[Ian101]

Been looking into this for a while now and I think the cons outweigh the pros.

Can get a new clarke type one for about just under £400 with poles but not really sure how much I would use it ??

Ok not ever pushed gutter cleaning so not sure if there is a market out there ??

I may buy it and push it and use it a few times then sit and gather dust ... do customers pay £120 a house or £30 a side on average ??

Would a little gutter vac clear the material or would I still need to get ladders out - which I dont carry anymore.

Plus worried if I knock a gutter down if its knakered I will have to pay to sort it ??


Maybe its a case of if in doubt do nout ?

[CLEANCARE WC]

i think £15 to £20 a side is more realistic £30 minimum charge

i sold mine last year, but have had a couple of jobs lined up (repeat custom)
which would buy me another, so im thinking about it. 

[deeege]

The last 4 or 5 gutter jobs I've done I swear a gutter vac would be useless on, the ones where the slates overlap the gutter leaving only a couple inches for access.

[CLEANCARE WC]

The last 4 or 5 gutter jobs I've done I swear a gutter vac would be useless on, the ones where the slates overlap the gutter leaving only a couple inches for access.

Yes sometimes you cant beat these with a vac.

[Ben wood]

I have had mine about  a month now. Done 9 jobs so far and not had any problems best thing I have bought in a while. Plus better than using ladders if you employ

[dazmond]

surely ian you can make enough money on maintenance window cleaning coupled with outside gutter/ fascia/soffit/conny roof cleaning and solar panels with your existing set up??

i find i have more than enough work  to keep me busy WITHOUT the hassle of buying more specialist equipment that might not get used too often?

i always hated gutter clearing off a ladder and refuse all this type of work now.


best wishes



dazmond

[mark dew]

surely ian you can make enough money on maintenance window cleaning coupled with outside gutter/ fascia/soffit/conny roof cleaning and solar panels with your existing set up??

i find i have more than enough work  to keep me busy WITHOUT the hassle of buying more specialist equipment that might not get used too often?

i always hated gutter clearing off a ladder and refuse all this type of work now.


best wishes
dazmond

my thoughts too.
 

[R.C Property]

We got gutter vac, stays in the garage most if the time, better getting the ladders out and use pole and gutter tool on them, customers are not always in to get power and dont want to carry our generator about too,

[Smudger]

Ian - been gutter vac'ing for over 3 years now and it really depends on the equipment you buy as to whether you
need ladders or not.

All i can say is i've never needed to use ladders to clear any gutter, even tight fitted ones you do need  a selection
of ends ( 2" round ) 1 1/2" round a crevis tool ( which fits into gutters you cant get a hand into.  

gutter clearing usually makes more per hour than reg window cleaning - but then it has to as it's a 1 off service - we try to
get 3 or 4 on the same day and as close together as poss.

you will have to push the service to your regulars and run an ad campaign in the local rag to keep generating work
it's a nice change from cleaning windows but initial investment will take time to re-coup.

Unlike most we work gutters as 2 man team which really speeds things up when packing/unpacking and changing over
nozzle or just sucking out a long run

all the best

Darran

[wpclean]

The biggest problem with gutter cleaning is to do with the price . . . . . people expect it to be done very cheaply !

It takes a while to set up all the gear with the gutter vac, so you have to have a minimum price, but as has been said if you get a few cleans in a day is ok.

If you want to take the gutter vac seriously you should target commercial.

[mark turton]

thought the same as you 3 years ago. so bought a karcher pro one 500quid. 3motors.
i motor failed in 2nd year but remaining 2 suffice. for domestic anyway.

pros
1- safer 
2- sometimes u can access where wouldnt be safe otherwise to by ladder or wouldnt be easy.
3- think you can get away charging 5-10quid more as always impresses - even people accross street come accross as they are intrigued and some want it done.
4 - can be much quicker to do
5 - considerably cleaner and less messy.
6 - weed hook is excellent for getting hold off real over grown weeds etc.

cons
1-poles can be heavy and large or awkward houses need to be priced right to be worth while
2- prob cant charge as much as i thought i could (maybe a tv camera thing might up that the perception of value)
3- i hate the cleaning out after every job - i had apurpose made foam filter as it had a paper one as standard (needless to say after 3-5 cleans it was holy and mushy)
4 - when gutters wet and bit sludgy inside can block pipe fairly easy and find myself at times having to unblock half way through a job. (pet hate)
5- not always possible to minipulate even narrow nose into gutter, for tile over hang, and difficult to clear debris under the roof lining that often hangs deep inside the gutter.
6 - from a ladder you can see everything clearly and could prob price job better knowing what your in for.

thats all i can think of for now - hope it helps 

[home6442]

If you need a cheap way to inspect the gutter I use a mirror which is attached to
a harris pole works great.
The same pole also holds the weed hook.

[R.C Property]

thought the same as you 3 years ago. so bought a karcher pro one 500quid. 3motors.
i motor failed in 2nd year but remaining 2 suffice. for domestic anyway.

pros
1- safer 
2- sometimes u can access where wouldnt be safe otherwise to by ladder or wouldnt be easy.
3- think you can get away charging 5-10quid more as always impresses - even people accross street come accross as they are intrigued and some want it done.
4 - can be much quicker to do
5 - considerably cleaner and less messy.
6 - weed hook is excellent for getting hold off real over grown weeds etc.

cons
1-poles can be heavy and large or awkward houses need to be priced right to be worth while
2- prob cant charge as much as i thought i could (maybe a tv camera thing might up that the perception of value)
3- i hate the cleaning out after every job - i had apurpose made foam filter as it had a paper one as standard (needless to say after 3-5 cleans it was holy and mushy)
4 - when gutters wet and bit sludgy inside can block pipe fairly easy and find myself at times having to unblock half way through a job. (pet hate)
5- not always possible to minipulate even narrow nose into gutter, for tile over hang, and difficult to clear debris under the roof lining that often hangs deep inside the gutter.
6 - from a ladder you can see everything clearly and could prob price job better knowing what your in for.

thats all i can think of for now - hope it helps 

Needing power so customer has to be in or carrying a generator with you to get power.

[Smudger]

thought the same as you 3 years ago. so bought a karcher pro one 500quid. 3motors.
i motor failed in 2nd year but remaining 2 suffice. for domestic anyway.

pros
1- safer 
2- sometimes u can access where wouldnt be safe otherwise to by ladder or wouldnt be easy.
3- think you can get away charging 5-10quid more as always impresses - even people accross street come accross as they are intrigued and some want it done.
4 - can be much quicker to do
5 - considerably cleaner and less messy.
6 - weed hook is excellent for getting hold off real over grown weeds etc.

cons
1-poles can be heavy and large or awkward houses need to be priced right to be worth while
2- prob cant charge as much as i thought i could (maybe a tv camera thing might up that the perception of value)
3- i hate the cleaning out after every job - i had apurpose made foam filter as it had a paper one as standard (needless to say after 3-5 cleans it was holy and mushy)
4 - when gutters wet and bit sludgy inside can block pipe fairly easy and find myself at times having to unblock half way through a job. (pet hate)
5- not always possible to minipulate even narrow nose into gutter, for tile over hang, and difficult to clear debris under the roof lining that often hangs deep inside the gutter.
6 - from a ladder you can see everything clearly and could prob price job better knowing what your in for.

thats all i can think of for now - hope it helps 

Needing power so customer has to be in or carrying a generator with you to get power.

that is not a con - having the genny running in this weather keeps your hands warm 

There are always people who want the job done cheap just as people want windows done for a 'couple of quid'
you need to sell the advantages of how the gutter vac clears an entire run not just the clumps that show

Darran

[R.C Property]

thought the same as you 3 years ago. so bought a karcher pro one 500quid. 3motors.
i motor failed in 2nd year but remaining 2 suffice. for domestic anyway.

pros
1- safer 
2- sometimes u can access where wouldnt be safe otherwise to by ladder or wouldnt be easy.
3- think you can get away charging 5-10quid more as always impresses - even people accross street come accross as they are intrigued and some want it done.
4 - can be much quicker to do
5 - considerably cleaner and less messy.
6 - weed hook is excellent for getting hold off real over grown weeds etc.

cons
1-poles can be heavy and large or awkward houses need to be priced right to be worth while
2- prob cant charge as much as i thought i could (maybe a tv camera thing might up that the perception of value)
3- i hate the cleaning out after every job - i had apurpose made foam filter as it had a paper one as standard (needless to say after 3-5 cleans it was holy and mushy)
4 - when gutters wet and bit sludgy inside can block pipe fairly easy and find myself at times having to unblock half way through a job. (pet hate)
5- not always possible to minipulate even narrow nose into gutter, for tile over hang, and difficult to clear debris under the roof lining that often hangs deep inside the gutter.
6 - from a ladder you can see everything clearly and could prob price job better knowing what your in for.

thats all i can think of for now - hope it helps 

Needing power so customer has to be in or carrying a generator with you to get power.

that is not a con - having the genny running in this weather keeps your hands warm 

There are always people who want the job done cheap just as people want windows done for a 'couple of quid'
you need to sell the advantages of how the gutter vac clears an entire run not just the clumps that show

Darran

Is if you got a small berlingo to work from like me lol

[Mike #1]

It is far safer using a gutter vac , But IMO i bought a vac from lidil and nade my own poles 2 yrs ago when their was some hype about them on here an everybody was getting into them .

Did 2 jobs and i still had to get ladder out if down comer is blocked you wont know unless you get up a ladder and you cant un-block with a vac .

Used to get about 5 internal gutter cleans each year lucky if i get one now , I think with us having far more rain and heavy rain it is washing the debris from the gutters .

Usually the only gutters i see blocked are the ones with valleys running off the roofs and their is only about 4-5ft of gutter blocked , Keep you're money mate . Mike

[Ian101]

thanks for the input guys

Daz makes a good point with everything else we offer maybe too much hassle esp as we now got a monster pressure washer as well to get stuck in with.

Think I will pass em over to bob plumb for a tenner referral fee 

[SunShineCleaning]

The cheap gutter vacs are only any good on open gutters with non compact debris inside.
I sold mine as I was unable to do a satisfactory job on most houses without getting the ladders out.

Maybe it was my technique I don't know. I found it hard work and near impossible to do it safely with one person.

If you get one get the best you can.

[CLEANCARE WC]

@Mark turton the filter is a dust filter only, your supposed to take it out for wet work