Gutter Cleaning - How to prevent Falling Down 3 stories ???
Kit Maloney
My house is a 2-story Cape Cod with a walk-out basement located on a
sloping lot. The rain gutters in the front are only one-story high and
easy to clean with a ladder or an attachment to my gas blower. On the
back side the rain-gutters are about 30 feet (2 stories plus basement)
above a concrete patio. I don't have a ladder tall enough to get to
these (and I don't think I could manage the weight of it by myself if I
did).
I've been cleaning the gutters, by getting up on the roof from the side
and then creeping along the edge being careful not to fall to my death.
The roof is not too steep, but still it'd be easy to loose your balance
near the edge and fall....Obviously, this task is outside of my comfort
zone, but because of the amount of trees around the house, this job
*should* be done almost every month (thus I don't want to pay someone
else to do it that frequently).
I tried tieing a rope to the front porch, and trying to use is as a
safety line, but I'm afraid that the
top ridge of shingles will get ruined by the downward force on the rope
from my weight and the pulling on it to get it to follow my path. The
rope required a lot more effort than I thought it would, but it may be
my only solution.
Surely other people have the same problem and have come up with better
solutions. Please send me your ideas.
Thanks in advance.
Kit Maloney
mal...@ibm.net
George Barbarow
In article <327A24...@ibm.net>, mal...@ibm.net says...
Hi Kit:
Instead of the front porch how about using a rope around the chimney ?
George in NW NJ
Scott Parker
Kit Maloney <mal...@ibm.net> wrote:
>I've been cleaning the gutters, by getting up on the roof from the side
>and then creeping along the edge being careful not to fall to my death.
>The roof is not too steep, but still it'd be easy to loose your balance
>near the edge and fall....Obviously, this task is outside of my comfort
>zone, but because of the amount of trees around the house, this job
>*should* be done almost every month (thus I don't want to pay someone
>else to do it that frequently).
Try installing a gutter guard of some type. My mother's house is
surrounded by towering oak trees but there's rarely much for me to
clean out of them on my annual visit to take care of the roof. There
is a plastic mesh that tucks into the top of the gutter just below the
edge of the shingles. This keeps the leaves and twigs out of the
gutters (they blow away on dry days, I guess) and it still allows the
water to course into the gutters.
Scott
http://users.uniserve.com/~lparker/ (for SF stories)
Dave Marulli
Kit Maloney <mal...@ibm.net> wrote:
>My house is a 2-story Cape Cod with a walk-out basement located on a
>sloping lot. The rain gutters in the front are only one-story high and
>easy to clean with a ladder or an attachment to my gas blower. On the
>back side the rain-gutters are about 30 feet (2 stories plus basement)
>above a concrete patio. I don't have a ladder tall enough to get to
>these (and I don't think I could manage the weight of it by myself if I
>did).
2 suggestions: How about buying a ladder that is tall enough to get the
job done and then once a month (or whenever) throw a gutter cleaning
party? Have a friend (or friends) over to help move the ladder around,
then provide food and beverages. With help, it shouldn't take more
than a couple of hours. I think a ladder is safer than playing around
on the roof.
Have you looked into that style of gutters that supposedly are
'self-cleaning'? They have an open end where the leaves slide out.
I don't know if they work, but it might be worth the money if you
are spending that much time cleaning gutters.
(I have a similiar set up and need to use a fully extended 28' ladder
to reach the gutters in the back. That size ladder is about at my limit
as far as being able to handle it comfortably. I do mine 2 - 3 times
a year, but I should do them more often.)
Tim Nelson
In article <327A24...@ibm.net>, mal...@ibm.net wrote:
>My house is a 2-story Cape Cod with a walk-out basement located on a
>sloping lot. The rain gutters in the front are only one-story high and
>easy to clean with a ladder or an attachment to my gas blower. On the
>back side the rain-gutters are about 30 feet (2 stories plus basement)
>above a concrete patio. I don't have a ladder tall enough to get to
>these (and I don't think I could manage the weight of it by myself if I
>did).
>and then creeping along the edge being careful not to fall to my death.
>The roof is not too steep, but still it'd be easy to loose your balance
>near the edge and fall....Obviously, this task is outside of my comfort
>zone, but because of the amount of trees around the house, this job
>*should* be done almost every month (thus I don't want to pay someone
>else to do it that frequently).
>
>safety line, but I'm afraid that the
>top ridge of shingles will get ruined by the downward force on the rope
>from my weight and the pulling on it to get it to follow my path. The
>rope required a lot more effort than I thought it would, but it may be
>my only solution.
>
>Surely other people have the same problem and have come up with better
>solutions. Please send me your ideas.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Kit Maloney
>mal...@ibm.net
gutters. There is a product available that snaps on the outside of the gutter
and covers the gutter with a screen like material. Since I've installed it
I've never had a problem with leaves or any thing else blocking the gutters.
John Pettepiece
>Kit Maloney <mal...@ibm.net> wrote:
>>My house is a 2-story Cape Cod with a walk-out basement located on a
>>sloping lot. The rain gutters in the front are only one-story high and
>>easy to clean with a ladder or an attachment to my gas blower. On the
>>back side the rain-gutters are about 30 feet (2 stories plus basement)
>>above a concrete patio. I don't have a ladder tall enough to get to
>>these (and I don't think I could manage the weight of it by myself if I
>>did).
One solution that I've heard of but not tried is to piece together PVC
components in a "hook-shaped" arrangement to which you attach your
hose at ground level. You then hold the rigid PCV "hook" over your
gutters and flush them out. This, however, may not be a workable
solution for gutters three stories high...
Good luck!
John Pettepiece
Michael Olin
barb...@postoffice.ptd.net (George Barbarow) wrote about cleaning gutters
on the high side of his home...
I have a similar situation and resolved it quite easily with a serious
leaf blower. You can get extra extension tubes if you're nervous about
getting too close to the edge. Just make sure to not ever point the
thing "up-shingle" else you can do damage.
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Limon Shah
> Sure if you want to buy a thousand dollar gutter or you could get a gutter viper for 150 and call it a day.
Limon Shah
Bob F
2 SPAM post in one minute!!!!