Clearing Gutters

[philipuk]

Does anyone on the group know of a device that would allow me to clear
my gutters without risking my life on a wobbly ladder or calling a man
in at ++expense?

Philip

 

[Ian Jackson]

In message

Does anyone on the group know of a device that would allow me to clear
my gutters without risking my life on a wobbly ladder or calling a man
in at ++expense?

I have concrete/cement tiles, with a coloured sand facing. These seem to
be the ideal surface for growing moss (the large clumpy type). The
gutters keep getting filled with lumps which have become detached from
the roof, and also with the sand from the facing of the tiles.

Fortunately, the local birds (especially the blackbirds) help out by
looking for things to eat in the gutters. They pick up the lumps of
moss, and throw them aside, and they land up on the ground (where I can
easily pick them up). So when I occasionally do venture up to check the
gutters, what I find is mainly fine sand. Now if only I could train the
blackbirds to clear the sand........

But sorry, I can't advise about a human-operated device for clearing the
gutter.

 

[Bob Eager]

In message

I have concrete/cement tiles, with a coloured sand facing. These seem to
be the ideal surface for growing moss (the large clumpy type). The
gutters keep getting filled with lumps which have become detached from
the roof, and also with the sand from the facing of the tiles.

Fortunately, the local birds (especially the blackbirds) help out by
looking for things to eat in the gutters. They pick up the lumps of
moss, and throw them aside, and they land up on the ground (where I can
easily pick them up). So when I occasionally do venture up to check the
gutters, what I find is mainly fine sand. Now if only I could train the
blackbirds to clear the sand........

Aha. So a bird food dispenser on a pole, to put the food *in* the
gutter...

 

[Rob]

Aha. So a bird food dispenser on a pole, to put the food *in* the
gutter...

Probably not a bad idea! Magpies kept mine clear.

Rob

 

[Ian Jackson]

This pole system has different heads, one of which is a gutter cleaning
attachment, seems to be available from many .uk and .ie webshops, not
amazingly cheap though

http://www.darlac.com/gallery4.htm

This one?
http://www.darlac.com/dp586.htm
The question, where does all the rubbish go?
Yes, you can clear a gutter with a hose pipe, but you don't want to be
flushing the junk into down-spout, and into the drains//soakaway.

Actually, because of lack of accessibility, I do sometimes use a
hosepipe to clear a gutter on the garage. It's a straight run with
stopsends. I block the top of the spout with a rag, and remove one of
the stopends. The grot then cascades onto the ground beneath - but the
gutter is immaculate!

 

[ARWadsworth]

Does anyone on the group know of a device that would allow me to clear
my gutters without risking my life on a wobbly ladder or calling a man
in at ++expense?

Send the wife up the ladders?

 

[The Medway Handyman]

Does anyone on the group know of a device that would allow me to clear
my gutters without risking my life on a wobbly ladder or calling a man
in at ++expense?

Philip

Drain rods with a drop scraper. Still need the ladder, but don't have
to keep on moving it.

 

[Dave Liquorice]

The question, where does all the rubbish go?
Yes, you can clear a gutter with a hose pipe, but you don't want to be
flushing the junk into down-spout, and into the drains//soakaway.

So take the end of the down spout out of the drain before flushing
your gutters... You could then place the end in a large bin to catch
the grunge and not have it spattered all over the place after falling
20'...

 

[The Natural Philosopher]

Send the wife up the ladders?

I use an Al. pole that is a bit shepherds crook shaped.

 

[Ian Jackson]

To avoid this problem I bought these:

http://www.drainsmart.co.uk/

Such things are indeed a good idea.

 

[Andrew Gabriel]

I use an Al. pole that is a bit shepherds crook shaped.

I made up a long length of copper pipe, bent into a shepherds crook
with the end hammered flat to make a bit of a jet. It works, but
chiefly it was a source of great entertainment for the neighbours,
who all came out to watch me washing the mud (mostly sand) out of
the gutters, which went all down the front of the house and all
over me. It all hosed off, but they still found it very amusing.
Unless you want to be washing the sand out of your eyes for the
next week, goggles (preferably sealed swimming goggles) are essential.

Don't use high pressure - you may find it blows the gutter seals
out if they're in less than perfect condition.

If you can, disconnect downpipe from soakaway while you do this
so you don't wash the muck into it.

The shepherds crook pipe is about 4.5m long 15mm copper, and this
is too long a length of copper pipe to be self-supporting, so I
had to hold it dead vertical to move it, particularly when full
of water. Something stiffer would have been better.

However, now that I have slowly completed replacement of all the
guttering, nothing gets stuck in the replaced gutters, so I don't
have to do it anymore. Don't know if that's because the guttering
has a more polished finish, or if it's because I got the fall on
it correct. There isn't a lot of moss on my roof, and when I was
up there on scaffolding, I did knock off the few large clumps
that were there, although some new ones have formed since.

 

[SS]

Drain rods with a drop scraper. Still need the ladder, but don't have to
keep on moving it.

I am sure I read somewhere long time ago about putting a copper wire along
the ridge of the roof and the small amounts of trace copper that run down
prevented moss from forming, or was it an urban myth.
Mind you it would be a good attraction for lightning!

 

[Ian Jackson]

I am sure I read somewhere long time ago about putting a copper wire along
the ridge of the roof and the small amounts of trace copper that run down
prevented moss from forming, or was it an urban myth.
Mind you it would be a good attraction for lightning!

I think the copper thing is true. It's something I've considered looking
into.

I doubt if it would be a serious 'attraction' for lightning. The TV
aerial is probably much more efficient!