How To Clean Aluminum Gutters

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Dana

Aluminum gutters

Aluminum gutters are renown for requiring very little cleaning and repairs, just like curtains. They’re able to withstand most kinds of severe weather, but unfortunately they do rust. While you shouldn’t really stress over rusting since it’s very uncommon, you need to maintain your gutters to keep them clean and functioning properly.

It’s actually fairly easy to properly maintain and clean aluminum gutter, as long as you know what you’re doing.

No matter what your gutters are made of there are a few general things you will need to check for. Twigs, dirt, and various bugs and insects are only a few of the many different kind of debris that can clog up and damage your gutters. The very first time you clean out your gutters you may find an abundance of debris in them, but as you clean them more and more it becomes easier each time.

The first step in cleaning your gutters is to grab a plastic trash bag. It’s recommended that you attach the bag to your ladder so you don’t have to climb down the ladder each time you need to throw trash away. Make sure your trash bag is strong enough to hold the weight you’ll be throwing inside it.

It’s recommended that you clean the gutters with someone watching you to make sure you aren’t injured. You should always wear the proper safety equipment when cleaning the gutters, particularly gloves and goggles. The safer you are the more you can concentrate on the actual cleaning rather than thinking about the danger.

You should always keep the correct tools handy when performing your regular maintenance on your gutters. A garden trowel will help you scooping and picking garbage out of the gutters. The narrower and longer the trowel is the more useful it will be. After you’ve scooped the large debris out of the gutter a hose will usually be able to clear out the rest.

Sometimes you’ll encounter clogging that seems impossible to clear out. This is when a plumbers snake will come in handy. It’s great for cleaning out even the hardest clogs.

If you follow the steps mentioned in this article you should have no problem at all cleaning out your aluminum gutters and should have them clean in no time.