[drive surgeon]

had a bad start to gutter cleaning. i need to get a better way of spiking the sludge as it was compacted hard and i struggled to break it up on a 3 bed semi.  my arma are aching too. its not as easy as it sounds and you have to take into your prcing the time to set up and break down. to a lot longer than expected 

i was using a telescpoic pressure washing lance with a bit of metal bent to try to dislodge the sludge.

[Robin Ray]

What diameter is your hose and inlet. If its 38mm its can cause problems.

[drive surgeon]

the u bend is made up of 51mm hose with 28mm hose pushed into it and then a hard plastic tube inside that.   the vacuum hose at bottom of poles is 38mm yes going into vac. it has enough suction tho its just i need to break up the sludge easier so it sucks out.

[ftp]

Work your spike from the side rather than from above and shunt it along the gutter resting the pole on the gutter side.

[Robin Ray]

To break up the sludge try tapeing a couple of metal spikes like tent pegs to the u bend so when you vac you also break up debris. Ive never tried it but it might help. As ftp says also try vacing from the side along the gutter.
 
With so many changes of diameter the sludge will hit the different size changes and cause blockages. When you get a small blockages the air and debris will slow down and the wet sludge will stick to the sides of the hose, further reducing the diameter and preventing air flow and suction.  

[drive surgeon]

when i feel the pole getting heavy i suck a bucket of water up to clear it out. the hard part i find is breaking up the compacted sludge.

[MNWC]

3 bed semi would take me about  1hr tops just cleaning out gutters and i would charge about £30

[drive surgeon]

£30?  you cant be using a vac? you must be using ladders.  thats too cheap. have you added the health and safety factor of ladders into your pricing?  thats only £10 per lenght?  ok maybe if you are a window cleaner but im not travelling from mine to a house 5 miles away to clean gutters out for 30 quid. 

[Clive McDonald]

Interesting chat.

Remember, in this sort of discussion a lot read with interest but don't comment because those involved seem to know a bit more than we do.

What i'm trying to say is, i've cleaned lots of gutters, but i also think i can learn a lot off ftp etc, and drive surgeon(because he's a novice and making the mistakes that i would probably make with a vac).

[ftp]

Guuter vacs are great. But only if you don't want to use a ladder. Just because you've spent thousands on a system doesn't mean you can automatically charge top whack on residential work. I've used mine loads of times but i tend to be quite cheap or realistic possibly. I tend to charge around thirty pounds for a clear out (less than an hour) but substancially more if the full soffit, outside gutter clean is required too. i haven't purchased my kit as a way to make a fast buck although I have made good money.
You need to look at the competition and their methods and prices. If you've got guys willing to empty off a ladder in your area then you can't really charge double their prices just because you've spent a lot. It's a handy bit of kit but a hell of a lot of equipment to lug about and way over the top really for what it does but it enables me to do a job I previously had no interest in whatsoever.

[drive surgeon]

i charged 100 quid and yes its booked in for next year. i did a 3 bed semi inc conservatory gutters.

[drive surgeon]

the window cleaners by us charge 20 quid easy per length of gutter so i charged about the same inc the conservatory gutters.

[ftp]

If you are getting away with £100 just to empty gutters of a house what would you charge for a full clean out of interest Drive Surgeon.

[drive surgeon]

£150 for around 3 hours work 

[drive surgeon]

my friend is a plumber and he charges £70 to fit a tap which takes an hour so £150 for 3 hours work is not to bad.

[ftp]

So £100 to empty and £50 to wash down the soffits, outside of the gutters and fascias?
Not critisizing just curious.

[drive surgeon]

yeah i guess.  or maybe it should be more!!

[mick hay]

What you have to remember, is you dont get if you dont ask!!

Im getting the vac soon, in fact im getting a new van specificaly for gutters, commercial and residential. Im expensive on windows, conservatory cleans and pvcu cleans, but i must be doing something right, im booked right up!!

Some people will pay some will laugh at you when you ask. I used to work mon - thurs, i now work mon - fri and some saturdays, ive never dropped any price, in fact ive put them up!

Happy days!!!!   

[Rob.Hall]

Ive thought about a gutter vac but yesterday changed my mind.

The gutters had very dry crud in them which took quite a time to chip out.
Then their were the down pipes....all blocked.

How will a gutter vac cope with that especially the blocked down pipes?

[ftp]

It won't that's why you need a pressure washer too, or be prepared to scamper up the ladders. It won't put an end cap back on either if you knock one off.