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"NEWBIE QUESTION: Where can I hire a ladder?

ECLM
WCF

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FINEST

FINEST

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Hello mates, how are you all doing today?

I'm a newbie window cleaner 3 months in cleaning windows. Yesterday for the first time client asked me if I can clean the gutters. I agreed, knowing that i've never done it before, nor do I have the equipment for it, not even a ladder.

The Gutter is one the Terraced House second floor.

Will you tell me what size ladder do I need to get for second floor, and where may I hire one, please?

Any other tips are greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much

 
Jewsons do tool hire. Look into hiring ladder stabilisers or get someone to foot the ladder for you. Speaking from personal experience from when I fell 22 feet and landed on concrete.

The irony of it was that I DID have a "mate" (no longer) foot the ladder but he got bored and decided to go for a smoke just as I was stepping from the roof ladder onto the extension ladder.

Result, me flying through the air and landing inches from a concrete plant pot that the cretin had moved to sit on. Broke 3 ribs but the plus side was that Wales was playing France in the rugby and we won so the gallons of cider I put away helped the pain. /emoticons/smile.png

 
Jewsons do tool hire. Look into hiring ladder stabilisers or get someone to foot the ladder for you. Speaking from personal experience from when I fell 22 feet and landed on concrete.The irony of it was that I DID have a "mate" (no longer) foot the ladder but he got bored and decided to go for a smoke just as I was stepping from the roof ladder onto the extension ladder.

Result, me flying through the air and landing inches from a concrete plant pot that the cretin had moved to sit on. Broke 3 ribs but the plus side was that Wales was playing France in the rugby and we won so the gallons of cider I put away helped the pain. /emoticons/smile.png
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Im so sorry for your fall! I hope youre all well now! And looks like the Cider helped hehe

Yeah.. youre right i need to get those! I am afraid of climbing hights and always take it slow. Stabilisers would make me more safe.

At the moment i dont have a car, so I do all my round on feet, carrying a pole and a bucket. I imagine i will have to carry a ladder on my shoulder to clean the fellows gutters hehe.

Thanks for the advice

 
:thumbsup:And in my image you can see in the floor my Harris pole with a pro gutter tool on the end you wana get yourself a set of these
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Wicked! Thank you William!

I cant afford to pay for a ladder and all the safety stuff at the moment. Im a man on feet and saving for a car and wfp back pack. Normally i would avoice cleaning gutters but this time i gave a big quotation and the customer agreed. Thank you so much for the advice!

 
Im so sorry for your fall! I hope youre all well now! And looks like the Cider helped heheYeah.. youre right i need to get those! I am afraid of climbing hights and always take it slow. Stabilisers would make me more safe.

At the moment i dont have a car, so I do all my round on feet, carrying a pole and a bucket. I imagine i will have to carry a ladder on my shoulder to clean the fellows gutters hehe.

Thanks for the advice
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Thank you good fella! Was a few years ago I fell but it's never left me. What is pretty good bit of kit is the Ladder M8rix. Here on Ebay for around £40. M8 RIX Pro Ladder Stopper - Used - Free Delivery Grab a Bargain !

With regards the fear of heights, take your time. There's no race in climbing ladders. Your confidence will build. /emoticons/smile.png

 
As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We carry out loads of gutter work

Had around 13 come through these past 2 days .

Good earners, on a Saturday and Sunday we can average around £500 / £700 a day .

 
Wicked! Thank you William!I cant afford to pay for a ladder and all the safety stuff at the moment. Im a man on feet and saving for a car and wfp back pack. Normally i would avoice cleaning gutters but this time i gave a big quotation and the customer agreed. Thank you so much for the advice!
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if you want to survive you need some wheels. good luck!

 
Use your brains when placing the ladder

Don't rest it on the gutter as it is unstable then and the gutter can break

 
We carry out loads of gutter workHad around 13 come through these past 2 days .

Good earners, on a Saturday and Sunday we can average around £500 / £700 a day .
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How much do you charge for a gutter clean, how do you do it, and how long does it take you? Also, what part of the country are you in? Thanks.

The last one we did took us 3 hours as there was hardly a gap between the roof tiles and the outer edger of the gutter.

.

 
In Ebay there is a Telescopic aluminium extendable gutter drain cleaning cleaner that is not expensive and could be helpful.
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Personally I use a cheap set of chimney/drain rods and a drop scraper. Normally I only set the ladder up once, as central as possible, and work left to right. And if I need to sometimes I use the stumpy block brush to push static water down the drain pipe. It's working so far until I get enough funds and gutter customers to justify a gutter vac. Most drain rod sets come with a bag and I fling that over my shoulder, up ladder, and rest the bag on the roof behind the ladder and feed out a rod at a time as needed. B&Q were doing chimney/drain rods for about £20. A drop scraper is about £5 or less if it don't come with the rods. If you only do say 5 gutter jobs all winter then you are not out of pocket. /emoticons/smile.png

 
We are based in the west midlands

We charge on average £120 for a 3 bed semi .

This Saturday I took £695

Did a 4 bed detached house emptied all gutters cleaned all plastics took 2 hrs with 2 men charged £200 .

There's plenty of money to be made doing gutters .

 
Use your brains when placing the ladderDon't rest it on the gutter as it is unstable then and the gutter can break
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I don't know if I've become too relaxed when placing the ladder on gutters but mostly I get the top of my ladder to touch to under side of the gutter and be resting on the soffit. Doing that way I am very comfortable, and never it seems to slide or wobble. Is that what most people do?

 
That is ok but i have known fascias to break in the past

Either wooden ones or plastic

Not worth the risk

I would use a standoff like a microlite on the roof tiles above to be safe

 
How much do you charge for a gutter clean, how do you do it, and how long does it take you? Also, what part of the country are you in? Thanks.
The last one we did took us 3 hours as there was hardly a gap between the roof tiles and the outer edger of the gutter.

WOW 3 hours, was that by hand or vac Spruce?
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Also fascias can be really slippery

I don't know if I've become too relaxed when placing the ladder on gutters but mostly I get the top of my ladder to touch to under side of the gutter and be resting on the soffit. Doing that way I am very comfortable, and never it seems to slide or wobble. Is that what most people do?
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Fascias can be really slippery when wet. I use a stand off, and an ankalad. I only set my ladder up once on each side and use Progutter Tools.

View attachment 8649

 

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