Now I understand the expression, “get your mind out of the gutter.” When your gutters are right beneath a walnut tree and have been ignored for a few years, they are a dirty place. I must have scooped five gallons of black goop out of them… with a spoon.
You could hire someone to clean your gutters, but they might try to sell you new ones. See the last post: Beware the Hot-Air Heating Guy. Or you could do it yourself. It only takes a couple of hours and you’ll save money. I opted to do it myself.
I suppose I was a little unconventional in my approach to cleaning my gutters. My tool list was short: A step ladder, gloves (which I didn’t use because there was more goop than leaves), a tablespoon, a spatula, and a pitcher. Sounds more like I’d be making cake and lemonade than cleaning gutters. But these household items did the trick.
There’s not much to cleaning gutters, really. You just scoop the crap out of the gutters and put it in a bucket. Then you move your ladder and repeat. As you get the gutters clean, run water down them to make sure the spouts work. Presto. You’re done.
Don’t put this job off. If your gutters and spouts remain clogged it can cause a lot of unnecessary problems. Check out this article: How to Clean Your Gutters Before They Clean Out Your Wallet. And if you’re more of a visual person, here’s a link to a YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_9WJSzV6fw
So don’t put it off. Clean your gutters. It only takes a couple of hours, but it could save you hundreds of dollars in repairs.
Of course, on the other hand you could just tear your gutters down to create water run-off for garden beds. Or maybe you’d like to collect rainwater. Hmm? Ever heard of permaculture? Learn about it at Permaculture News.
Do you clean your own gutters? What other dirty household projects do you do yourself?
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