DIY Guide
DIY vs Professional Gutter Cleaning: Which Is Better?
Choosing whether to clean your gutters yourself or getting a professional in to clean them is a big decision. We may have done it ourselves in the past, or are considering getting them cleaned for the first time. What though is involved in completing a gutter clean by yourself? Are you prepared to get on the roof, or can you access the gutters by ladder? Can you access the entire guttering around the property? Being able to clean the gutters by yourself will indeed save you money, and if you can do it safely it may be a good decision. First consider what cleaning your gutters yourself involves?
What DIY Gutter Cleaning Involves
If you want to clean your gutters yourself you need the right equipment. This changes depending on whether cleaning from a ladder or from the roof.
Gutter cleaning equipment needed from the ladder
- Extension ladder
- Adjustable legs for variable terrain
- Gloves to protect your hands from the sharp metal edges
- Tough plastic bag
- Ladder tie off to prevent your ladder from sliding off the gutter
- Tongs
Cleaning Gutters from a ladder is the safest way for a homeowner to clean their own gutters, and is what we recommend for DIY'ers. To ensure you use a ladder safely, make sure you enough room on the ground to create a minimum 75 degree angle from the base of the ladder to the gutter.
Unfortunately in Sydney its rare to find homes that allow safe ladder access all around the property. In the majority of cases, the gutters need to be cleaned from the rooftop.
When Gutter Cleaning From the Rooftop What Equipment is Required?
Gutter cleaning equipment needed from the rooftop
- Extension ladder
- Adjustable legs for variable terrain
- Gloves to protect your hands from the metal edges
- Tough plastic bag
- Ladder tie off to prevent your ladder from sliding off the gutter
- Tongs
- Safety Harness
- Safety Rope
- Temporary Anchor Points
- Self Rescue Rope kit
- Proper Shoes for working on roof
- Safety Lanyards
- Blower for valleys and leaf matter not in gutters
Gutter Cleaning from the roof is a much more involved process. If you are wanting to do this for your own home, you will need to spend a considerable sum getting the required equipment to be able to safely clean on a roof. We also recommend that those people take a Working at Heights Course, and some Rope Access training to learn how to use said equipment. So why would you clean your gutters by yourself?
What are the Pros of DIY Gutter Cleaning?
Cleaning your Gutter certainly comes with some benefits, not least of all cost. Cleaning your own gutters is good for the following reasons
- Cost. It will save you money. A regular 2 storey home with a tree nearby may cost around $470 per clean, and may need doing twice a year. Cleaning it yourself would save around $940 a year.
- You are well aware of what condition you guttering and roof is in. Many homeowners never check their roofs, and allow obvious problems to go unattended for many years.
- Regularity, cleaning it yourself allows you to potentially clean your gutters even more regularly than you might if you were paying for it, leading to your gutters being in even better condition.
Cleaning you gutters yourself clearly has benefits, and keeps you educated as a homeowner, what though are some of the reasons why you might not clean your gutters yourself.
Cons of DIY Gutter Cleaning
There are unfortunately some cons to cleaning your gutters yourself, with some of the largest concerns not being money related.
- Safety, this is quite an obvious reason, sadly many people in Australia die, or are severely injured by falling off of their roofs. Your safety should be your first concern.
- Access. Many homes in Sydney have homes where access is not easy. This means many homeowners only clean the gutters they can easily reach, leaving some areas for decades. For example some gutters may be cleaned, but what about your roof valleys and 2nd and 3rd storey gutters?
- Many DIY cleaners also fail to check the downpipes properly. Even if the gutter is clean, if the downpipe is blocked the gutters will not drain correctly.
- Cost. Buying all of the required equipment requires a large upfront cost, a full gutting cleaning set up for your home may cost over $5000 before you even start cleaning.
The biggest issue with cleaning your gutters yourself is safety. If you cannot access the gutters via ladder it may be best to hire a professional who is trained and used to working at heights.
Why though would you hire a professional to clean your gutters?
Benefits of Hiring a Professional Gutter Cleaner
What do you gain from hiring a professional to clean your gutters? There are a few benefits that we will outline here.
- Guaranteed workmanship, professional gutter cleaners will take before and after photos and know how to clean and keep your gutters clear in the future.
- Professional advice. This goes beyond only cleaning your gutters. Professional gutter cleaners have been on 1000's of roofs all over Sydney. They will have a good idea as to why your gutters are getting blocked, whether or not you require gutter guard and how often you should clean your gutters.
- Additional roof maintenance. Professional Gutter Cleaners can also perform small roof repairs, such as replacing or repairing cracked roof tiles, providing a detailed roof report or recommending a trusted tradesman to carry out more in depth work.
- Fully Insured. If anything is damaged by a Professional Gutter Cleaning Company, they are fully insured. This means repairs will be carried out without cost to you. If you clean your own gutters, any damage you cause is your own cost.
- Proper Equipment and training. Professional Gutter Cleaners always have the proper safety and cleaning equipment and most importantly know how to use it. A professional company will always fill out a SWMS before starting a job, and be properly secured to the roof during a job.
Hiring a professional clearly has its positive points, but lets consider a cost comparison between DIY and Hiring a professional gutter cleaner.
Cost Comparison
Cost comparisons are rarely straight forward, but lets do a simplified look at how much each option could cost for a standard 4 Bedroom 2 storey home in Sydney.
Cost of DIY Gutter Cleaning
- Upfront cost. This will be individual, but if we assume you need to buy the needed ladders and safety gear it could cost between $2-5000.
- Your Time. If you are cleaning off a ladder due to safety concerns it will take you significantly longer. Any where from 5-7 hours. If we say your time is worth $50 an hour the price of your time would be $250-300.
- Damage you cause to the roof. This could be anything from a few cracked tiles to severe damage from walking on areas you shouldn't be. This cost could range from $150 - $10000 or even more.
- Other Costs. If you injure yourself whilst gutter cleaning, the chances are it would be severe. How would that affect your current employment. How much would that time off work cost?
Overall though you are looking at around $3000 to start and then a ongoing cost of around $300 to do it yourself. What would it cost though to get a professional?
Cost Of Professional Gutter Cleaning
- The initial clean may be around $550 if it hasn't been cleaned in a while due to a build up of debris.
- The Ongoing 6 monthly or yearly clean would be discounted to around $400-450 per clean.
- Costs to you for damage. $0
- Injury Risk $0
The cost of getting a professional gutter clean is much more straightforward and predictable. Also having a regular clean booked in prevents blocked gutters and very expensive home damage that comes from forgetting to clean you gutters.
So which one is right for you?
Should I do Clean the Gutters Myself, Or Get a Professional?
There are many factors which would help you decide whether to hire a professional gutter cleaner or do it yourself.
Some of these are,
- Roof Height
- Your age and Fitness
- Your Current Equipment
- Your Experience on Roofs
- Cost
- Your Available Free Time
Overall, we would would say that if you wanted to DIY your gutter clean, it would probably be best for a single storey home where you can easily access the gutters via ladder all around the property. The risk of personal injury significantly increases when you need to clean the gutters from the roof.
You can clean your gutters yourself — but it’s not always worth the risk or the effort. A professional clean for Shire Gutter Cleaning means it’s done properly, safely, and without mess. In most cases, it’s the easier and smarter option.