The best tools are gutter cleaning wands, extended poles that attach to gutter scoops or brushes, high pressure sprayer wands, and wet/dry vac attachments made specifically for gutter cleaning from the ground.
One of the easiest and most common methods is using a leaf blower with a gutter attachment. However, some people buy gutter scoops or tongs connected to extension poles or use telescopic wands connected to pressure washers. Either way, if the ladder doesn't reach and you feel unsafe, never risk it!
Blow Out Debris
Blowing out debris with a leaf blower or other specialized attachment, such as a gutter vacuum or a wet/dry extension to your vacuum, is often the easiest way to clean gutters from the ground.
Just done something similar. Use a bucket of hot water, a couple of glugs of Chlorox bleach, and a small squirt of washing up liquid (all amounts approx). Use a long handled softish brush, dunk it in the bucket, then generously brush the liquid along the soffit panels and gutter face.
The key is to begin cleaning with a gentle rinse using clean water to dislodge and wash away loose debris and dirt. When using a pressure washer for fascias and soffits, it's wise to use a low-pressure nozzle.
Soffit mold almost always appears with a dark grey or black coloration. The growth pattern tends towards radiating, circular spotting. Dimensionally, the mold growth is typically flat.
One of the safest ways to clean gutters from the ground is by using a power washer. It is also ideal when you haven't had the chance to clean the gutters before a storm or rain. The high pressure of the power washer works effectively to get rid of the wet and sticky leaves from the gutters.
Handyman advises against walking on the roof unless completely necessary. From the roof, leaning downhill to reach the gutter increases your risk of falling. Accessing the roof and gutters while using an extension ladder is the safest. We also recommend waiting until midday when the roof is dry.
You should avoid using a pressure washer from a ladder if at all possible. Instead, use a pressure washer gutter cleaner. These curved attachments allow you to hold your wand up and spray directly into the gutters while keeping your feet planted securely on the ground. Start near a downspout and spray away from it.
Once you've swept away the dirt and debris, it's time to rinse the eaves with a hose. Use a garden sprayer to apply a mixture of mild detergent and water to the eaves. Use a scrub brush to scrub the eaves, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. Rinse the eaves with a hose to remove the soap and dirt.
Gutter Tongs
If your leaves are wet, or if you have caked debris lining the base, a gutter vacuum may not be strong enough to do the trick. Try using gutter cleaning tongs (there are several types on the market). This tool will allow you to grab heavier debris like wet leaves by pulling a string to operate the tongs.
An early spring cleaning will help clear out all the leaves and debris from your gutters and ensure rainfall can flow freely into the spouts. A fall cleaning will get rid of all of those crisp, dry leaves before winter comes along and makes them soggy.
With a pressure washer
A pressure washer is the best tool for tackling stubborn dirt and stains on your fascias and soffits. You can also clean them from the ground, so there's no need to worry about standing on a ladder.
Your roof by necessity, will often times extend over the walls of your home. This overhang can go by a few names, such as the house eaves or the rafters of your roof. The underside of this overhang, when given a finished appearance, is known as the soffit, which means “something fixed underneath”.
Again, pressure washing can be an effective tool to remove dirt, mildew, and other grime from these surfaces, BUT it's important to weigh up the potential cost of damage that can be caused when you pressure wash under eaves or on and around the fascia and soffits of a building.
Leaf blowers are the perfect gutter-cleaning tool. In just minutes, you can clear your gutters with a gutter cleaning attachment from the ground or by (safely) climbing onto your roof. No more spending an hour to clean out gutter gunk by hand!
Professional cleaners typically start with the downspout area and remove noticeable debris, like leaves, twigs, and more, and place it in the bucket. The trowel comes in handy to rake and gather smaller debris into removable piles. Latex gloves are also important to carry wet or damp debris.
When you have a clogged gutter, rainwater has nowhere left to go but overflow or soak through your shingles and leak into your home. Your shingles then become softened and significantly damaged, allowing for more leakage from rainfall. The weight of the rainwater can also cause the gutter to rip and damage your roof.
Customers find the gutter cleaner effective and practical for cleaning gutters. They praise its sturdy construction and value for money. However, some customers report issues with leakage and water flow from the device. Opinions differ on the length and ease of use.
One of the simplest ways to clean gutters from the ground is by using a garden hose with a high-pressure nozzle. How to: Position yourself near the downspout, and direct the hose upward using the high-pressure nozzle to shoot a stream of water into the gutter.
To remove existing soffit mold, start with a thorough cleaning of the affected areas. Store bought cleaners are available for this purpose, you can also use a combination of dish soap and vinegar. Use a stiff brush to scrub the problem areas until the visible mold is removed.
Squirrels will chew holes in soffits and make their way inside for nesting. Before you can plug the holes, however, it is important to make sure all of the squirrels are out of the soffit. It is most effective to trap squirrels nesting in soffits using a baiting method.
The texture of black mold is shiny and slimy when it's wet. This is usually the case because black mold requires a lot of moisture to grow and thrive. If the original source of moisture is eliminated (e.g. leak fixed, flooding cleaned up, etc.), the texture of black mold may appear more sooty and powdery.