Gutter cleaning is sort of like dental cleaning.

You don’t want to do it, but you kind of have to. Because if you don’t get your gutters cleaned, you risk foundational flooding of your home. Or worse, an extremely costly home repair job. There are many reasons why homeowners put off having their gutters cleaned.

For one, you don’t see your gutters often. They’re fixated at the very top of your home, where your roof meets the siding. And so it’s easy to overlook and forget they even exist. And crowded gutters don’t really become an issue until it rains. And you notice overflowing or flooding of some sort.

Don’t put off your gutter cleaning and regret it down the line. Instead, pick up these quick cleaning tips to have your gutters cleaned yourself. It’s not hard, it just requires some patience, caution and time.

Below is a step by step guide to cleaning your gutters yourself:

1. Chances are, your gutters will be located too high for you to reach without a ladder. In this case, it’s important that you have a sturdy and extendable ladder that will allow you to safely reach above the gutter systems. Once you’ve secured a ladder, then move on to the prep work.

2. The main prep work that needs to be done is getting the right tools to complete the job. If you have heavy duty working gloves, these will suffice. And if you want to grab tongs or a plastic scoop, then these will work fine to clean out all the clutter inside the gutters. Grab a large garbage bag for you to collect the debris.

3. Next, you’ll want to remove all the debris from the gutters foot by foot yourself. This is where the patience and caution comes in. Make sure you’re not over reaching to the point where you’ll fall off your ladder. Move through the perimeter of your home slowly and carefully, bagging up the debris and tying the bags once filled.

4. Once all of the debris has been removed, you’ll want to hose down the gutters. This is not only to clean them out completely, but also to test for any leaks you may have. If you find a leak, this will need to be repaired (our recommendation is to call a professional gutter repair company).

5. The final step is just to ensure that all of the workspace area is clean and free of any garbage or debris.

The actual cleaning of your gutters is not difficult. It just takes time and of course, requires some labor on your end. If you’d much rather save your time and energy, then call a professional gutter cleaning company to handle the job for you instead.