[jonny thompson]

Hi I'm thinking of buying a gutter vac to add to my window cleaning round, a couple of questions , is it hard graft , how long to do a modern average 4 bedroom house and what do people quote per house and how long does it take
Cheers in advance

[Smurf]

Hi Jonny, do you already clear guttering by ladders?

Yes it can be hard graft and also very messy work even when using a guttervc on some jobs.
Money wise that's down to you what you want out of each job I suppose.
Time wise thats down to a number of factors as some are dead easy to do and others can be a PITA.

Sorry I can't be more of any help but it's not as easy as people make out it to be and you can only figure that out once you start gaining experience using one yourself.  Hence why sometimes is quicker to do by ladders if required and it's safe to do so.

[SB Cleaning]

You will still need a set of ladders for over hanging tiles and blocked down pipes...

Get a good vac and carbon poles are a must...I have a grippa vac and it's a great bit of kit.

[jonny thompson]

Yes over the years I have cleaned many gutters, but as I get older I'm not to bothered going up ladders and don't need to as I'm 100% wfp, I'm always still getting asked to do them though and just wondered whether it's going to be worth my while

[dazmond]

Yes over the years I have cleaned many gutters, but as I get older I'm not to bothered going up ladders and don't need to as I'm 100% wfp, I'm always still getting asked to do them though and just wondered whether it's going to be worth my while

if you ve got a good solid full round and work on your own then i dont see the point in getting a guttervac.more expense,more hassle and youll need  space in your van for all the extra equipment.

i refuse all gutter jobs nowadays but will take on f/s/g,conny roofs,solar panel cleaning using existing equipment at the right price.

[Smurf]

It must be harder to get a higher price for gutter clearing when a windy already cleans custy windows as they are use to paying a much lower rate (price conditioned) for cleaning their windows surely?

To look at it another way charging say 75 to clear the  guttering on a small teraced property that takes about an hour to do has got to be worth it surely? Even one custy said to me " 75 don't work out much when you consider it's only done once a year"
When I looked at it that way I had to agree as you do.

[dazmond]

It must be harder to get a higher price for gutter clearing when a windy already cleans custy windows as they are use to paying a much lower rate (price conditioned) for cleaning their windows surely?

To look at it another way charging say 75 to clear the  guttering on a small teraced property that takes about an hour to do has got to be worth it surely? Even one custy said to me " 75 don't work out much when you consider it's only done once a year"
When I looked at it that way I had to agree as you do.

maybe but its the actual clearing of the gutters that i hate.it can be a dirty,messy job and you always find you need to get the ladders out on some jobs even with a vac.

[lal]

 Hi jonny, i bought a gutter vac august last year, to add gutter clearing to my services, as like you i was been
 constantly asked do you clean gutters.
 Like dazmond & smurf said it can definitely be hard & dirty work, most of the gutter jobs i get haven't been
 cleaned out in years so take longer to do, i rarely get an easy one.
 You have to keep an eye on the silt in some long overdue jobs, as it can completely bung up your poles  &  hose if not rinsed out regularly with water sucked from a bucket, you will soon realise there is a lot of silt when your  poles quickly become to heavy to comfortably work with, ( i use Carbon Poles too).
I carry a ladder because occasionally i will come across big lumps of turf or weeds & sods, that would be easier to run up the ladder and do by hand. i only bring the gutter vac out on prebooked jobs, but it is a bit
of faffing about loading onto your van with a ramp i had made, then unloading at the job, sometimes when I've finished a job i can get rid of the waste using the customers recycling bin, a lot of times not, then struggle
to get a nearly full gutter vac up a ramp and back in van, then get home clear out the contents into my own recycling bin, then wash out hose & poles ready for next job. I'm still building my window cleaning round after
three and a half years and the gutter clearing definitely brings in extra money, but saying that i will eventually
drop the gutter clearing when my round is big enough because it is a PITA.
Regards
Lal

[Smurf]

It must be harder to get a higher price for gutter clearing when a windy already cleans custy windows as they are use to paying a much lower rate (price conditioned) for cleaning their windows surely?

To look at it another way charging say 75 to clear the  guttering on a small teraced property that takes about an hour to do has got to be worth it surely? Even one custy said to me " 75 don't work out much when you consider it's only done once a year"
When I looked at it that way I had to agree as you do.

maybe but its the actual clearing of the gutters that i hate.it can be a dirty,messy job and you always find you need to get the ladders out on some jobs even with a vac.

Very true as it’s not a nice job at all. Some don't want to pay very much either as they think it's a 5 min easy job.
More often than not those types tends to be the ones with a regular trad cleaner as they think because they use ladders it's only a bit higher to reach the roofline to unblock the guttering and downspouts for them without giving any thought to the extra risks involved in doing so.

[Smurf]

 Hi jonny, i bought a gutter vac august last year, to add gutter clearing to my services, as like you i was been
 constantly asked do you clean gutters.
 Like dazmond & smurf said it can definitely be hard & dirty work, most of the gutter jobs i get haven't been
 cleaned out in years so take longer to do, i rarely get an easy one.
 You have to keep an eye on the silt in some long overdue jobs, as it can completely bung up your poles  &  hose if not rinsed out regularly with water sucked from a bucket, you will soon realise there is a lot of silt when your  poles quickly become to heavy to comfortably work with, ( i use Carbon Poles too).
I carry a ladder because occasionally i will come across big lumps of turf or weeds & sods, that would be easier to run up the ladder and do by hand. i only bring the gutter vac out on prebooked jobs, but it is a bit
of faffing about loading onto your van with a ramp i had made, then unloading at the job, sometimes when I've finished a job i can get rid of the waste using the customers recycling bin, a lot of times not, then struggle
to get a nearly full gutter vac up a ramp and back in van, then get home clear out the contents into my own recycling bin, then wash out hose & poles ready for next job. I'm still building my window cleaning round after
three and a half years and the gutter clearing definitely brings in extra money, but saying that i will eventually
drop the gutter clearing when my round is big enough because it is a PITA.
Regards
Lal

Yep most will only ask when they notice trees, grass, weeds etc growing out of the gutters/downspouts so the water has nowhere to go so starts overflowing. Like you say these jobs are generally awkward to reach and a PITA to do.
Roofs with a lot of moss on them and/or have large trees nearby it don't take long for the guttering/downspouts to start getting clogged back up again either.

Most don't consider it's a yearly task to check & clear guttering but they normally realise afterwards they need to when they see what has been removed. Some properties due their location and condition of the roof the guttering/downspouts needs clearing every 6 months to keep them free flowing.

Proactive property maintenance as they say is better than reactive maintenance and some property owners realise this especially if they tried to claim off their insurance for water ingress as the first thing the loss adjuster would check the condition of the gutters. The condition of the guttering is also generally flagged up on a property survey too when wanting to sell/buy a property.