Using a Leaf Blower to Clean Gutters: A Step-By-Step Guide
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Are you keeping up to date on your gutting cleaning? Yeah, us too...
Like it or not, cleaning your gutters is a crucial home maintenance task that helps prevent major problems like water damage and pest infestations. But guess what? There's a simple hack to make gutter cleaning much quicker and easier than using your hands: use a leaf blower! In this step-by-step guide, we'll walk you through how to use a leaf blower to make your gutter-cleaning gripes a thing of the past.
Table of contents
Why Do You Need to Clean Your Gutters?
Gutters perform the essential task of driving water away from your home's foundation. Neglecting to clean them out can lead to several home issues, including:
Water Damage: Clogged gutters can overflow, causing water to seep into your home's foundation, walls and roof.
Pest Infestation: Stagnant water in clogged gutters attracts pests like mosquitoes, rodents, and birds (and not the cute kind).
Structural Damage: The added weight of twigs, leaves, and water can make gutters sag or peel away from your house, leading to pricey repairs.
Mold and Mildew: Damp, decaying leaves foster mold and mildew growth, posing health risks for you and your family.
Landscape Erosion: Overflowing gutters can erode the soil around your home and damage your landscaping.
Clean your gutters regularly (around twice a year should do the trick, typically in the fall and spring) to avoid costly homeowner hangups like these.
Can You Clean Gutters With a Leaf Blower?
You sure can—and it makes things a lot quicker and easier! However, following safety guidelines to prevent accidents is essential.
How To Use a Leaf Blower to Clean Your Gutters
There are two main ways to clean your gutters with a leaf blower: 1) get an extending gutter cleaning attachment to blow from the ground, or 2) climb up on the roof and blow down at your gutters.
Here's a step-by-step guide for safely and effectively cleaning your gutters with a leaf blower:
Step #1: Prepare Your Equipment
Gutter Cleaning Kit (recommended): Many leaf blowers have curved extension attachments designed for gutter cleaning without climbing onto your roof. For example, this universal gutter cleaning kit is compatible with all Greenworks leaf blowers.
Safety Gear: To shield yourself from debris and mold, wear gloves, safety goggles and a dust mask. If you're using a gutter-cleaning attachment on your blower, keep in mind that debris will probably rain down on you as you clean.
Study Ladder: If climbing onto the roof, make sure you have a stable ladder (and preferably someone to hold onto it). Tip: before climbing the ladder, test your blower on the ground to make sure it's working correctly.
Check the Weather: Avoid cleaning gutters during inclement weather and when leaves are still wet. Not only are wet leaves and debris much more sticky and challenging to clean, but walking on a wet roof is a huge safety hazard.
Step #2: Clean Your Gutters
Using a Gutter Cleaning Attachment: Follow the manufacturer's guidelines to assemble your gutter cleaner. Then, standing on the ground close enough to reach, place the extended curved end inside your gutters and blow out the debris moving sideways from one end to the other. Try to blow the leaves onto your yard, not onto your roof.
Using a Standard Blower From the Roof: Wearing shoes with grippy tread, place the ladder on firm, even ground, and climb up carefully. Start from one end of the gutter and work towards the other, blowing out leaves and debris onto the yard. Remember not to blow debris into your downspout!
Step #3: Clear Your Downspout
Blow From the Top Down: Insert the end of your blower directly in the top opening of your downspout to force debris blockages and buildup out of the bottom.
Use a Plumbing Snake: If you can't see anything coming out the bottom of the downspout, use a plumbing snake to break up any clogs.
Flush with Water: Run water through the downspout with a garden hose to test whether it's clear and flowing.
Step #4: Clean Up and Dispose of Debris
Collect Debris: Gather the leaves and debris that have fallen onto your yard and dispose of it properly.
Inspect Gutters: Once the gutters are clean, inspect them for any visible damages that may need repair.
Store Equipment: Clean and store your leaf blower and safety gear for future use.
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!
Check out the complete range of Greenworks leaf blowers and our universal gutter cleaning kit for the versatility you need to tackle even the toughest gutters.
Written by The Green Team, a creative arm within Greenworks Tools.
Our team of writers, designers and content creators bring a breadth of experience and a touch of fun to all things tools. With an assist from the Greenworks product teams and technology experts, we’re here to provide helpful and engaging content to make your yard (and life!) beautiful.
