How would one clean gutters on a second story? My girlfriend has some stuff growing out of her gutters. She used to have some cheap gutter guards on it until the metal roof was installed. The company removed them and she didn't know. The bottom level I can get with my ladder and a garden spade. The second story is too high for my ladder and I am not a fan of getting on a metal roof. I don't bounce like I used to. I see there are attachments for pressure washers, garden hoses, shop vacs, and even scoopers that attache to a paint/broom pole. The front of the house has columns and can't just rest a ladder against the siding and move it along and I don't want to be reaching out too far. I would like to clean them for her and get an easy method down for future cleanings. I have attached 2 pics of the front and rear of the house.

That's a tough call. Normally (without a slippery metal roof) I would get to the lower roof(s) with a ladder and then a short ladder to the top or highest roof. Then with a 75'/100' extension hose on a good pressure washer use that to spray or blow out the gutters from the highest roof gutters. Wow tough call and risky job. A lift or crane, "cherry picker" rented or a friend that has one would be much safer. Running a "safety line" tied to something pretty permanent over and on the other side of the house (on the ground like your truck, with just enough slack or length to get you within a few feet of the edge of the roof and just close enough to get you in a standing position to the gutters and no more would be the safest IMO. Head to the outdoor store and get some good climbing rope to tie yourself off if you decide to get up on those roofs. Maybe they even have a safety belt or harness for doing that? Stay Safe.

MikeR

There's three of these in stock at my local Lowe's for around $54 bucks and probably around your area at the big box stores too.

This may be a bit confusing but here's what I do.

I have a Stihl leaf blower/shredder, like this:

https://lockcityhomecentersaultstem...and-shredder-vacs/shredder-vacs/sh56ce/?

I bought the Stihl gutter cleaning kit:

https://lockcityhomecentersaultstem...edder-vacs/blower-accessories/gutterkit/

The gutter cleaning kit is meant to be attached to the leaf blower/shredder when it's set up as a blower so you can blow the leaves, etc. out of the gutters. I did that once but the problem with blowing out the gutters is that some of the leaves, etc. wind up blown out onto the roof and wind up back in the gutters later on.

So, instead of blowing out the gutters, I vacuum the gutters out by attaching the gutter cleaning kit to the intake tube on the blower/shredder.

This is where the confusing part can be. The intake tube of the blower/shredder is larger than the first tube of the gutter cleaning kit. So, I place the first tube of the gutter cleaning kit inside the intake tube of the blower/shredder and to seal up the gap, I wrap both with duct tape. I know a picture would really help with explaining this but I don't have one. Think of placing a drinking straw inside a 3/4-inch tube. To seal up the gap, I use duct tape.

Once the gap is sealed up, I attach the other extensions of the gutter cleaning kit to give me the length I need so I can be on the ground and reach up to vacuum my gutters.

My house is a high-rise bungalow. My gutters are higher up than a single-story house but your girlfriend's house is taller than my house so you'll probably need to be standing on something to reach. I'm thinking a scaffolding setup like this should work:

https://www.harborfreight.com/paint...pacity-multi-purpose-scaffold-63050.html

Stand on the scaffolding, then with the blower/shredder and the gutter cleaning kit all assembled, you should be able to vacuum out the gutters.

Hopefully this helps.

Mike.

Go to your local Home Depot early one morning and hire one of those guys standing out front?

Get a professional with a manlift and have them install gutter covers at the same time. No sense being a 911 call. As Clint Eastwood put it "A good man always knows his limitations".

The roof looks as if it is a rather inexpensive metal roof, not meant for walking on at all . Metal roofs are very slippery. What kind of lawsuit will happen if someone with no insurance falls off? Have her hire a professional firm that has insurance and installs gutter guards. In some states owners of corporations do not have to have workmen’s comp on corporate officers of the corporation. Buyer be very beware.

The proper tool for that is a checkbook - hire a gutter-cover guy and be done with it.

My brother bought something like this to clean his 2 storey ones. He has more patience then I do because i tried it on our house and got fed up trying to get it around the nails that hold it on and pulled out the ladder like normal.

Leaning towards her hiring someone and then getting something for the hose to flush it out once in a while. Should be able to watch the downspouts to see how clear they are.

Like others recommend, I would hire a pro gutter team.
A skilled and knowledgeable pro team should show up with a man lift.

The 90 degree downspouts into shallow angle duct sections back to the house wall are probably the “root cause” of blockages.
45 and 22.5 degree turns are more clog proof.

Some leaf shapes go down gutters and downspouts relatively clog free.

Other leaf shapes, particularly Pin Oak with its needles, clog easily as do long needle Pine.

Examine the trees at the edge of the yard looking at leaf shapes.
Consider thinning out problem trees.