If you have a house like mine that does not have maintenance-free gutters, you probably know what a pain it is to deal with all the leaves and crap that fall in your gutters each Fall. For many the process goes like this: set up the ladder, climb it, clean the gutters, out, climb down, move the ladder over a couple feet, and repeat. Thankfully there is an alternative: cleaning your gutters without leaving the ground.
It’s actually not that difficult to clean your gutters without using a ladder. All you need is a tool that can reach the gutters from the ground and pull the leaves and other debris out. I recently bought these tools to try out cleaning my gutters without a ladder and they worked well. All I had to do was attach a Gutter Paddle to an extendable pole, and then reach up to the gutters and start pulling leaves down. Below are a few pics I took a couple days ago while trying out the tools.
First, the Unger Gutter Paddle:
Next, the Unger 8 ft. – 16 ft. Telescopic Pole. The Gutter Paddle attaches to the adjustable pole:
Again, all you need to do is attach the Paddle to the extendable pole, reach up to your gutters (up to 16 feet off the ground), and start pulling the leaves out. It’s pretty easy to do.
The end result (after only 5 minutes or so of work):
For approximately $45, I think these tools are definitely worth it. I definitely have to give my Dad a shout-out for giving me the idea. Saved me some time and money since I didn’t have to pay someone to do the work for me. I hope it saves you some time and money as well.
Both tools are available from Home Depot: The Unger Gutter Paddle and the Unger 8 ft. – 16 ft. Telescopic Pole.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments section if you have any.
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Ummm…even I might spend $45 to so that Greg won’t fall off of our roof. That thing looks awesome!
@Holly at ClubThrifty I had a professor who fell off his roof…he’s paralyzed from the waist down and barely survived :/ Not to scare you or anything.
It looks like it would make a might fine ball/frisbee retriever off the roof as well.. I find myself needing to fetch those on a weekly basis!
-jefferson
@seedebtrun It definitely would work for that!
I need to do this as well! Our leaves seem to build up so quickly.
@SenseofCents I have a good 4-8 hours of work to clean up all our leaves :( I’m just glad I don’t have to climb up a ladder to clean the gutters!
I’ll have to show that thing to my husband. I think we have one of those telescope thingies already, but where could it be?
@Eyesonthedollar Better buy another one ;)
I’m that guy who actually thinks cleaning gutters is fun. Yeah, I know….everybody has a hobby…..but I also love gadgets. That’s a seriously fun looking gadget. I’ve already got the pole (use it to clean high windows at our house). Awesome.
Awesome! I wish this was around (or someone had thought of it) when we used ladders to put our lives in danger.
When we built our house we didn’t have the gutters put on because it was super expensive. Because we don’t have gutters we don’t end up having to clean them out, which is nice. In the end, however, we probably do still need to get gutters to direct more of the water flow away from the house (we had an issue a while ago), so we’ll probably end up getting some – of the no-maintenance kind- at some point soon.
@moneymatters Maintenance free would definitely be nice!
What a brilliant tool. Quick and easy. You gotta like that.
@TacklingOurDebt Definitely!
Neat tool as I don’t mind the odd gadget here and there as long as I will get good use out of it and my money’s worth. I’m just one of those blokes who likes to get up on the roof to see what’s going on up there. I visit the roof top quite a few times throughout the year to check around and remove stuff, clip branches from the neighbours tree that he ignores and from the gutters.It really costs me nothing and I get some good exercise. Thanks for sharing…Mr.CBB
@CanadianBudgetB LOL about your neighbors tree, I have the same problem with one of our neighbors. Thing is totally just hanging over onto our property.
That is a seriously impressive piece of kit… I bet it was quite fun to use too ;)
@SavvyScot1 I was surprised how quick and easy it was to use. Definitely made for a quick job.
My brother is going to be really happy to see to see this.
@Thirtysixmonths I hope he finds it useful! We did.
love this tool! glad i came across your blog ;)
@silverhayes00 Glad you enjoyed the post!
Hi, the blog is goood.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/annie-tartaglia-price-602-290-2097/17/7b2/b95
I’ve always wondered how to give your home a good clean. Every once a year we should perfor ma maintenance on everything on your grounds I feel but I normally get the professionals to come round when I can. Way too tedious to do myself!
Like you, my house does not have maintenance-free gutters! It really is a pain to deal with all the stuff that gets in your gutters. I like that tool that you used to clean out your gutters without a ladder! I’ve never seen anything like that before, I’m going to try it this fall! http://www.johnseavestrough.ca