My new house is two story. With lots of oak trees surrounding. The gutters appear to not have been cleaned in years.

I do not mind the lower gutters. But the upper gutters would require a ladder on the roof of the first story. The pitch is not too bad, maybe about 10 degrees, so it is not like I am trying to place a ladder on a 45 degree angle. But still, it is a risk.

Do I risk cleaning them out myself and installing some sort of gutter guard? Or do I hire this out?

I used to do it, but now I hire out.

Too old, and lazy and I can't take the time off if I fall.

I look at it as cheap insurance, price vs time off of work.

I 100% don't get hurt if I hire out.

My dad was in his late 60s when he climbed a ladder to clean pine needles out of his damn gutters. He somehow slipped off the ladder and became entangled in the it as he fell. Broke his leg on the way down. He got a ride to the ER in an ambulance. When he saw the Xray of the broken bone he fainted, which they took to be a heart attack or stroke or something. He spent several days in the hospital being observed before being released to go home. It would have been a lot cheaper to hire it done from the start.

I’m going to assume it’s a Live Oak. They have small leaves that tend not to cause much trouble if your gutters and downspouts are large enough. I’d get on a ladder and look at the second story gutters to see if they even need cleaning.

We have a single story ranch with a Live Oak three times as tall as the house and a trunk that’s pushing three feet in diameter. In the back, the roof and pool cage slope down as a V shape to a 6” super gutter at the bottom of the V. We only have a problem when sticks get caught up. Gutter guards would do nothing for this gutter because the leaves and sticks would just lay on top of the guard. Someone would still have to go up there and get rid of them. The front and side gutters have always been clear for the last 22 years.

Hire it out. Going from roof to roof really sucks, but also, we just had gutter guards installed and after watching the pros do it, there is no way I would tackle that job. It was an all day affair and they were up and down 25' extension ladders all day.

Yesterday, I climbed up on my high roof for the first time in 2 years to blow some stuff off. I had hired it out twice. But I was up on a lower flatter roof of my screened porch and the height to the next roof is only about 5 more feet. So I set my 8' A-frame up and climbed up. Even though the low roof is only 2/12, it was nerve-wracking climbing the ladder. My lot drops away to the back of the house so it is a long painful drop to the ground if anything happened.

If you don't mind climbing ladders and you're physically fit enough to do the job why pay good money to pay someone to do a job you can do yourself? I've done my gutters more than once and finally wised up and installed inexpensive gutter guards from Lowes. Be sure footed, don't climb ladders if its wet out or high winds are blowing, take your time, don't get in a hurry and don't try and reach to far and you should be good to go.

quote:

My dad was in his late 60s when he climbed a ladder to clean pine needles out of his damn gutters. He somehow slipped off the ladder and became entangled in the it as he fell. Broke his leg on the way down. He got a ride to the ER in an ambulance

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Max McGee the wide receiver who scored the first touchdown in the first Super Bowl died falling off his roof.

Hire it out. Three guys took all day to do my gutter guards. They also made sure the gutters were properly sloped and secured.
I used to do this kind of stuff. Not anymore. Roofers fall off roofs all the time.

I spent literally $90 on soft plastic foam inserts sold at Home Depot and Lowes placed inside my gutters. Any reputable handyman with ladder experience can drop these in, in about 30 minutes per 40 feet of gutter. Works fine. No more clogs. No need to deal with the horrible high pressure sales pitches. Pay someone to install these, or call a son in law for help.

I just finished cleaning my gutters after they overflowed last night. I plan on replacing my roof in the next few months so I will have them installed at that time.

Paying someone to do the work vs going up on a hot ass roof and potentially falling off it and becoming a quadriplegic or dead?

I’m paying an expert!

Ladder on the ground? All day long.

Ladder on the roof...to reach another roof? Not a chance in hell.

If you do choose to DIY it, at least tie yourself off with a rope thrown over the other side and anchored on something sturdy.

I did the stuff I could reach myself and hired a handyman to do the back side that's 30ft up.

Hire it out.

I'm 68 and I just did my daughters 2 story from the ground with a 28ft aluminum extension ladder . Cleaned gutters and installed gutter screens from Lowes. 130 ft of it. It kicked my butt. I was beat at the end of day, but saved her $6100 from what Leaf Filter quoted.

I think one has to factor in age, familiarity with ladders/experience then type of roof.

The ladder on the roof to get to the next level sounds sketchy.

I do my own still, just shy of 60. My roof is fairly straightforward. I go slow, keep it methodical. I do my chimney too.

We don’t have a bunch of overhanging trees, but pine needles, leaves & such blow around over time.

My sister told a story about her friend just this past Easter. The wife was grousing about a possible leak on the roof. Conditions were not ideal, wet, possibly some snow as he went up to check her concerns. He also was not very familiar with going up. He fell onto the back deck, cracked some ribs, hurt his back, mid 60’s I think. He’ll recover, slowly, but spent Easter Sunday at the emergency room, then required follow up.

Common sense dictates one doesn’t go up in less than ideal conditions. As I get older, I do tree stands for hunting less & less.

I was until recently the owner of a custom construction company. It was no big deal to walk on a top plate of a 2 story building….when I was younger.
When I turned 50 my wife and I decided no more ladder or roof walking and 15 years later I’m still here.
Decided to get gutter screens installed on our new house a couple of months ago. I bought the screens from Home Depot and paid a local handyman a few hundred bucks to install it one afternoon.

I don’t get more than 5 feet off the ground for anyone now…

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Max McGee the wide receiver who scored the first touchdown in the first Super Bowl died falling off his roof.

Max was one of my favorite players when I lived in Green Bay during the 60's. Stay off the damn roof. It's for kids.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
But the upper gutters would require a ladder on the roof of the first story.

I'm one of the younger guys in here and I'd hire that out to a professional.

Let them deal with it, they have everything they need including the experience and knowledge to deal with it.

Just make sure you are heard saying, "look at me,I’m flying" because it’s more manly than, "oh shit, MOMMY!!"

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

I'm one of the younger guys in here and I'd hire that out to a professional.

Let them deal with it, they have everything they need including the experience and knowledge to deal with it.

This 1000%

And all the proper gear to include safety gear..

And the insurance...