Keeping leaves out of guttering ......

My husband is totally obsessed with clearing our gutters. I won’t let him climb ladders these days, too dangerous, so he has a long pole , bent at the top, with a brush attached ( homemade) and walks round the edge of the house. He also has a fan with a small electric motor that he got at the local hardware shop when he asked for a gutter cleaner. It’s on a long pole,too. We have a 2 storey house with a decking across the top at the back so he walks along from one end to the other .

You can buy strips i think made out of brush that sit in the gutter lets the water flobut leaves cant get in. My neighbour has them. Look a bit like a long hedgehog.

I had those fitted but they do not seem to work. I think heavy winds have lifted them and leaves sneak in underneath.

I’ve got the brushes, and they were fastened on the gutter about every 12 inches with what look like cable ties. They don’t lift, so I wonder if either your brushes are not exactly the right size for the guttering, or if they aren’t secured down frequently enough? It might be worth getting them checked, because they should be effective at keeping the leaves out.

nanna8

My husband is totally obsessed with clearing our gutters. I won’t let him climb ladders these days, too dangerous, so he has a long pole , bent at the top, with a brush attached ( homemade) and walks round the edge of the house. He also has a fan with a small electric motor that he got at the local hardware shop when he asked for a gutter cleaner. It’s on a long pole,too. We have a 2 storey house with a decking across the top at the back so he walks along from one end to the other .

That's a good idea nanna8.
I live in a semi detached 2 storey.
Can you tell me where your husband got the long pole from and how he attached the brush. thanks.

We have lots of trees around us. So we have had Hedgehog Gutter brushes put in, at lower level, Sun room etc. They are not expensive but if you want them at the gutters at Roof level you might need a professional to do that. Otherwise lower levels it's easy to do.
We get in a Gutter cleaning company to do around top of the house.

Don't the leaves just jam into the brushes?
My DH is suddenly obsessed this year with leaves blowing up the drive from trees alongside the road. He's too frail now to use the witch's broomstick type brush but spends ages with a kitchen broom trying to clear them from the front door every day. I don't want to mention the gutters 😂

Our window cleaner clears ours during the leaf-fall season, but that’s only once in about 5 weeks. Seems to be enough though, even though we have a mature beech tree in the corner of a very small garden.

I had mesh gutter guard fitted, worked wonders.

nanna8

My husband is totally obsessed with clearing our gutters. I won’t let him climb ladders these days, too dangerous, so he has a long pole , bent at the top, with a brush attached ( homemade) and walks round the edge of the house. He also has a fan with a small electric motor that he got at the local hardware shop when he asked for a gutter cleaner. It’s on a long pole,too. We have a 2 storey house with a decking across the top at the back so he walks along from one end to the other .

Thanks for the good idea. I must try it!

Live alone, and have never cared for standing on ladders.

Dear OP: If you find out how to keep leaves out of gutters do share the idea. As far as I know you cannot keep leaves out of gutters unless you leave in the middle of the desert (where you wouldn't have gutter )or a barren plain, where there are no trees.

Suely those brushes in the gutter will reduce the capapcity of the gutter to hold water and slow the movement of water down the gutter to the down pipe.

This will increase the chances of the gutter overflowing and rotting the boards it is attached to and also getting into the house.

When we replaced our guttering about 10 years ago we had deep guttering that holds twice as much rainwater as standard guttering instaleld because our previous standard gutters were regularly overflowing in the very heavy rain we get these days.

The last thing I would want to do would put anything in my gutter that reduced its capacity or slowed the flow

We have a flat roof at the back so Ieither climb out of a window or go up a short ladder to walk on the roof and clar the gutter. We pay someone to clean our frnt gutters for us.

I have to have my gutters cleaned twice a year. The pine needles fill the gutters and then the sycamore seeds grown in them. If I had my time again, much as I love trees, I would never buy a house surrounded by them.

The water capacity reduction is minimal if the brushes are fitted correctly - I live in one of the rainiest parts of the UK, in the mountains, and I’ve never had a problem with overflowing gutters. I had the brushes fitted because my house is three stories and built into a slope, so the gutters at the front are very high, and need scaffolding to reach. This way they only need to be cleaned every three years rather than every year. I don’t think there is a perfect solution though.

Ooh, some good ideas here.
I have been "relying" on DH, but I have always thought it really isnt that big or difficult a job. Is it?

Mine have to stay , three storey building no way of managing it

Hedgehog Brushes.. In the years we have had them.
Don't get clogged up with leaves...
Water passes through the bristles
Never had a drain block up.

Neither have we Visgirl. The drains seem to run clear and the leaves don’t clog up the gutter. However, we only have them on the single level extension, not on the second storey gutters as we can’t reach them to put them up, instead have them cleaned out annually.

MayBee70

I have to have my gutters cleaned twice a year. The pine needles fill the gutters and then the sycamore seeds grown in them. If I had my time again, much as I love trees, I would never buy a house surrounded by them.

Are you me?

Our NDN's pine tree sheds needles all year round, they also have two sycamore trees which shed sap, leaves or seeds depending on the season. I won't let my husband go up a ladder any more either (I do not know anyone without an 'older man up a ladder' sad story). So the window cleaner cleans out the gutters. He brings special brushes to clear the gulleys too.

You can't stop the leaves. I wait till they have fallen then get a man to clean them. I never understand how much soil comes out. The drains are full of soil too. Where does it come from? He recommended pouring a large bucket of water into the drain.

Mesh gutter guard grid for me. Never had a problem since fitted years ago.

We are surrounded by trees and have the gutters cleaned twice a year.

We had the hedgehog stuff put in about 10 years ago but all the leaves just stuck on it and the gutters ended up overflowing so took it out a few years ago and things are better.

I think an awful lot depends on just how close the deciduous trees are to your house. We are surrounded by them, some with their branches just a few feet away from the roof, and they are all taller than the house.

Like MayBee70 I will never buy a house with trees anywhere near it again.

A friend of mine recently had her gutters cleaned because she could see grass growing. Paid £30 to find only that one weed all the rest clear 🤭

On average , how much do you all pay for gutter cleaning please ?

Gutter mesh guard roll from Amazon (other retailers are available) £9 for 10 mtrs. not used it yet but that's my pick.