Got leaves? Here's how to easily clean your gutters

Throughout the year, leaves, twigs, and other debris will inevitably collect in your rain gutters. These leaves create blockage, calling for a deep clean every six months or so, depending on your climate and tree coverage—once during fall and once during the spring.

And yes, even if you have best gutter guards installed, you still need to clean your gutters every so often.

Clogged gutters can end up causing many more issues than simple rainwater blockage. When water overflows from gutters, it can be pushed onto the foundation, potentially causing major water damage.

“The water will saturate the soil around the home and can put enormous pressure on the foundation and the walls of your basement, causing cracks that will grow over time,” says Mark Dawson, chief operating officer at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

Overflowing water can also leak onto the fascia, or the band that keeps your roof safe from the elements. Since fascia boards are commonly made of wood, this can result in rot over time.

To avoid any costly problems caused by clogged up gutters, here’s a step-by-step guide to cleaning your gutter system.

How to clean out your gutters

Step 1. Make sure you’re safe to start

Have safety glasses and work gloves on hand.

You may also want to wear latex gloves underneath your work gloves in case you handle any wet material.

Step 2. How to clean hard to reach gutters

Use a sturdy, reliable extension ladder. For a single-story home, make sure your ladder extends around 12-feet to properly reach and clean the gutters.

Since you’re cleaning from a pretty precarious height, you should double-check to make sure your ladder is stable. It’s a good idea to use a ladder stabilizer if you don’t have a buddy on standby. “Make sure it’s placed on level ground and properly locked in place,” says Dawson.

Step 3. Have the right tools on hand

Grab an empty bucket and bring it up with you for accessible disposal. Dawson recommends hanging it from the top of the ladder to easily drop in leaves, branches, and any other debris. For easier disposal, you can also lay down a tarp or drop cloth below your ladder and toss down debris as you go.

If the gutter debris is manageable, you can use your hands with gloves to clear debris. However, for extra reinforcement on stuck-on leaves and branches, you can use a garden hose or pressure washer.

Add an extendable gutter cleaner nozzle to your hose to add extra water pressure and reach the lengths of the gutter.

Gutter scoops are also simple yet effective tools that glide in the curvature of gutters, picking up loose debris with a few passes.

Step 4. Start with the largest debris

Work by the downspout opening first and begin by clearing out the largest items—remove any branches, limbs, and any trash that collected in the gutters with your hands. From there, dump the debris from the gutters into the bucket or onto the ground.

Step 5. Work on packed, harder-to-remove debris

For stuck-on, waterlogged leaves, use a gutter scoop or similarly shaped item—a trowel can also work—to wedge out the debris.

This tool can also help to clean your gutter guards. Continue to dispose of the material into a bucket or tarp.

Step 6. The best way to unclog gutters—use your hose or pressure washer

To wash out any additional debris and any leftover sludge, turn on the water from your garden hose with a heavy pressure nozzle attached. This will flush out the gutters and downspouts. Be thorough as you clean the downspouts, as the clogging can reach further back than you would expect.

This is where the gutter cleaner nozzle can come in handy, getting into dirty nooks and crannies that may be hard to reach. Dawson says you should ensure the water is flowing freely through the downspout—that way, you know it’s completely clear of any obstructions.

Step 7. How to clean out covered gutters

Use your pressure washer or your hose to blast off the tops of your gutter guards. Most gutter guards can then be lifted to allow access to the gutter. Be sure to get inside the gutter as well as cleaning the top of the guard, as there may be more build up than you expect.

Step 8. Protect your gutters throughout the year

To completely protect your gutters from fallen debris out the year, you can install gutter guards, which will act as a protective barrier against debris to begin with.

There are several types of gutter guards to choose from—mesh and screen guards, for example, let water through but prevent leaves and debris from collecting in the gutter itself. The best gutter guard system you can buy is the FlexxPoint 30-year Gutter Cover System, which our testing found to be strong and durable, easy to install, and blocks debris well.

There are also foam gutter guards and brush guards, which essentially work similar to other materials in blocking out debris.

When deciding which gutter guard is best for your home, take into consideration: How noticeable the guards are from the ground, how heavy duty the material is (especially if you live in a colder climate where snow and ice collection are inevitable), and the overall price point.

You can also buy an inexpensive leaf strainer, which sits on the top of the downspout to collect leaves or twigs before it moves down and gets caught in the gutter drains. Although this won’t keep debris from the gutters themselves, it will keep them from getting stuck in the downspouts and drain pipes.