Ah, Fall! The season that has the highest possibility of inducing depression, the season when all the green dies and turns brown and yellow leaving naked trees and suffering behind(preparing you for the winter). With this depressing intro it‘s time to get on the point – the season when your gutters get clogged with all kinds of debris and if you don‘t clean them – prepare for a nice troublesome winter.

When it comes to gutter cleaning people hire contractors for a reason: it‘s dangerous. But if you for some other reason deny the professionalism of these brave people and want to do it yourself(being the alpha male that you are) there are some safety cautions that you might want to follow in order not to hurt yourself.

1. First and obvious safety measure considers the ladder.

Provided you don‘t own a high tech gutter vacuum cleaner with carbon pole extensions(like the guys who get paid to do it) you will certainly need a ladder to get up there. The best-balanced ones are the four legged ladders. Tripod ladders aren‘t recommended but if you absolutely don‘t have any other option it is then acceptable.

Precautions for the precautions: It‘s a good practice to at least note a friend you are doing a roof job today. Also never forget to check the aforementioned ladder for weak spots BEFORE climbing it.

2. The way up there

If you plan on spilling the gutter waste on the ground and clean it after – that‘s your decision and you are an independent grown man. But if you would actually like to collect it just so you can throw it away after, you know, like normal civilised people then you certainly have to bring a bucket/container up there. Now, have you ever tried it you might‘ve noticed that carrying a bucket up there would not be as easy as it sounds. What you can do is tie a long rope to the handler of the bucket, hold the end of it, climb the ladder, wheel up the bucket, do your job, and then lower it down, safe and steady. As simple.

3. On top of the world

If you still don‘t like the idea of the leaf container you can look up a hose with a pistol grip trigger. This way you can establish perfect control while shooting down debris and bad guys that dwell your gutters.

4. Still there

If you are dealing with dirt you should make sure to use protective gear. No one can be sure what you can find up there. A handful of wild animals(not necessarily alive or non-venomous), including nasty mosquito swarms and whatnot. Wearing gloves while performing the cleaning is the best thing you can do for yourself.

5. Even more protection

As stated up there can be full of ugly-faced bacteria(if they even have faces) so wearing goggles might also be a good idea. You don‘t want cesspool splashing in your face. Or you do?

6. What the other warriors miss

It will be quite smart to rinse the roof with your water-hose-gun-debris-exterminator-machine before cleaning the gutters themselves. This will help prevent the gutters from getting clogged for a longer period of time. Something a smart gutter cleaner would do.

7. Gravity is not your friend

So how do you fight the universe and its physical laws? With rubber shoes, that‘s how. Slipping shouldn‘t be an option and you can easily achieve confidence when walking on the roof or climbing the ladder with rubber shoes.

Pro anti-gravity tip: It‘s better if you perform the clearance in the afternoon when the sun has already dried up the surface of your roof.

8. Do the full job

When the gutters are finally clean you need to run water down the downspouts with the hose. If it‘s filling and there is no flow – you guessed it – the downspout is clogged. Since you are not a professional you can only try one of these – tap it on the side and hope it will fix the problem. Other options include you removing it, flushing it from the bottom, then installing it back. This however should be only performed by a specialist for quality results.

It can always get worse: if your downspout goes underground(usually in the pipe) your best option is to disconnect it from the underground drain. Again – this may require a specialist.

These are the 8 golden rules of a safe gutter cleaning performance. Do not neglect safety for many have and failed miserably in their gutter adventure.

Seriously: Falls are the top reason for accidental death and injury at home. 6500 deaths are counted each year with more than 2 000 000 injured. Don‘t be one of them.

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