Cleaning gutters is one of those home maintenance chores that is easy to underestimate. You grab a ladder, climb to the roofline and start pulling out leaves, pine needles, sticks and other debris. But whether your gutters are on the first floor or second story, every trip up a ladder comes with a risk of falling.
At Ever Clean Gutter Systems, we believe the safest gutter to clean is the one you never have to clean in the first place. Ever Clean’s patented self-cleaning gutter system is designed to remain clog-free without screens, holes or filters that require periodic cleaning. We back that performance with a lifetime transferable clog-free warranty.
Ladder Accidents Are More Common Than You May Think
Ladders are so familiar that homeowners may not think of them as particularly dangerous. But climbing several feet above the ground while reaching into a gutter can quickly become hazardous.
Recent statistics estimate that around 500,000 people in the United States are treated for ladder-related injuries each year, with many incidents occurring outside the workplace during activities such as home maintenance. Statistics also cite approximately 300 deaths annually from ladder falls, while noting that available statistics often combine occupational and non-occupational incidents.
- Location: About 90% of all ladder-related injuries happen at home during routine chores or DIY projects.
- Height Risk: Most fatal ladder falls happen from a height of 10 feet or less, showing that lower elevations still carry extreme risk.
- Common Injuries: Bone fractures make up about 32% of all ladder-related injuries.
- Demographics: Men account for nearly 89% to 90% of all serious ladder fall cases. Older adults (especially those over 65) face a much higher risk of severe hospitalization and head trauma.
For homeowners, gutter cleaning introduces several hazards at once. You may be working several feet above the ground, moving your body sideways to reach debris, repeatedly repositioning a ladder and handling wet or slippery material.
And the higher your gutters are, the more serious a fall can become.
What Can Happen When You Fall From a Ladder?
Even a relatively short fall can cause a significant injury. Ever Clean specifically warns homeowners about broken bones, head injuries and potentially more serious outcomes when cleaning gutters from ladders.
Potential ladder-related injuries can include fractures and broken bones, head and neck injuries, back injuries, shoulder or wrist injuries, sprains and soft-tissue injuries, and potentially life-threatening trauma. The danger isn’t limited to falling, either.
Ever Clean points out that homeowners cleaning gutters can encounter electrical hazards from power lines near the roofline, particularly when using a metal ladder or working around wet conditions. Leaning a ladder against a gutter may also bend or loosen the gutter, while dropped tools and debris can damage siding, windows or landscaping.
There may also be surprises waiting when you reach the roofline—such as loose fasteners, deteriorated fascia or wasp nests.
Why Gutter Cleaning Can Make Ladder Use Even Riskier
Using a ladder correctly requires concentration and proper positioning. Cleaning gutters, however, naturally encourages some of the behaviors that can make ladder use more dangerous.
Think about what happens when you’re halfway through cleaning a section of gutter and see a clump of leaves just beyond your reach.
- Do you climb down, move the ladder a few feet and climb all the way back up?
- Or do you stretch just a little farther?
That temptation to reach sideways is exactly why repetitive gutter cleaning can create unnecessary risk. And with conventional open gutters, cleaning isn’t necessarily a one-time event. Depending on the trees surrounding a home, debris may accumulate repeatedly throughout the year.
What About Gutter Screens?
Installing a gutter screen may seem like the obvious solution: cover the gutter and eliminate cleaning. Unfortunately, a screen that needs to be cleaned simply changes what you’re climbing the ladder to clean.
Ever Clean cautions homeowners about mesh screens and gutter toppers that depend on holes or slots for water to enter the gutter. When leaves, pine needles and smaller debris collect over those openings, water flow can become restricted. These types of products should not automatically be assumed to be maintenance-free.
If you have to climb a ladder to brush leaves off the screen, clear clogged openings or clean material that gets through the screen, you haven’t eliminated the ladder from your gutter maintenance routine.
You’ve just changed the maintenance.
The Better Safety Strategy: Eliminate the Need to Clean Your Gutters
Proper ladder safety is important whenever a ladder must be used. But there is another approach to gutter safety:
Remove the reason you need to climb the ladder.
- Ever Clean isn’t simply a mesh screen added to the top of a conventional gutter.
- Its patented gutter-and-hood system uses surface tension to collect rainwater while allowing leaves, pine needles and other debris to wash away.
- The system is designed to be completely self-cleaning.
- There are no screens, holes or filters to clog. That distinction is important for homeowners concerned about safety.
- If the gutter doesn’t clog, you don’t have to climb a ladder to unclog it.
- If debris doesn’t need to be cleaned from a screen, you don’t need to climb a ladder to clean the screen.
No gutter cleaning means one less reason to put yourself at risk on a ladder.
Lifetime Clog-Free Protection
Homeowners shouldn’t have to wonder whether their gutter protection will work for a few years and then become another maintenance problem.
Ever Clean backs its system with a lifetime transferable warranty against clogging and performance failure. Its FAQ states that the system is guaranteed to remain clog-free for life, and that the warranty transfers to the next homeowner.
Our lifetime warranty covers the system against clogging and pulling away from the home. That means the goal isn’t simply to reduce how frequently you clean your gutters.
The goal is to stop cleaning them.
Protect Yourself AND Your Home
Keeping homeowners off ladders is an important benefit, but a properly functioning gutter system also has another job: protecting the house. Gutters are designed to collect rainwater and move it away from the structure. When conventional gutters or certain guards become clogged, water can overflow instead of being directed properly away from the home.
Ever Clean’s Gutters are engineered to handle rainwater while shedding leaves, pine needles and debris, helping keep water moving through the gutter and away from the house.
So instead of repeatedly climbing a ladder to deal with clogs, homeowners can invest in a permanent system designed to address the problem at its source.
Think About Your Future Self
Maybe climbing a ladder doesn’t bother you today. But what about five years from now? Ten years from now? Twenty? A gutter system is a long-term investment in your home. It makes sense to consider not only how the system performs today, but also how much maintenance it will require throughout the years you plan to live there.
This is particularly worth considering for homeowners who plan to age in place. A chore that feels manageable today may become increasingly difficult—or unsafe—as mobility, strength and balance change over time.
A truly clog-free gutter system removes one recurring exterior maintenance task from the list.
Stop Cleaning Your Gutters. Get Off the Ladder.
Every time you can eliminate an unnecessary trip up a ladder, you eliminate an opportunity for a ladder-related accident. Ever Clean Gutter Systems offers homeowners a different approach: don’t make gutter cleaning safer—eliminate the need to clean the gutters.
With patented self-cleaning technology, no screens or filters to clog, heavy-duty construction and a lifetime transferable clog-free warranty, Ever Clean is designed to provide long-term protection for both your home and your peace of mind.
GET OFF THE LADDER.
Don’t spend another fall—or another lifetime—climbing to the first or second story of your home to clean clogged gutters.
Avoid the risk. Eliminate the chore. Invest in clog-free gutters for life.
Our FREE Gutter Evaluation includes measuring the home, explaining the system, answering questions and providing a written installation estimate, with no hidden fees. This is not a sales meeting!
