Is It Okay To Hose Down My Gutters With A Pressure Washer?

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Clean gutters are essential for the health of a home; when they get clogged and water starts to overflow, it can make a mess of the siding and can undermine the foundation. Clogged gutters can also become havens for snakes, birds, and other pests (speaking from personal experience). Aside from this, when temperatures drop, icicles form and ice dam prevention and removal will be a hassle. Ideally, you should clean your gutters twice a year, but if you have to do the job by hand, with a ladder, it's understandable if you have been letting it slide. If things have gotten so bad that you're wondering if you can do it with a pressure washer, you're in the right place to find out. 

The answer is yes and no, and let's start with no. Pressure washers shoot out a stream of water strong enough to do a lot of damage while it is doing a lot of cleaning, and pros don't recommend using it on gutters — some are vehemently opposed. The high-pressure stream can blast debris from the gutters all over your roof and siding, and it can damage the gutters, hangers, and the sealant holding parts of it together. It can also blow the asphalt coating off of roof shingles. What's worse, it can shoot water under the shingles and damage your roof decking.   

On the yes side, you can use a pressure washer to clean your gutters if you do it safely. That means keeping the pressure low enough to avoid doing damage, using the right nozzle, and watching where you point it.  

To pressure wash safely and effectively, you need a pressure that's high enough to do the job but not high enough to cause any damage. A pressure in the range of 1,500 to 1,800 psi is usually sufficient. Besides that, you need a nozzle with a spray pattern focused enough for cleaning but not enough to blow away your gutters. A 40-degree nozzle (the white one that typically came with the pressure washer) is usually the best choice. Even better: Buy a telescoping wand with a gutter-cleaning nozzle that lets you pressure wash the gutters while you're standing on the ground. This Telescoping Gutter Cleaning Wand is a solid choice with four stars from over 9,000 Amazon reviewers. 

To do a thorough cleaning, you have to point the nozzle into the downspouts to push leaves and other debris down and out. If the downspouts clog, the gutters will back up in no time. Sometimes you need to push the wand into the downspout to dislodge stuck debris, which means getting your body above the downspout opening. Be safe and do this job from a ladder rather than climbing on the roof and risking falling from the edge. 

The secret to making gutter and downspout cleaning an easy job is to do it regularly. The more often you clean your gutters, the less debris there is to remove, and the faster you can work.