So your gutters need to be cleaned and you’re thinking about doing it yourself. You’re thinking you’d probably save time & money and you don’t want to deal with the “hassle” of hiring someone. So, why is hiring a gutter cleaning professional the way to go?
There’s just a reality to using a ladder, especially when you’re not very familiar with one: it’s a bit risky. Statistically, and especially in the United States, ladders are actually quite dangerous; over 164,000 injuries a year and 300 deaths are caused by falling off ladders. This is why it’s so important to know the proper safety precautions and be able to apply them, something professionals do every day.
But, aren’t there ways to clean gutters without ladders and tools you can get for the job? There are, but you might think twice about that – more on that in the following points.
Unless you’re a professional yourself, the quality of the job you do won’t be as good, and you may have to consult a professional by the end anyway. This is because professionals know what to look for and what techniques to use in what situations. Particularly if you take the safer, no ladder approach and use a “from the ground” method, it’s way harder to ensure that a quality job gets done.
Let’s say you spend $300 on a gutter cleaning service. The job will be done correctly and it won’t need done for probably another 6 months or a year, depending on your property. So can you save that $300 by doing it yourself? Well for one, it will take your time, and more of it, so there’s a cost there. Secondly, if you do the job incorrectly or worse, cause damage, you could end up needing a professional to re-do or fix your work. This all assumes that you have the necessary equipment, which if you don’t, drives the potential cost up even more. For example, a good ladder if you don’t already have one might cost more than you’d pay someone to do it. Couple that with gutter cleaning equipment and it’s much cheaper to hire a professional.
This is last on the list because it’s the least important thing. However, there is something to be said for completely avoiding the hassle of doing this job yourself. Free up the time you could spend cleaning your gutters for the more important things.
