Gutter Guide · Southwest Missouri

How to Clean Leaves Out of Your Gutters Without Hurting Yourself

If you're going to do this yourself, do it right. A lot of gutters come off houses where the homeowner meant to clean them and never got around to it, and everybody in this business has heard the story about the ladder that slid. Here's how to do it start to finish.

Pick your day

Wait a day or two after rain. Wet leaves are heavy and they smear. Dry leaves scoop out in handfuls. Around here that usually means a clear afternoon in late October or early November, after most of the oaks have let go. Don't do it in the wind. You'll be fighting leaves blowing back in while you work.

What you need

• An extension ladder that reaches the gutter with three feet to spare
• Somebody on the ground. Not optional.
• Work gloves. Gutters have sharp edges and old screws.
• A plastic scoop or a cut-down milk jug
• A bucket with a hook, or a trash bag
• A garden hose with a spray nozzle
• A screwdriver or small pry bar for stuck downspout elbows

Set the ladder right

Put the feet on solid, level ground. If the ground slopes, dig the uphill foot in or use a leveler. Set the ladder so the base is about one foot out for every four feet up. Lean it on the roof or the fascia, never on the gutter. Gutters are not built to hold a ladder and a person, and the dent is the least of your problems if it lets go. A ladder stand-off is cheap and keeps the ladder off the gutter completely. Worth having.

Work in sections

Start near a downspout and work away from it. Scoop out the heavy stuff by hand into the bucket. Don't reach more than an arm's length to either side. Climb down, move the ladder four or five feet, climb back up. It's slower. It's also how you don't fall. Dump the bucket as it fills. Wet leaf muck is heavier than it looks and you don't want it swinging off the ladder.

Flush it

Once the leaves are out, run the hose from the far end toward the downspout. Watch what the water does. It should move and drain in a minute or so. If it sits, the gutter is out of level or there's a clog you missed. If it backs up at the downspout, the downspout is plugged. Run the hose down it from the top. If that doesn't clear it, pull the bottom elbow off and work it from both ends.

The part most people skip

While you're up there, look at the gutter itself. Push on it. Does it move? Are any hangers loose? Any seams dripping after the flush? Is the fascia board behind it soft? Those are the things that tell you whether cleaning is enough or whether there's a bigger problem. The repair or replace guide goes through what to look for.

Things that go wrong

• Leaning the ladder on the gutter
• Standing on the top two rungs
• Reaching too far instead of moving the ladder
• Working alone
• Using a pressure washer. It blows seams apart.
• Going up on a wet or icy day
• Leaving the downspouts plugged
• Doing it once in September and calling it done