Vacuum Gutter Cleaning
Are you looking into gutter vacuum cleaning services for your Melbourne-based property? It’s important to do your research and understand if this method of gutter cleaning is the right option for your home before going ahead. In this article we’ve laid out the pros and cons of vacuum gutter cleaning, as well as our personal recommendation surrounding vacuum gutter cleaning as Melbourne gutter cleaning experts.
What is a gutter vacuum?
Gutter vacuums can come in all different shapes and sizes, however, a top quality gutter vacuum is usually a vehicle mounted petrol operated machine, with a hose attachment that can run as long as 60m (in extreme cases these hoses can be joined together for even more reach). They are used in a similar way to a regular household vacuum but are specifically designed to clean gutter systems rather than floors.
If you do a quick Google search, you’ll find plenty of different brands and distributors developing and stocking a massive range of gutter vacuums. Some are purpose-built for specific types of gutters. Others have been built to cover all bases. They’re not the most popular gutter cleaning tools, however, many professionals and amateurs alike use them and find them suitable to the particular gutter cleaning jobs they carry out.
What are the benefits of vacuum gutter cleaning services?
Let’s start with the pros of hiring a vacuum gutter cleaning service.
From our experience, there is one benefit that stands out. A vacuum is built to syphon and collect whatever it is that is being cleaned up. So, a gutter vacuum collects pretty much all of the leaves and other debris that it removes from the gutters, often reducing the amount of clean up needed at the end of the job.
The mechanical nature of a gutter vacuum can also reduce the amount of manual labour, physical effort and elbow grease required to clean a gutter the traditional way.
What are the drawbacks of using a gutter vacuum?
Now, on to the downsides of cleaning gutters with a vacuum.
Number one, they can majorly impact the safety of gutter technicians and people in the general vicinity. The machine’s long hose can often become a trip hazard for people on and off the roof, plus having to carry a bulky, often heavy cleaning tool can lead to loss of balance and instability.
The expensive price tag of these kinds of cleaners is also a frustration, as well as the cost of maintaining them over the years. A machine like this that has to syphon the amount of filthy grime and debris trapped within the average gutter is going to take on some wear and tear pretty quickly.
Another issue with these types of gutter cleaners is that they can actually cause damage to the roof by dislodging tiles and ridge cappings. The bulky hose has quite a bit of heft to it, so it’s not unusual to see them causing this kind of damage.
Finally, as you can see from the image below, trying to manoeuvre a bulky gutter vacuum around an inner city property is going to be difficult with cars parked on the street, no yard to provide extra room and the neighbouring homes pretty much joined at the hip. Not ideal. This is why they aren’t really as much use to gutter cleaning professionals who offer inner city services.
Noise Pollution Issue
As a rule, gutter vacuums are extremely loud, in most municipalities it will be illegal to operate them before 7am. Gutter vacuums are so loud that the operators will usually be wearing ear muffs. During the heat of Summer, it’s necessary for gutter cleaners to commence work as early as 6am or before. During early morning hours, a gutter vacuum is useless; unless of course you want your entire neighbourhood woken early.
Does Box Gutter Cleaning offer vacuum gutter cleaning Melbourne-wide?
As mentioned above, vacuum gutter cleaning really isn’t our jam. We respect that a gutter vacuum can be a useful tool under the right circumstances, but for us, the number of drawbacks certainly outweigh the few benefits.
We prefer to stick with gutter cleaning methods that have been tried and tested and proven to be solid for hundreds of years…
Using small, lightweight, easily carried tools better suited for providing a high level of safety for our workers and people in the general vicinity. (and a bit of general peace and quiet)
Ensuring an effective clean with manual methods up close and personal and getting our gloves dirty.
So, if you’re looking for vacuum gutter cleaning near you, we’d suggest searching for vacuum cleaning services from a different provider OR (and this is the option we prefer) consider chatting with one of our friendly gutter cleaning experts to find out if the gutter cleaning services we provide will work for you and your home. There’s no harm in having a quick conversation – who knows, you might save money and end up with a better gutter clean!
Give us a call on 1300 BOX GUTTER (1300 269 488) today or visit the Box Gutter Cleaning website to learn more about our services like residential and commercial gutter cleaning, roof cleaning and restoration and gutter guard cleaning and servicing.