One of our family’s least favorite chores is cleaning out the rain gutters. But it has to be done. Leaves and dirt collect in the rain gutters no matter how much I wish they wouldn’t.
If we don’t clean them out, they don’t work, and that ends up affecting our home’s foundation which is already an issue in our hard-soiled area of Texas.
Also, if enough dirt collects, weeds can actually grow in the gutters.
Weeds can actually grow rather tall in the gutters.
Ask me how I know this.
Every year, it’s a day’s project to clean the rain gutters out and wish we had sprung for the kind of rain gutters that have covers that keep you from having to spend at least one day every year cleaning them out.
This year, my husband casually mentioned that he wondered if he could use our new (to us) pressure washer to clean the gutters.
I said, “I bet you could” and used my amazing research skills to type the words “power washer gutter attachment” into the search bar on Amazon.
Less than five seconds later, I found just what we needed (linked here with my affiliate link), and it was less than $10. There were fancier options, but I decided to go with the most basic.
It worked!
This isn’t a post telling you how to clean your rain gutters with a power washer, but more of a post celebrating that it’s possible!
Here’s what we learned:
It’s messy. Oh my word, it’s messy. As seen on my son’s face and arms in the photo above. And on my car that was in the driveway . . .
Eye protection is a must. My son’s safety goggles were pushed up on his head in the pic, so you can’t see them, but after the first spray we realized we had to have them.
Ladders aren’t necessary, at least on one story homes. This is my favorite thing about using the power washer with this attachment to clean out the gutters. Ladders scare me, and I’m happy for my guys to have their feet on the ground when they do this.
Bushes were also trimmed this weekend . . .
Here’s the tool over on Amazon. There are some other options with extenders. Maybe those would be for taller homes?
Here’s a post I wrote last year about renting a pressure washer to clean my back patio.
We have to clean our out several times a year. Will have to try this. Thanks.
Ha! I love the expression on your son’s face! We have a two story house, so I was worried about cleaning out our gutters too since it started affecting our foundation too when they weren’t cleaned.
However, before I could figure it out, we had a massive hail storm a few years ago where we needed to replace our gutters. I found out that it was only $1 per linear foot to put a screen on our gutters and I gladly paid it! I certainly don’t want my husband on the ladder cleaning the gutters on a 2 story house!
Maple trees can also grow in gutters, and they look kind of like a fairy forest. When I mentioned to my husband that a forest was growing in our gutters, he thought I was speaking figuratively . . . More than one miscommunication has occurred between us from me speaking literally. (I’m out of gas doesn’t just mean I’m tired.)
Same here. They have to be cleaned several times. And if they’ve gone too long my husband is up there in the middle of a downpour. Cleaning gutters in the middle of a downpour! Not good. I’m going to show him this tool, thanks for sharing! We’ve used things to put into your gutters and they absolutely don’t work. Those heavy duty sponge type things. Our neighbors husband a few weeks back was gutter cleaning. She started going up and fell. And broke her leg in THREE places. In the hospital for 3 weeks! Off of work for 3-4 months. Yikes.
Your son’s expression is priceless! You add a laugh to all the things I hate about cleaning. Thank you!
My hubby and I are in our 60’s so climbing a ladder is not something either of us want to do. I wondered about shooting water up the downspout to clear out the stuff on top. I haven’t tried it yet, but I thought if I did I’d try using one of our huge umbrellas! I still picture a big mess and a necessary real shower afterwards.
My word! Your son is a man already! When did that happen?? I guess in the last 10 years you’ve been blogging! you can’t see his glasses, but you sure can see their outline!
His face is priceless!
LOL I thought he’s young to have so many random-ish tattoos.
Omgosh funniest post ever!! Yes we don’t want our husbands on ladders especially when they actually did fall off and had to grab the gutters to not fall and break a bone!! True story! Besides the fact he has developed anxiety in his old age and gets freaked out on ladders so much we have to hire someone!! to do anything around the house, even though DH built houses for about 10 years!
For us, the key is to do it before rainy season starts here in Humboldt because the rain very quickly makes for a mess!
Look up the Gutter Clutter Buster. We have it and it is a vacuum and works fantastic. No mess like this method.
Dana, you brought out so much humor from your readers. So funny to hear everyone’s reactions. 🙂
Unfortunately, it’s time to scrape and PAINT our house, so we will have to face the Ladder Lament throughout this summer. We have a large house; I hope we can get it all over with this year and not extend it into another year. 🙁
We tried to clean our gutters this spring and it was a total fail. I need this tool! My son will love that you shared this post haha Thanks!
I can understand everything you have talked about decluttering except…Question #2!! Help, I just can’t understand!! CAN SOMEONE HELP IN THE MOST BASIC TERMS, LIKE TALKING TO A 6 YEAR old!! I get everything else What am i not getting?
Here’s a try, Sheryl: This isn’t a question you will need to ask yourself very often. I’m going to give the only example I can come up with and just hope it’s relatable, but first, can you think of a time you needed something and purchased it, only to find out a couple days later (probably after opening and maybe using it) that you already had one? So now you have two – and no good place for either of them. The question is about that sort of thing; something you’d use so seldom you wouldn’t think you had it.
Here’s my example: we have an air mattress that came with a small square patch in the box, so I kept it, “just in case”. Every once in awhile, I come across that patch and try to think of a logical place to store it. Since it’s a one-of-a-kind thing, there is no specific place I can think of for it and – even though I do remember having this particular item (somewhere), if I ever get a leak in the air mattress I’ll probably go crazy trying to think where I might have put it, and I’d have to go buy something that would do the job. So next time the patch resurfaces, I’m going to just throw it out. (Of course, Murphy’s law will happen shortly after and I will need that patch, but it’s really not that hard or expensive to replace. Had I thrown it out 20-some years ago when I bought that air mattress, I’d have saved myself a lot of time and effort trying to think of a logical place for it every time it surfaced.)