Why one should hire out gutter cleaning

[seeitrun2006]

Wednesday started out as any day would. Wednesday is my day off from my caregiver job with my parents. Worked at the food/clothing bank at our church from 12~3. Feeling great on top of the world! This week with my parents has been great with very little stress.

Heavy rains expected later in the week. Hmmmmm...I have about 3 hours of daylight left....maybe I should clean out my gutters. Keep in mind my wife is still at work. I was almost finished at about 4:45pm working on the gutter over my cement driveway.

Needless to say my ladder slipped. I fell 8 feet straight down and landed with the ladder under me. Was out cold for I think about 5 minutes. Laid on driveway for about 15~20 minutes before I could move. Neighbors were outside but no one noticed me laying there on top of ladder! Guess they thought I was taking a nap or passed out drunk (even though I don't drink). Managed to get into house, called my wife and we went to an urgent care center near by.

The current score: Bent ladder: 98, David 0

I now have a broken left wrist, broken bone in my left foot, broken glasses, split finger, gash on forehead, black/blue all over and sore as hell. It could of have been much, much worse! Could've have been my neck or back ! If the break in my wrist had broken 1mm further I would have had a compound facture which would mean meatal plates and screws.

I have a splint wrapped with ace bandages up to my elbow and wearing boot on foot. Thank God no surgery needed. Will get shorter permanent cast Thursday.

I think God is trying to teach me a lesson! My sister and two of my three brothers have jumped right in to help with my parents until I get my permanent cast. What a neat surprise!

Life is good! Just a minor bump in the road!

 

[turquoisedude]

Ladders are dangerous beasts...

And you were lucky! The injuries could have been far more serious!
I have had similar falls from ladders myself, but I always manage to forget until the next time!! Bottom line - check your ladder, make sure it's secure and don't try to overextend yourself while on it.
Glad you are not more seriously hurt!!

 

[michaelman2]

David,

Man that is scary. I am glad that you are alive! I was on a ladder the other day trying to clean an area in my home that is high, when the thought went through my mind " What if I fell?". I decided to come down and wait until my son was home from school.......then make him get up on the ladder and clean!

 

[cleanteamofny]

You are blessed and extremely lucky that there are no permanent injuries. Next time have a spotter with you at all times.
I do my own gutter cleaning and I hope in the near future to put gutter covers so I don't have to do it every 3rd week in November.

 

[petek]

Glad you're alive.

I don't do ladders.. I go upstairs to a bedroom, climb out a window with the leaf blower and have at her. Course that won't work in every style house. I'm a little nervous so I sort of sit down a few feet from the edge and scoot along on my arse (no comments from the peanut gallery thankyou very much). It's not doable this way when the sun has been shining as you can well imagine.

 

[hunter]

I'm glad you didn't break your neck!

Thank goodness you're not in a wheelchair or worse!

 

[jamiel]

yeah, i hear you...i had a similar experience with a slightly better end...got up bright and early one Saturday, decided to climb up on the roof to clean the gutters. Wasn't being careful (wore worn-out tennis shoes, didn't have my phone) and realized once I was on the roof that it was damp and that I was....sliding away from the ladder I ended up creeping over to the edge and jumping off. Only injury was my pride.

 

[sudsman]

So Sorry to hear.

hope you are better soon

I made the mistake of trying to put new ribbons on the folder about 2 years ago and fell of the top of it and cut 4 places on my arms and broke 2 fingers. Have it done now.

 

[spankomatic]

Fall from a Tree

Years ago a friend of the family (older man) climbed up into a tree in his yard to trim some branches. His wife checked on him then drove off to the store. While trimming the tree he cut his finger with a saw (little cut). The sight of his own blood made him pass out and he fell out of the tree. His wife returned home from the store about 1 hour later to find him at the bottom of the tree. He had broken his neck and was paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life. His wife always regreted leaving him alone up in that tree. Spotters are always a good idea when working up high. Professionals with the right safety equipment is even a better one.

Jim

 

[countryguy]

I don't do ladders either. Your story is another reason one should have someone else close by when you are going to be on a ladder, never do it alone. I also have a leaf guard installed on my gutters so I never have to clean them. It was expensive but worth it in the long run.

Hope you make a speedy recovery.

Gary

 

[jetcone]

Glad to hear it was minor not major bumps!

It's always those last minute things you should watch out for I have learned the hard way too! Beware that little voice,"oh I should just do ....... "
And it was the end of your job and day too! We learned rollerblading years ago most skating accidents occur in the last 10 minutes of the skate! And its true.

Get Gutters Inc next time its not worth the savings. Roofs are a no no unless your're born up there!

 

[danemodsandy]

David:

Boy, am I glad you're okay! I know this was traumatic, but as others have said, it also could have been worse. Much worse.

When I lived in Marietta, I was in a house that was two storeys in front, three in the back. Gutter cleaning was partly me (lower portions) and partly the pros (the upper stratosphere).

I have sworn: No more multi-storey houses. Too many problems with gutter maintenance, and of course, there are stairs. I'm just getting a bit too old (57) to be dealing with all that.

Again, glad this turned out as well as it did. I hope your recuperation is swift and uneventful.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I am glad to hear your injuries are not worse.

My boss was doing gutters a few years ago, and even put on a safety line for the second story. Problem was he got his foot tangled in the line, fell off the ladder and ended up hanging upside down like a bungie jump gone wrong.

I have worried about this happening to myself, hence I am considering gutter helmets.

 

[seeitrun2006]

Thankfully

our house is one level! Otherwise I would have quit doing it long ago.

 

[whirlcool]

For cleaning our gutters we bought one of those iRobot Looj robots. It does a good job, all you do is set it in the gutter and control it via a wireless remote control. You stay safely on the ground. It does a great job if you don't let your gutters get too packed in.
When using the Looj, you need to wear safety glasses as it does throw a lot of debris out of the gutter and on to the ground.

 

[austinado16]

Wow!! Glad to hear you landed right side up and are okay. As others have said, man, are you lucky.

Consider a couple of things next time. 1) Buy a ladder that's long enough that you can extend it quite a ways up passed the gutter edge. 2) They make side legs for ladders. Might be nice to install a pair. You should be good to go after that!

I love home maintenance.....the delicate balance between what you can do on your own, risking injury a huge medical bill, and death, vs. what it would cost to hire a pro.

My best is trimming my 2 Canary Island Palms, one of which I paid to have moved out of the way of the house when we relocated the house to this lot. These have poisonous spikes near the base. So I trimmed the long fronds off with a bow saw, and then came back for the "stumps." One fell as I cut it flush with the trunk, took a weird hop, struck my knee, snapped off about 3/4" of poisonous spike under my knee cap, and I ran up an $1,100 bill having an orthopedic surgeon remove it...on a Sunday. Thankfully I had insurance.

And yep, I still trim both trees. One requires a 28' ladder now, with a chainsaw on a pole. Good times!

 

[seeitrun2006]

New ladder will be forth coming

When the extension ladder fell it slid down the brick a bit then I came down on it after that. Then the ladder and I proceed on down to the cement. With 200 lbs of me traveling downward at 300 miles per seconds onto an aluminum ladder on a brick wall...well you get the picture. The ladder is now bent badly near the top. Now in my opinion it is unusable or let me put it this way "I will not use it again".

Austinado16,

I'm like you I love working around my house! But I have learned my lesson with ladders. Always have a spotter!

 

[hunter]

seeltrun2006...is that a bichon?

It looks like the dog I gave my mom about 6 years ago. Just wondering.

Hunter

 

[austinado16]

Oooh man, were gods of home maintenance smiling on you! I love the "Oh sh!t......this isn't going to end well" feeling you get right as it all starts to go sideways on you. Not.

Tip for walking on roofs if you're not going to tie off somewhere (my Victorian has an 8-and-12 pitch, so it's very steep): Hiking boots or similarly treaded footwear will stick to the roofing and the gravely finish of the shingles better than a pair of more flat bottomed type shoes!

 

[frigilux]

Wow---THAT'S more excitement than you needed in your life! Sorry for your injuries. Take care and stay off those ladders, man!

 

[perc-o-prince]

David,

BEST to you for healing, and glad to hear you're not soured completely on the idea of future projects! It could have been so much worse, as I'm sure you are well aware of.

I was acting as a spotter for Rich's father since I had elbow surgery and couldn't do much else. He cut a limb, the limb swung way out of the norm, knocked his father off the ladder, and he was hanging only because his arm was caught between the tree and the limb! With one arm, I could try moving the ladder, but only so much since it was about 20' up. Meanwhile, his father was still holding on to the chain saw! Didn't want to drop it because he might break it!

I got him to drop it, and as I was calling 9-1-1, he managed to get a grip w/ the chainsaw hand and hold himself enough that he could use his legs to help me move the ladder. Some bruises and bent pride, but that was it.

We have gutter guards on most of our gutters, and they've worked very well! Got them at a flea market years ago REALLY cheap! They're 3' sections and snap in easily, and were easy enough to cut to fit corners, short ends, etc. IIRC, they were less than $2 each. Most of ours don't have a screen backer and just the diamond-shaped perforations. I think they were about a buck a piece. I know they sell them now with a fine mesh screen backer that stops even more stuff, but I don't see bits of about 1/4" diameter clogging up our gutters when there's rain!

Chuck

 

[perc-o-prince]

"I sort of sit down a few feet from the edge and scoot along on my arse. It's not doable this way when the sun has been shining as you can well imagine."

So you get a hot arse? I wish that's all it would take me! I'd roof-scoot all day long!!!

Chuck

 

[rapunzel]

Gutter Guards!

Got those installed last year and they are a heaven-sent. The back of my house is three storeys up. I used to climb a ladder to clean out the gutters at least twice a year. We have lots of gum trees out the back and they shed like crazy. Gutters here should always be clear of cumbustibel materials, especially during the fire season.

Anyway, now that I've got the gutter guards the wind blows the leaf litter off the roof, the rest I take care of with my garden blower/vac. My guttering drains into a rainwater tank and the guards keep detritus from washing into the tank and clogging up the down pipes.

Glad you weren't seriously hurt. Ladders are dangerous and one should never climb higher than six feet without some kind of harness and a second person in attendance.

A friend of mine changed a light bulb at her work. Her ladder did the splits and so did she, ending up with a fractured pelvis. Not nice.

rapunzel

 

[norgeway]

I don't do---- ---- ---

Ladders ledges airplanes or anything else that is higher than my 5ft11!!!!!hope you recover quickly.

 

[autowasherfreak]

I don't do ladders either.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Our gutters need cleaned desperately, but I don't like ladders unless I'm on the inside of the house. I thought about climbing out on the roof through my bedroom window, but with my luck I would probably fall of the damn roof.

 

[sudsmaster]

Sorry to hear of your accident and injuries.

Yes, roof work can be very dangerous, especially when one is trying to beat the sundown, or when one is distracted.

I've fallen through roofing twice since I bought my home. The first time was when I was replacing the reed matting that served as a shade over the fish pond, about eight feet below. I got distracted by a wasp nest and stepped on the edge of a plywood board that wasn't supported by a joist. I wound up with it flipping up into my chest, and I sort of rode it down to the bench below, bounced off that, and landed on my back in the pond. Only injury then was a rather large and painful bruise to my inner thigh from the board. And a big gulp of fishy pond water.

The second time was a bit worse. Last December I had finished cleaning out all the gutters, and putting screens over all of them to keep leaves from clogging them so fast. Then I started in on clearing leaves from the old corrugated fiberglass/vinyl roofing over the carport. I had laid down 2x8 foot plywood panels as walking areas. It all went very well, but I was short on panels. I moved one from one area to another, but went back to the first area and forgot it wasn't there. I was directing a stream of water from a hose to wash leaves off a section of the roofing I couldn't other wise reach, and focused on that. I took one last step to the left, and my left foot went right through the brittle fiberglass. This time I tilted to the left and back, and the grid like network of joists broke my fall - but not before it broke a rib or two. Extreme pain, difficulty breathing, etc. I've broken ribs before so I knew the routine... pain meds to get in and out of bed, wait a month or so, all better. I remember I gritted my teeth and went back up there the next day to patch the hole I'd put in the roofing. Haven't been back up there since, but I still need to clear those leaves! All the fiberglass needs to be replaced, and I'm think I will be either putting in a plywood subroof (sheeting) with corrugated galvanized steel over that, with some areas covered only by the translucent (new) corrugated lexan for letting light in. In others words, something I can walk on. Or, might install extra blocking between joists. The existing vinyl portion of the roofing was installed incorrectly way back when. It doesn't have enough pitch, and it sags and collects water and it leaks at the seams. But at least the gutter that runs through the middle of it is clean ;-)

 

[circlew]

Wow David, I'm so sorry to hear about your accident, and glad it wasn't any worse. Hope your not in much pain. I've been very lucky and haven't had the misfortune to fall off, but have missed a step a couple times. As mentioned by others, accidents usually happen when tired and trying to finish things up.

As for a new ladder, I prefer fiberglass, with at least a type I (250 lb.) rating. If you are a larger person, a IA (300 lb.) or IAA (350 lb.) as the rating is the total of the climber plus any materials or items they are carrying up. An aluminum ladder is OK, too, (except obviously around electric wires) if it's type I or heavier. Just stay away from the "household use" type, as they flex too much, and only rated at 200 lbs. Most men weigh almost this much or more alone.

 

[retroguy]

Wow...

So glad you're okay David. I hope that you heal quickly. I've almost had the same thing happen a number of times. I've started tying myself, since it usually only takes a bit of a stiff wind to blow me off my feet anyway, but I also tie the ladder to the house. As Rapunzel said, I too purchased gutter guards. They aren't perfect, but they do keep the hands on maintenance to a minimum.

 

[mattl]

David, you are so lucky, as has been said it could have been much, much worse. Wishing you a quick and uneventful recovery.

Went through a similar situation with my dad. At the time he was 90 and decided to clean the gutters. The ladder slipped and he fell onto a concrete patio maybe 5 or 6 feet below and shattered his femur. Ended up with a rod and pins in his leg. Made a full recovery, but had a little issue with one of the pins that had to be removed a few months ago.

 

[sudsmaster]

That reminds me. I have a 200 lb rated aluminum extension ladder that I like because it's light and portable. But it's definitely a bit flexy. I have a hefty class 1A fiberglass ladder, but it's bigger than it needs to be and difficult to manuver out of the shop and into position.

I guess I should retire the aluminum one and get a shorter class 1A fiberglass instead.