Gutter cleaning

Gutters fail at the worst possible moment by design: they only overflow when it’s pouring. Cleaning them is seasonal, unglamorous and genuinely important.

When to clean

• Before storm season. In northern Australia that means late spring, before the wet; in the south, before winter’s heavy rain. Blocked gutters overflow into eaves and walls.
• Before bushfire season, if you’re in a bushfire-prone area — dry leaves in gutters are exactly the ember bed you don’t want.
• After nearby trees drop. A jacaranda or gum over the roof can refill a gutter in weeks.

Twice a year is a sensible default for most homes; quarterly under heavy tree cover.

Doing it safely

• Ladder on firm, level ground, ideally with someone home.
• Gloves — gutters collect sharp things and the occasional resident.
• Scoop into a bucket, then flush with a hose and check downpipes actually flow.
• Two storeys, fragile roofing or any doubt? Hire someone. Gutter falls are a genuinely bad way to save money.

While you’re up there

Glance at the roof: cracked tiles, rusted valleys, lifted ridge capping. Five extra minutes now beats a ceiling stain in February.

Set it once

Enable the Clean the gutters template in Home Heads Up — six-monthly by default, with a week’s notice so you can pick a dry weekend.

Home Heads Up is a free app for Australian households — no ads, no account. It sends the reminders described here automatically.