Home maintenance is one of the most important aspects of home improvement.
You can’t just keep adding various installations and expect your house to look good if you don’t take care of it in the first place.
That’s why we’re here to teach you one of the many tasks you need to learn.
Gutters are prone to clogging, preventing rainwater and other liquids from flowing down and away from your roof.
You can solve this problem by using a leaf blower. If you don’t know how to clean gutters with leaf blowers, you’re in the right place.
How To Clean Gutters With Leaf Blowers
We often use leaf blowers to gather fallen leaves in our gardens to a single spot.
There’s no doubt that this technology makes our lives easier.
However, it kind of makes you wonder whether or not you can use the same technique to remove leaves in your gutter.
We’re here to tell you now that you absolutely can.
If you want to try it out, below are two methods by which you can do this.
Use a Ladder
The first method is the simplest one since it does not require a lot of preparation.
All you have to do is bring your ladder out and climb to the top of your house’s roof.
Make sure that you’re wearing protective gear when you do so.
Once you reach your house’s roof, turn your leaf blower on and walk along the edge of the roof.
Let the equipment sweep all the leaves and debris away from the gutters.
The best part about this is that you can use a handheld leaf blower for this method.
You can also choose to stay on the ladder as you blast the leaves away with your blower.
Doing so increases the efficiency of your work because you can see if there are still leaves left on the gutter.
Furthermore, using a ladder makes it easier to remove debris stuck in the gutter with your hands.
Some of these clogs are just too heavy or jammed for a leaf blower to get rid of.
Drawbacks of Using a Ladder
Using a ladder to get to your house’s roof is quite dangerous.
That’s one of the few disadvantages of this method.
If you slip while cleaning the gutter, you might end up damaging your equipment, not to mention bruises and broken bones.
You could say that staying on the ladder means this method is the best because there’s a lower risk of accidents.
You must note that you will need to descend, move the ladder to the left or right, and climb back up every few minutes to cover every inch of the gutter.
Extension Kit
As you may have noticed, using a ladder is either dangerous or exhausting.
That’s why we’d like to present to you another solution.
While the initial preparation for this method is tedious, it’s totally worth it.
It is the best solution if you use your leaf blower frequently to clean the gutter.
For this method, you need to build a DIY extension.
Most people use a PVC pipe, but if you have other materials that can function as the pathway to direct the air from the blower, that’ll work as well.
Just make sure that the length of the material reaches your house’s roof.
Connect one end to the leaf blower, and the other end should have a U-shaped attachment.
This allows the air to flow from the blower into the pipe and finally towards the gutter.
On the other hand, you can also try to look for leaf blowers that come with gutter cleaners.
This ensures that the extension kit is compatible with the equipment and snugs tightly to the blower.
The best part about this method is that you will be working on the ground.
This significantly reduces the risk of injury.
You also wouldn’t be as tired as you would when you go up and down the ladder.
Drawbacks of Extension Kits
While it’s certainly convenient, we can’t guarantee that the extension kit is the most efficient method.
That’s because you won’t be seeing the state of the gutter while you work.
You can try going around the gutters at least twice to remove as many leaves and debris as possible.
Since you are on the ground, everything you blow away from the gutter falls towards you.
Make sure you’re wearing protective gear and goggles to avoid injury.
How Powerful Should the Leaf Blower Be To Clean Your Gutter?
If you already have a leaf blower, you may not need to look for another one to clean your gutter.
Leaf blowers that work around or over 190MPH are sufficient enough for gutter cleaning.
Thankfully, even smaller and light models can reach this speed.
That means there’s a good chance your current leaf blower can get the job done.
You may also want to consider the blower’s CFM or Cubic Feet per Minute rating.
The CFM indicates how wide or narrow the airflow of the blower is.
A higher CFM indicates a wider range and vice versa.
That means the blowers with higher CFMs can move more leaves at once than blowers with lower CFMs.
This may not matter much in gutter cleaning, considering the area you’d be working on.
However, it’s a good idea to have a higher CFM if you also use it to clean your yard.
However, not all leaf blowers come with a gutter cleaner.
You can try to connect with your blower’s manufacturer or look over the internet to find an attachment compatible with your model.
Cleaning Your Gutters With a Leaf Blower Effectively
The autumn season is just around the corner.
While it doesn’t require too much preparation, your gutters may suffer from various problems if you don’t have the means to clean them.
Thankfully, you don’t need to tire yourself or spend too much money on labor and new equipment.
All you need to do is to learn how to clean gutters with leaf blowers.
Doing so will make it significantly easier to maintain your home, whatever the season is.