PVC Gutter Cleaner
Exterior, Landscaping & Design, Lawn and Garden, Repairs and Installation, Roofing, Simple Solutions, Video by Joe Truini
Here’s a handy tip to help you clean out the gutters without having to climb onto your roof or a ladder. Create a long spray-wand from PVC pipe (1/2″ works well) with a “U” shape at one end. This “U” requires two 90-degree couplings and two 6-inch lengths of PVC pipe. On the short side of the “U” install a cap over the end of the pipe (you’ll need PVC primer and glue for all the joints). Drill 3 holes in the end of the cap and glue a threaded adaptor to the other (long) end of the “U” to attach the garden hose to (to simplify use, add a shut-off valve here as well). When you turn on the faucet, a high-pressure stream of water will flow through the PVC and out of the holes in the cap, so you can raise it up and lower it into the gutters, blasting out debris.
12 Comments on “PVC Gutter Cleaner”
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August 18th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Nice idea,,,so what do you do when you have leaves and small twigs in your gutters…we use screens and when you need to clean the gutters,you need to take the screens out and check each section..North jersey
August 20th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
August 19th on the weather channel danny lipford demonstrated the installation a rain diverter and for more information you could access the website…..unfortunately I find no mention of this technique anywhere on the websites (his or the weather channel).
September 8th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I, too, cannot find information on the rain diverter that was also demonstrated on the weather channel Sept. 8. I caught the last of it and would like more details.
Nicholas Roussos Says:September 11th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Lee and E. Buckner,
In response to your request, we just added a detailed step by step article on installing a rain diverter.
I hope that helps you out.
December 28th, 2008 at 10:26 am
if anyone is interested i have a brand new product available january 09 that cleans the water marks[tiger stripes] off the outside of gutters and in most cases eliminating the need for a ladder or pressure washer
December 29th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
please explain in more detail on how the hose was attached to the pvc pipe.
thanks
Ben Erickson Says:December 30th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Doug,
A threaded adaptor was glued onto the end of the PVC pipe and a coupling screwed to it. The shut-off valve screwed into the other end of the coupling and the hose was threaded into the valve.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:37 pm
My gutters used to clog all the time with leaves and pine needles from all the trees around my house. my husband hated getting out the ladder and cleaning them. I finally installed a gutter guard so that we wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. It’s called Gutterglove Gutterguard. It’s has a stainless steel mesh on an aluminum frame. It looks and feels pretty heavy duty. I ordered it and installed it myself. I am so happy with the way it is performing. We don’t have to clean the gutters anymore. It was well worth the investment and I would recomend it to everyone!
March 21st, 2009 at 6:49 am
need the name of gutter treatment caulk when there is a gutter leak. also an idea of where to buy product. we have tried some in the past with no luck.
thanks from Iowa,
Judy Benson
May 31st, 2009 at 8:03 am
This was something I built a couple of years ago. It works great!
A couple of modifications I made based on experience (and having to clean 2nd story gutters). If you are going to make it longer than 1 story, you really need the extra stiffness of 3/4″ PVC. For the sprayer end, I replaced the drilled end cap with a 45˚bend, then after a very short length of pipe I attached a female threaded end and attached a metal sweeper nozzle (you could probably use plastic also). The 45˚ bend eliminates the need to hold the cleaner at an angle, and the sweeper nozzle really blasts out the twigs and junk that get trapped (including a tennis ball that somehow gut stuck up there!)
Ben Erickson Says:June 1st, 2009 at 8:05 am
Hi Mark,
Thanks for posting your improvements to the gutter cleaner. For those who are not as handy, premade gutter cleaning wands can be purchased at home improvement stores.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Have been unable to find any wands at Lowes, HD, etc. Maybe you know of a mailorder supplier?