Here’s Everything A Gutter Cleaning Service Includes

Gutter Cleaning Step-By-Step

What does a gutter cleaning service include?

If you recently discovered that you might have clogged gutters, and now you’re considering hiring a company to clean them for you or do it yourself, you may have questions about what actually needs to be done to ensure your gutters are clean. While gutter cleaning isn’t rock science, it’s important for you to understand the critical elements of a gutter system, how they need to be cleaned, and the warning signs that they’re not in good shape.

There are a lot of gutter cleaning companies in Charlottesville, VA and Albemarle County and they all clean gutters a little differently. While many of them do a good job, you can become a gutter master and choose the best company for you after you read this article. After you read this article you’ll know exactly what goes into a proper gutter cleaning visit and what to look for when hiring for your next gutter project!

The most important thing to know before we start is the desired final outcome: you want all the rain water to flow freely from the gutter down to the ground so it doesn’t cause any damage along the way and so it doesn’t end up pooling at the foundation. 

The point of gutters is simple: to redirect water from areas you don’t want it to the areas where you do want it. Leaves are the main culprit for causing gutter problems. Leaves fall off the trees, sit in the gutter, and create a clog. Clogs prevent water from flowing freely.

While the gutter is the first thing most people think of, it’s not the only section that gets clogged! Downspouts get clogged too. Downspouts (also referred to as pipes) are the part of the gutter system that connects to the gutter and takes the water down to the ground. The gutter is the horizontal section and the downspout is the vertical section. Downspouts are narrower than gutters so they can actually clog easier than gutters.

The third and final section to the gutter system is the underground drain.  In Charlottesville, the underground drain is typically a 4” black corrugated pipe that connects to the downspout at the base of the house (ground level) and then goes underground and exits somewhere out in the yard or by the edge of the woods. This section of the gutter system also gets clogged! In fact, it’s not uncommon to find dead rodents, snakes, and big tree roots in the drain.

Since all three sections can get clogged, it’s important to make sure that every section gets cleaned. If only the gutter is cleaned but the other two sections are clogged, your gutters will still overflow and cause problems.

In light of this, every gutter cleaning service should make sure the gutters, downspouts, and drains are clean and clear so water can flow freely. Here’s what your gutters need to make sure they’re functioning properly and water flows. You can use this list to ask gutter companies you check out to see if they gain your confidence based on their process.

1. Gutters must be cleaned thoroughly; either with a hand & bucket, a blower, vacuum, or even a power washer.
2. Downspouts must be tested and proven to be clear. If they aren’t, they must be cleaned out.
3. Drains need to be assessed and determined to be clean and clear.

Gutters must be cleaned thoroughly; either with a hand & bucket, a blower, vacuum, or even a power washer.

• Based on your budget and your home’s needs, you may choose which cleaning method is your preference. Cleaning gutters by hand usually gets the best results but it’s typically more expensive. A blower can do the job fast but it’s very easy to make a mess that must be cleaned up afterwards. Be careful, if that mess is left behind too long it’ll be too late to wash. A vacuum (like a SkyVac) is a cool machine and it eliminates the need for ladders but it can fatigue the arms and operator has to be really good or else it’s very easy to miss spots. In Charlottesville, using a power washer to clean gutters is common and it provides the cleanest result by a long shot but it can strip out sealant and cause your gutters to leak after the service is over.

Downspouts must be tested and proven to be clear. If they aren’t, they must be cleaned out. 

• If you’re trying to reduce the amount of money you spend on your next gutter cleaning service, the company you end up choosing probably won’t clean or test your downspouts. The reason for that is basic and obvious: In most cases, ensuring the downspouts are clean is a lot more work so it’s the first thing that falls off the service agreement when price is the main concern. Companies will clean the gutters but ignore the downspouts simply because of the added cost.

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Drains need to be assessed and determined to be clean and clear.

• Just like air filters in your home or the support beams to your deck, you probably just don’t think about your gutter drains that often! Underground drains are so easy to forget about and not even think about but if you want your gutter system to function properly 100%, your underground drains are a critical part to your system. Over time they collect leaves, sticks, mud, dead animals, and all kinds of other debris that makes them totally blocked so water can’t pass.
• Drains are also very susceptible to collapses and punctures. If you’ve ever had a heavy piece of machinery on your lawn then it’s possible your drains were crushed (they’re usually buried pretty close to the ground) by the heavy load and they’re pinched shut. Roots can puncture your drains which weakens them and causes blockages.
• What most people find is if their Charlottesville home is 15+ years old and their drains have never been serviced, they’re long overdue for a checkup.

I understand the different ways gutters can be cleaned but how do I know if my downspouts are clean? This is a common question and the answer isn’t as obvious as you might think (although the process is simple!)

Most homeowners who clean their own gutters do what everyone does: after they clean the gutters (most people blow them out with a leaf blower) they look down the downspout and if they don’t see any debris, they assume it’s clear. But their brain is playing a trick on them because the human eye can’t see beyond the bend. In other words, they think the first 6-8” represents the condition of the rest of the downspout but that isn’t true at all. Most homes in Charlottesville have a bend (also called an ‘elbow’) in the downspout (which is where most clogs occur) and if the entire downspout isn’t clean then the problem hasn’t been fully solved yet.

Yes, but Adam, how do you make sure the downspout is clean if you can’t see inside it? I’m so glad you asked! There are a couple ways companies do this and I’ll break down each one.

• One method to clean the downspout is to use a garden hose to pour water into the downspout. You can let it run for a minute or two and see if water comes out the exit. This method tends to fail a lot because if normal water flow was enough to clean your downspouts then the downspouts wouldn’t get clogged in the first place after a decent rain. Also, most water pressure in Charlottesville is 4-8GPM (gallons per minute) but in a rain storm gutters can receive 50GPM or more. You just can’t recreate the same water volume of a rain storm with a garden hose.
• Another method is to blast it with a leaf blower. One person stands over the downspout with a leaf blower and puts the blower’s tube snug into the downspout outlet as close as possible and pulls the trigger full blast. While this is a good way to see if the downspout is clear (the grass down below will be disturbed and you know it’s clear) it’s not workable to unclog a downspout with just air – even strong forced air from a big leaf blower. It’s worth mentioning that downspouts and (and drains!) are like our arteries and blood vessels: they don’t have to be 100% blocked to cause a heart attack. Even a partial blockage (30-40%) can cause a heart attack. The same applies to your downspout.
• A third method for testing and checking your downspouts is by ramming some sort of flexible wire or plumbers line into the downspouts. These can work pretty well with 1-story homes but these items aren’t typically long enough or effective for a 2-story house.
• The most effective and reliable test (but the most difficult and labor intensive) is the rock test. Simply put, the technician drops a little pebble down the downspout and listens for it to clang all the way down. If the downspout is clear, it’ll clang all the way down. If there’s a blockage, the pebble will stop at the clog and reveal where downspout isn’t clear. Very sophisticated, I know. The reason this method is uncommon, most difficult, and labor intensive is because of ladder placement. Charlottesville homes have six downspouts on average which means the professional must move his big heavy ladder all around the house just to drop a pebble in each downspout. When a downspout is discovered to be clogged or blocked, it must be disassembled, cleaned out, and put back together. This requires skills and expertise to ensure it’s done correctly.

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Okay Adam, that all makes sense. Thanks for explaining the downspout tests. But what about the drains? How do you assess the condition of the drains? Another fabulous question! Let’s get into it.

• Underground drains are harder to test than downspouts (the rock test doesn’t apply to drains!) and it requires even more expertise to assess a drain.
• Drains can be assessed by a camera. Drain “scoping” cameras can be purchased for a couple hundred dollars all the way up to $15,000 (depending on the quality) but they’re quite limited in this use. Cameras can be used to see the condition of the pipe itself, (the integrity of lining, age, etc.) but they can be stymied by a normal drain blockage and then you can’t see much else. Sometimes it makes sense to use a camera in specific cases but it’s usually not a good use of money.
• Homeowners can test their drains with a DIY method. Simply disconnect the downspout from the corrugated pipe and feed your garden hose into it. Turn the water on and leave it running for at least 30 minutes. Eventually you’ll see the water somewhere. Either it’ll back up and overflow where you stuck the hose in or it’ll pool somewhere out in the yard. These are all helpful discoveries when addressing the health of your drains.
• Some other things to consider:
  • If your gutters are packed with leaves then it’s very likely your drains are packed with leaves too.
  • If your gutters have gutter guards installed and they’ve been installed for a long time, it’s less likely your drains are clogged since they’ve been protected and closed off.
  • If you don’t know where your drains exit (some call this “day light”) that’s a common sign your drain exit has been enveloped by the ground (sunk) over time and they need attention asap.
  • If there are trees close to your drains then it’s likely those roots have damaged the drain pipe.

As we wrap up, I hope you’ve gained some important insights into how your gutters system works and what’s required to take care of it. Here’s a brief summary you can use to decide how to maintain your gutter system.

• The purpose of a gutter system is to have all the rain water flow freely from the gutter down to the ground so it doesn’t cause any damage along the way and so it doesn’t end up pooling at the foundation.
• The gutter system has three sections: the gutter, downspout, and drain. All three must be clean and clear for water to flow freely.
• There are different methods to cleaning all three gutter system sections. Your choice will be based on cost and the level of results you want.

Best Gutter Cleaning Company in Charlottesville, VA

Don’t let overflowing gutters cause damage to your home! Schedule an appointment with Charlottesville Gutter Pros today for professional gutter cleaning. Call us at 434-422-4700 to ensure your gutters are functioning perfectly. Protect your home with expert care from Charlottesville Gutter Pros!

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