Rain Gutter Cleaner

Every year I have clogged rain gutter and rain gutter drain pipes.  Not wanting to have to go up on a ladder every year to clean them out, I put together a rain gutter cleaner that is to use and costs about $5 to use and allows me to stay on the ground.

All the parts can be found at the local hardware store or if you are like me, at home.


This is what is needed:
1 10' length of 3/4 PVC pipe.
1 3/4" PVC to Garden hose adapter
1 3/4" PVC ball valve
1 3/4" PVC L
1 3/4 to 1/2 L (1/2" side being threaded)
1 6" sprinkler riser, 1/2" in diameter
Can of PVC Glue

Tools:
PVC pipe cutter or hacksaw

Step 1: Cutting Up the PVC Pipe.

Cut the PVC into three pieces.  Here are the lengths.  The lengths are not precise.
6 inches
24 inches
6 feet.

The 6 foot length is determined by the height of your house.  When assembled, you will want to be able to comfortably hold the cleaner on the ground and reach the rain gutter.

Step 2: Assembling the Cleaner

Put everything together before you glue to make sure everything is correct.

Connect 6" piece of PVC to the two L connectors.  This creates a U shaped hook that will reach into your raingutter
Connect the sprinkler riser to the threaded L connector
Connect the 6' length of PVC to the L connector.
Connect the valve to the 6' length
Connect the 2' length to the other side of the valve
Connect the garden hose adapter to the end.

If your house is a two story house, you can add another piece of PVC pipe where the 6' length is.  If you  I would put threaded couplers on the long pieces so it can be taken apart and stored and used on lower roofs.

If you have a real high house, you might want to consider using 1" PVC for strength, but that will increase the cost of the cleaner.

Step 3: Using the Cleaner

To use the cleaner, first change into clothes that can get wet.  You will until you figure out how to use it.

Close the valve on the cleaner
Connect your garden hose to the base of the cleaner.
Turn on the water.
Put the hook of the cleaner into the rain gutter.
Turn on the valve.

Go back and forth along the rain getter until the gutter is clean. The rain gutter has clips every couple of feet, you just need to lift up the cleaner to go over them.

If the rain gutter is full of debris, then you will want to start at the end with the drain and flush it out.

If you have a pergola connected to your house, you can turn on and off the water at the valve as you go around the trusses.

If your drain is clogged, this will work great to flush it out alone.

Comments

[trophyhomerestoration]

Nice
article, great ideas and suggestion

[ImSt0v]

Right on Right on. Was just messing with downspouts this weekend and I seriously need this. $35 for a put together device for the power washer on Amazon. Peeps said it flies around cause so much pressure. Just ordered up the pieces to pickup. $17.00. I am going to test and thinking about adding a detachable sprayer portion to add in an additional section for the second story. I'll post more later.

[knorseth]

My neighbor did his 2 story+ house by adding additional section to make it long enough it was very flimsy at that height, but it did work.

[tfhae2]

I'm would add an offset handle out of PVC to help stabilize it.

[RhondaR43]

I DID IT! Thanks for the idea. I saved a ton of money not paying someone else to do it. Don't have a man in the house and don't need one now!

[BobS281]

what is a sprinkler riser?

[TylerSontag]

I'm not getting enough water pressure with the 1/2'' riser to clear out my very clogged gutters. What adapters can i put on the riser or in place of the riser to step the tube down even more narrow to increase the pressure?

[sarawelder]

nice and straightforward. I will make one soon!

[tom.barday]

Husband has bad back and hurt himself ( again ) cleaning gutters on our shop. So this is perfect. Plus we are a Plumbing and Mechanical contractors and service company so parts will be on hand. Yayyyy !!!

[knorseth]

Let me know how it goes.

[rmcmanus]

Thank you. Great invention.

[Gutterclean]

No need to stand on tiptoes anymore.

[bmwitt2]

New here... Is there a way to favorite these? I can't find it on the page and would like to come back to this

[randomray]

Top right corner above the adds.

[knorseth]

I bookmark the pages in my browser.

[CODO69]

I knew I had seen this before. It was nice talking with you last night at Home Depot, I'll keep an eye out for any new projects you come up with.

[knorseth]

It was nice meeting you. You have some good projects yourself.

KC

[Datawolf]

It's a good idea but you shouldn't avoid the ladder, even if you installed gratings.

[knorseth]

The nice thing is that you don't have to use a ladder. Depending on what kind of covers you have on your grates, you might be able to blast throught them with the water pressure. Reducing the output to a 1/2" pipe gave a lot of pressure.

[Treasure Tabby]

Hummm maybe my dad might be interested in this.
Thanks for sharing. :)