Can I clean my gutters myself?

The ladder is the dangerous part

People are hurt doing this when the ladder moves, or when they reach out sideways from it.

Keep three points of contact. Two feet and a hand, or two hands and a foot.

Set the ladder one out for every four up. Have someone stand on the bottom rung, or tie the top off.

Never stand on the top three rungs, and never lean past the sides of the ladder. Move it along instead, as often as it takes.

Do not rest a ladder against a plastic gutter. It bends, and then it slides.

Should I clean my gutters before winter?

Yes, once the leaves are down. Late autumn is the moment.

A gutter left full in December holds water against the fascia all winter. It freezes, splits the joints and spills down the wall.

Under trees, twice a year is better. Once after leaf fall, and again in late spring when the blossom and seeds come down.

Do it on a dry day after rain has stopped, when you can see whether the outlets are running.

How to do it, if you are doing it

Gloves, a bucket hooked on the ladder, and a scoop or an old trowel. Eye protection, because grit comes out of a downpipe fast.

Lift the debris out rather than pushing it along, or it ends up in the downpipe.

Flush the gutter with a hose afterwards and watch where the water goes.

Pour water into the top of each downpipe to check it runs. Clear the shoe at the bottom.

Look at the brackets and the joints while you are up there. A gutter that has been full for years is usually sagging.

When to leave it alone

Anything above single storey height.

Any run over a conservatory, a glass roof or an extension roof, where there is nowhere safe to put a ladder.

Gutters over a drop, a stairwell or a basement well.

A run above a pavement or a road where the ladder cannot be secured.

Ground that is soft, sloping or paved with anything loose.

Nobody at home to steady the ladder. And if you are not steady on one, that is reason enough on its own.

What a blocked gutter does if you leave it

Water goes over the front edge and down the wall. Brickwork soaks up and stays wet, and damp appears inside.

The fascia behind the gutter stays wet too. Timber rots from the back, where you cannot see it.

Moss and grass grow in the silt. The weight pulls brackets out of the fascia.

In a freeze, the ice splits the joints and the gutter drips for the rest of its life.

Water can also back up at the eaves and track under the bottom course of tiles.

Vision Roofing Services cleans gutters, and will tell you for nothing whether yours actually need doing. Ring 07477 536 273.