep yourself safe while cleaning your gutters. If you don’t have any experience using a ladder or even don’t know how to do so safely, it might be best to have someone help you.

Mistake 2: Not Checking the Roof Before Climbing On It

Before you climb on your roof, make sure that there aren’t any loose shingles or holes in the roof. If you’re familiar with your roof and notice some issues as you walk on it (such as loose shingles), you can address these issues before you climb on it. If there are no signs of damage to the roof, you should be able to clean your gutters without any issues.

However, if your roof is damaged and you don’t know about it until stepping on the roof, there’s a good chance that part of the roof could give way and you could fall!

Mistake 3: Using the Wrong Tool

If you’re cleaning your gutters, it’s important that you use the right tool for the job. If you don’t, then this can cause unnecessary damage to your gutter. For example, if you’re using a shovel to clean your gutters, it’s possible that this could cause damage to the shingles surrounding it or even wear down the gutters. Using a gutter scoop is generally the best way to ensure that you don’t do any additional damage to your home.

Mistake 4: Not Cleaning the Gutters Correctly

When you clean your gutters, it’s important that you turn your attention to every part of the gutter. For example, brush out any debris from inside of the gutter and remove any leaves or other things from around it.

However, there are some additional things that you might need to pay attention to as well. If your gutters have a mesh filter on them (such as those in most homes), be sure to empty out this so they can work correctly.