[tim handley]

looked into gutter cleaning a while ago,  about two to three grand for a good set up, less for a second hand bit of kit??
Is any body doing a lot of this work?   is there a good demand for it?  does it take much selling? is it seasonal?
id love to hear from anybody who is making it work, also anybody who hasnt made it work!!!!!!!

[JandS]

So so here Tim.....spent just over a grand new end of last year brought in about £2500 so far but not really pushed it...just a few fliers when finishing a carpet job here and there where gutters looked as though they needed it.....makes a change but am going to start pushing it next few weeks with leaves falling and try make it a good second income.....that and the hard floor course next week.

[tim handley]

you on the course up at restormate??   if so ill meet you up there and pick your brain mate!!!!!

[Kevin Miller]

I spent £110 on my setup. 2nd hand ladders with stand off and pro gutter tools and Harris pole. Works well for me.

[Paul Wisdom]

Got myself a impulse buy on a gutter vac and ali poles + a few heads about a month ago. Banged out about 500 leaflets so far. Got my first job next week. I still think I will have to buy a standoff though. Got a few thousand leaflets going out next week, so lets see. Did my own and the neighbours it is a bloody messy job. Not sure it was the right decision for me, I will know soon though

[Smurf]

Got myself a impulse buy on a gutter vac and ali poles + a few heads about a month ago. Banged out about 500 leaflets so far. Got my first job next week. I still think I will have to buy a standoff though. Got a few thousand leaflets going out next week, so lets see. Did my own and the neighbours it is a bloody messy job. Not sure it was the right decision for me, I will know soon though

You may have noticed already when clearing gutter sludge the vac poles, head & vac hose can get alot heavier as it starts sticking to the insides.

When this happens instead of struggling on you  can flush them out either with an outside tap if the custy has one or just fill a bucket of water and suck the water through to help clear the sludge out and make it easier on yourself to continue working.

Hope this little tip helps?



 

[JandS]

Not at RestormateTim  next week am down in Birmingham putting another string to my bow...hard floor cleaning course.

[Paul Wisdom]

Got myself a impulse buy on a gutter vac and ali poles + a few heads about a month ago. Banged out about 500 leaflets so far. Got my first job next week. I still think I will have to buy a standoff though. Got a few thousand leaflets going out next week, so lets see. Did my own and the neighbours it is a bloody messy job. Not sure it was the right decision for me, I will know soon though

You may have noticed already when clearing gutter sludge the vac poles, head & vac hose can get alot heavier as it starts sticking to the insides.

When this happens instead of struggling on you  can flush them out either with an outside tap if the custy has one or just fill a bucket of water and suck the water through to help clear the sludge out and make it easier on yourself to continue working.

Hope this little tip helps?



 

Great tip - Thanks 

[Smurf]

Got myself a impulse buy on a gutter vac and ali poles + a few heads about a month ago. Banged out about 500 leaflets so far. Got my first job next week. I still think I will have to buy a standoff though. Got a few thousand leaflets going out next week, so lets see. Did my own and the neighbours it is a bloody messy job. Not sure it was the right decision for me, I will know soon though

You may have noticed already when clearing gutter sludge the vac poles, head & vac hose can get alot heavier as it starts sticking to the insides.

When this happens instead of struggling on you  can flush them out either with an outside tap if the custy has one or just fill a bucket of water and suck the water through to help clear the sludge out and make it easier on yourself to continue working.

Hope this little tip helps?



 

Great tip - Thanks 

Also another tip as I’ve found handy in the past is when working on acute angles above conny roofs, ground floor extensions etc you can rest the poles on the structure below to help take the weight of ali poles. However be careful not to damage anything if you do or alternatively another option is you can use a ladder set up instead against the structure so it act as a fulcrum and rest the poles on the top rung instead.

Obviously if using carbon poles which are lighter you may not really need to do this but still on some instances you might as will still take the stress from your arms, shoulders & back in doing so when trying to work on acute angles.

[Smudger]

If I were a carpet cleaner I wouldn't do gutter clearing as an add on. As said it can be messy, even a straightforward clear can leave you with sludge in the van or over your boots and over equipment, and it can honk really bad too !!

We gutter clear as part of our exterior cleaning services and it's a good income, we clear all year round but November to Jan is busiest for new enquiries Feb and March we run our regular yearly clearing service which has around 300 clients.

I wouldn't expect loads of work straight off, like carpet cleaning it takes a while to build up, but using your current customer base will help.

2 good tips given by smurf already, I will add that you should but the most powerful vac you can and use carbon poles - use a solid 135 degree bend that fits into the gutter not a silly silicone bend. In all the years I've cleared gutters I've only ever had to climb a ladder once due to not clearing with a vac. But that has changed now as we offer gutter joint repair service, so if the joint /down pipe is compromised we just go up and clear because we have to re seal it anyway

HTH
Darran

[Nameless Drudge]

Carbon poles only,there are different suppliers now,gardeners pal sold me good poles but some useless attachments,bit of trial and error but £680 for 3 hours work gives a good feeling,however  many are difficult,be prepared,I was at 3 and 4 story's high,blocked downpipe at that level takes some sorting.My personal opinion is that there is more to be made domestics and the ladders have to come out then so be it,of course if you are equipped properly then the money is there,I know some doleys  that make £250.00 on a Saturday morning.

[Smurf]

When offering a domestic/residential gutter clearing service it's not unusual for home owners/ landlords and/or tenants to want the exterior of their property kept looking clean as well. That then opens up a whole new range of add on services to offer so you can quite easily end up an exterior property cleaner not just a gutter clearer. Therefore if you don't want to turn work away will need further investment in kit etc.

May seem obvious to some but "gutter clearing" & "gutter cleaning" means two separate services so you need to be aware. As an example some will say can you give me a quote to clean my gutters when in fact they mean clean the outside of the guttering, fascia, soffits, bargeboard, cladding etc and not clear the guttering itself. Best to always confirm what exactly needs doing and charge accordingly for the two separate services.

Regarding gutter clearing and the range of other add on services  here are a few examples that you may get asked to do.

Roof valley clearing – sometimes needs unblocking during the gutter clearing process as would be pointless just to clear the guttering on its own if they were badly blocked.

Conservatory roof guttering clearing – Including box guttering on some which can be a PITA. 

Guttering, fascia, soffit, bargeboard (apex) cleaning - either by hand, wfp method etc

Conservatory roof cleaning

Window cleaning 

Cladding cleaning

Render cleaning

Roof cleaning

Masonry & brickwork cleaning

Paving, Driveway, Patio, Decking Cleaning etc

That’s not including any commercial/industrial gutter clearing or add on services  as can be a whole different ball game altogether due to the size/height of some commercial/industrial buildings.

That’s probably why smudger said best stick to carpet cleaning and any associated services to that as it’s a darn site easier and safer to do especial if you don’t like working at heights.

[Smurf]

I spent £110 on my setup. 2nd hand ladders with stand off and pro gutter tools and Harris pole. Works well for me.

Nice one...
I'm betting you brick it still on some jobs you get as I know I use too especially on the awkward ones and with nice and slippery surfaces to try to set the ladders on.

That's why I started using this ladder setup as I found out the hard way. The falling bit is easy but the sudden stop at the end hurts like hell.

That ladders setup I've found a big bonus to be able to get above the roofline height which is much easier and safer position to work from as its rock solid and not going anywhere. Not only that when using a pro gutter tool on pole you have something to hold onto and also pro gutter tools work great clearing awkward roof valleys too. 

[drive surgeon]

If I were a carpet cleaner I wouldn't do gutter clearing as an add on. As said it can be messy, even a straightforward clear can leave you with sludge in the van or over your boots and over equipment, and it can honk really bad too !!

We gutter clear as part of our exterior cleaning services and it's a good income, we clear all year round but November to Jan is busiest for new enquiries Feb and March we run our regular yearly clearing service which has around 300 clients.

I wouldn't expect loads of work straight off, like carpet cleaning it takes a while to build up, but using your current customer base will help.

2 good tips given by smurf already, I will add that you should but the most powerful vac you can and use carbon poles - use a solid 135 degree bend that fits into the gutter not a silly silicone bend. In all the years I've cleared gutters I've only ever had to climb a ladder once due to not clearing with a vac. But that has changed now as we offer gutter joint repair service, so if the joint /down pipe is compromised we just go up and clear because we have to re seal it anyway

HTH
Darran

.  Darren how do you get big
 Pieces of broken tiles out or unblock down pipes without going up the ladder. We use ladders all the time and a vacuum  system.  We are forever pulling big plugs out of the down pipe that the vacuum has no chance of getting.   

[Smudger]

I think it depends on the vac your using, many people have cheap vacs or silicone bends at the nozzle end.

We use omnivac and have pulled out half a house brick from a hip corner ( yes I was surprised !! ) bits of slate, cement snots, balls, cans, and other rubbish usually they hold on the nozzle with suction.

Again with the extra power of the omnivac plugs will come out, sometimes they take a little work, you need to give the guttering a gentle shake while the nozzle is in the swan neck I also have a slightly smaller end that fits into the down pipe better.

Tight gaps? Many times the tiles have slipped slightly, using a solid bend allow you to push the tile back up giving good access again

Darran

[Smurf]

I see we have a new kid on the block selling cheap 4200w guttervac setups advertised on ciu that might be worth taking a looksee.

Still from experience using an omnivac 4200w vac myself I know they can still struggle on some jobs but like you say smudger a solid bend like the omnivac dirt breaker gives more leverage. That’s if you can get it into the gap and not break the gutter union joints, clips or brackets in the process trying which can happen quite easily. 

I actually lifted a large chunk of capping mortar that came from a roof valley end that was stuck in the gutter once. Got it out of the gutter eventually but then it fell off the nozzle end as was so heavy and can crashing down with an almighty bang. In doing so the impact broke a tile clean in half when it landed on the pitched tiled roof extension below.  Then half of the tile it broke on impact proceeded to slide down the roof .Oops!

The good news was I was wearing me hard hat at the time

[Smurf]

Mind you I suppose if you get gutter jobs on properties that have no access to get to the back as they do come up. Then doing carpet cleaning as well you could offer a discount to clean their flooring after you've tracked mud through their house.

Oops! Yes I've done that too

[Smudger]