So you finally decided that you will clean the guttering and unblock the down-pipes yourself. Then there’s a few things that you should really know before you undertake the task. When climbing ladders and working at heights it is important that safety is carefully taken into consideration. Always make sure that you wear enclosed footwear as this helps to prevent slips and falls. You should also look above when setting up or climbing a ladder to make sure there are no power lines or telephone cables that can cause a safety issue.

When you have take care of all the necessary safety and equipment requirements. Then you should start locating the down-pipes along your guttering system. Often a simple check and forcing the end of a garden hose into each down-pipe will sufficiently unblock them. You should also always get below each down-pipe with the hose running inside to make sure that water is flowing properly and all the way through.

If the down-pipes are really blocked up with dirt and other debris. Take the end of your hose and push it into the down-pipe as far as it will go. Move it around and try and get just under 1 Meter into the down-pipe. When you have pushed a sufficient amount of the hose into the down-pipe, you can turn on the water tap. Usually this will unblock most down-pipes.

Once you have unblocked and cleaned out your guttering system, then you can also look into further prevention. Many people install gutter guards and other guttering systems that help to prevent the gutters and down-pipes from getting blocked all the time. You can either buy a cheaper gutter guard from your local hardware store or pay a professional to install a higher quality gutter guard.