The idea is an interesting what if your gutters are mounted correctly and the nails and/or mounting brackets are straight across allowing the device to move freely. I would not find this a good tool to use because the leaves, pinestraw, grit, etc .... is then thrown out into the flower beds and such making clean up a very large headache. Also water which would bet washed over the side of the gutter would require additional clean up.

I just saw this advertised for the first time today. Have to wonder how it can be put in the gutter without going up a ladder. Also would it get caught on bent gutter nails etc? I may try a long extension on my leaf blower first.
I hate long ladders too so anything that works and keeps me closer to the ground is a good thing.

I was more hopeful when I saw the name of the device. You still have to use that 30 foot ladder you don't like, if it gets stuck it becomes the biggest piece of garbage in the gutter and it doesn't address any downspout issues. If they were free and directional I would mess with the neighbors cat with it. Otherwise, no thanks.

some thing too stop the blockage would be well welcomed....robot gutter cleaner why not keep hunting

I think this is a wonderful idea for cleaning gutters. To be honest, It would pay for itself many times over if only one person feel off a ladder and hurt himself.

Being in the business of cleaning gutters, anything that helps with this process is interesting to me. After review of this product from their website and searches, it seems like a good investment for the homeowner. It is reasonably priced and accessories are moderately priced as well. I would be curious to know how it works in a 6" wide gutter (used in areas with heavy rains and/or additional pitch) rather than the 4" wide shown in their video. The only question I have is it seems the unit cannot make a 90 degree corner. So the one comment that is on the website (which is from someone associated with the company) is that they place their ladder in one spot, and let the robot loose may not necessarily be true. I will contact this company for more information.

Regarding the post about this product making a mess, anytime someone cleans a gutter, there is a mess, thus why the service is being performed. The idea of eliminating debris from your gutters is well explained on their site as well, but leaving out one very important factor. Debris that is stagnant for a long period of time will cause rot in the gutter system, faster in galvanized product than aluminum, but it will cause gutter rot. Obviously the cost of gutter replacement far outweighs the cost of this product or a professional cleaning service.

Climbing the ladder is not eliminated, only the number of trips up and down are decreased. If you watch the video you will see that you still have to climb the ladder and put it into each straight section of the gutter. If you have short sections you can clean them by hand while the Looj is working the long areas. The only other thing you will need to do is clean the area where the ladder is located or climb down while it cleans that area. Unless you want to get a shower of gutter debris. Not a problem but that means another trip up and down the ladder. The is also true if you use the Looj to clean the short sections. IMHO a water jet on a length of pipe could blast the debris out for a lot less cost. Having multiple sections would allow cleaning a long length of gutter a one time and it should be able to remove almost dirt along joints and corners a lot better. Any dirt or debris that lands on the walls/windows/etc. is wet and can be washed off easily with the hose.

To: Bob Gatton

I wanted to give you a response to a question you posted on the HGTV site about gutter guards. I am building a 21,000 s. ft. home in Whitefish Montana and trying a lot of items I've never tried before as a builder and trying new products on the market.
I chose to use copper gutters and screen gutter guards this time. The screen guards (sold by Badger) are asthetically beautifull and work well as a protection against pine needles and leafs. Where it fails misserably is when it rains. The rain water likes to follow the screen to the sides thus dispensing water from the roof to the sides of the gutter. So aprox. 20% to 30% of the water from the roof never enters the gutter but rolls off to the sides. I am going to remove screens in the areas where I can easily access to manually clean any leaf or needle accumulation. I will leave the wire guards for the downspouts.

Hope this helps,
Ben Lombardi
406-250-0440
P.O. Box 1238
Whitefish, MT 59937
lambodude@aol.com

In answer to your question re: gutter guards,we live in wooded area & had top of the line gutter guards installed. The company had to remove them as they still collected enough dirt and pine needles that water was overflowing the gutter guards. The debris was supposed to slide off the guard, but obviously did not. Great concept, if only it had worked.

I am helping my elderly mother decide if she should buy (and have installed) Leafguard gutters. These are quite expensive pushing her budget! Of course I would like to give her good advice ... anyone have experience with these? I would love your feedback!! We live in Western Washington State. Her home does not have leaf or Pine needle issues, but does have large number of hemlock and fir needles. Thanks! Please respond to pargolfguy@aol.com

I have gutter guards that were made by the company that installed my gutters. They are made from a grid-like heavy wire mesh attached to the top of the gutters. At the corner junctures there is an attachment that protrudes several inches above the gutters for several inches on either side of the corner. I've never been sure what the function of this really is, unless it is to divert water that rushes down the valley of the roof back into the gutters - if that is the purpose they don't work because during a hard rain the water overshoots these areas onto my deck. During the spring the pollen pieces from all the trees pile up on these grid gutter covers and especially at the corners, and must be scraped off. If I didn't live practically in the middle of woods, I think the guards would be great all year, as dry leaves are never a problem. The gutters, themselves are always free flowing, as nothing gets down inside them. I wouldn't want to be without gutter covers.

I think you should also look at gutter guards/screens as they do work well for me, (very small and large leaves) I do not know about "pine needles though.

I'm interested in the Looj gutter robot also but
really wonder about using it in gutters with debris and standing water. The IRobot website makes no mention or warnings against use with standing water. Frequent gutter cleaning mostly eliminates standing water. However there will
always be one or two times a year when heavy rains
and debris leaves standing water in gutters.

Tried several differant versions of gutter guards. None worked very well. Hard to clean gutter of all that gets through. And water goes down outside of gutter and then you have to use ladder to clean inside and outside. Tried extension on vacuum, extension on pressure washer. Advise is to put up with clean out or figure a way to do without the gutters.

RE: Posted by: Mr Wayne at October 4, 2007 12:09 AM

FYI: Watching the video at about 52 seconds in, it does mention it's waterproof up to 1 ft of water.

Looks like youll need a few passes though, and I don't know about any mud/dirt buildup.

H

Companygeek.com, computer services

For everyone checking out the gutter protection, check out this brand new foam gutter protection. I had it installed on my house in Michigan, and it works great. I think it was called GutterCare. The gentleman's card says their website is www.gutter-care.com

I was thinking this looked pretty nifty, but then I realized--I have a two story house in the city, and my gutters are broken up into several sections (basically four along the sides at the top, plus three connected sections around the living room, and three similarly around the vestibule). I already have a Gutter Grabber which screws onto the end of an extensible pole, so I usually go up and down only once per section, so this toy wouldn't save me very much ladder time at all. And that's assuming it works flawlessly....

The Looj did not work at all for me. My problem is long pine needles (8"). The Looj would not eject them from the gutter. It just pushed them forward and wrapped them up until it got stuck. It travelled only about 18" in the gutter, total. It might work better if I waited until the gutters and the needles were completely dry. But that probably will not occur this time of year. It is advertized to work wet or dry.

I have been cleaning gutters in the St Louis area for over 25 years now. I don't see how a robot could unstop the downspout or inform the home owner of loose guttering... Also if you look behind the gutter cleaning robot you will see it leaves leaves and 1st hard rain and the leaves will rush the outlet and stop up the out let much like hair does in the bathtub...
I have had my Gutter Cleaning St Louis Site up for over only 0ne year now...

Gutter Cleaning St Louis

I HAVE BEEN CLEANING GUTTER FOR A LIVING FOR 17 YEARS NOW. I HAVE SEEN ALL KINDS OF COVERS, SCREENS, STRAINERS, ETC...... AND MOST OF THAT STUFF IS CRAP. THIS GUTTER CLEANING ROBOT....I'M NOT EVEN GOING TO WASTE MY TIME TO SEE THE VIDEO.

UNLESS YOU CAN AFFORD LEAF GUARD GUTTER SYSTEMS WHICH RUNS INTO THE THOU$AND$ OF DOLLARS FOR INSTALLATION, AND YOU ARE NOT THE TYPE TO GET UP ON A LADDER OR ON A ROOF.......THEN YOU NEED TO HIRE A REPUTABLE GUTTER CLEANER PROFESSIONAL, LIKE MYSELF.

DON'T WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON THIS CRAP!!! ESPECIALLY THIS ROBOT.....ROTFLMAO NOW!!!

I watched the video and I don't think I'll shut the doors to my 15 year old gutter cleaning business. They cut the shingles back so far so the machine can run through. In reality, the shingles hang over the gutter about 4 inches which would block the robot from expelling debris. Secondly, the robot cannot unclog downspout elbows. Another reason people get gutters cleaned is also to get debris that collects on the roof. You can't just leave that debris up there. Who's going to check the roof and gutters for repair issues. I guess that if you were going to clean the gutters from a ladder and not blow the roof or clean out downspouts and if your shingles happen to be cut back so far that they allow water to run behind the gutter causing all sorts of other problems and if the spikes in the gutter are high enough to let the robot underneath and if you don't have to go around any corners, then it would be a great tool to have. Otherwise, spend $200 a year and have it professionally done.

I would recommend Leaf Relief gutter guards if you want to save money and have clean gutters all year. However, if you can afford it, get Leafguard gutters. I have used both.

I sell gutter and this is a nice attempt at an easy way to clean gutter however the only way this would ever really work is in a controled environment where there is not to much water grit or wet leaves If you buy this you are a fool.

I've been cleaning gutters for 12 years now and this robot is a joke. No, robot will be stong enough to go thru most of the crap that is in gutters. I'm sure there will be some people that buy this junk but they will soon find out that they will have to get someone up there to do it correctly. This product is a scam don't buy!!!!!!!!!!

1] 15 yo two story house on 1/2 acre fully treed city lot in eastern Maine. 178 feet of Genova Regency sectional plastic gutters and downspouts that drain to foundation perimeter drain and then to city storm drain. Roofing is about 2565 sq ft of 6/12 pitch for house and garage and 4/12 for porches with Genova gutter/downspout connectors have high-flow 3-inch radius curve. at bottom of downspouts at grade are Gutter Great leaf diverters that ensure no debris reaches foundation drain. Three 38-foot long gutter sections have downspouts at both ends, so are pitched to drain from their centers; other sections drain to one end and longest is 26 feet. Only one 'L' configuration but one 10-ft section is 2 feet above the other 10-ft section.

2] I have heavy left problem - white pine and hemlock and aspen(poplar) and red maple and white and grey birch and cedar and balsam fir. Half are twice as tall as house and are within 10 to 15 feet of house.

3] I've tried ladder and bucket and hand removal of gutters up to 30 feet above grade. I've done it while standing on ladder and while standing on roof. First requires moving ladder frequently for each section; the latter does not require any. I set ladder in middle, so I can work garden hose down-pitch at end of cleaning process. Lateral LADDER STABILZER BARS at top of ladder ARE NECESSARY for ALL ladder work. It's slow and effective and dangerous work, either way. When ON the roof, I have two tie-off points on the peak of house and always have attachment to safety lines but I'm never comfortable with this. I DO have to run up ladder frequently and I DO finish cleaning gutter with garden hose and then clean off the fascia under/behind gutter, and then siding, if necessary. At least this water cleaning step can be done from standing on ladder position, instead of getting back up on roof. All of this has to wait until all leaves are off trees.

4] I've tried water from garden hose (I have 70 psi water pressure booster pump in cellar.) alone to blast out leaves instead of hand removal, but these gutters are completely filled with leaves and the water cannot blast away the leaf-jamb that develops under one or another of top mount gutter brackets due to stick or cones or sheer amount of leaves and spills.

5] I've tried water pressure from garden hose attached to extension wand/nozzle devices sold to allow you to work from the ground. VERY hard to control at nozzle end which is offset by 25 ft of tubing while you on ON the ground. Think of balancing a bowling ball atop a 25 ft broom stick - that's what it feels like!) AND you get to get covered in leaf crap and LOTS of water. But you CANNOT see if you have all the crap out AND you still have the 'leaf-jamb' problem from number 4. (The mirrors they give you with these kits never seem to be adjusted right when you get pole up in gutter...)

6] I have NOT tried the 'leaf blower' from ground level method because control issue in number 5 will still happen, even if lesser extent water versus air pressure but also will have confirming cleanout. May have advantage to number 5 with blowing out leaves in all directions and not getting as many leaf-jambs, BUT it's also going to be getting the operator even dirtier, because of my experience with number 7.

7] I have used leaf blower and leafblower attachment on string trimmer UP ON THE ROOF and tried to use all safety precautions as in number 3, but have NO free hand holding/adjusting safety line. GREAT results - cleans out the gutters of EVERYTHING - asphalt grit, leaves, cones, pine spills, leaves, sticks, dead squirrels, etc. But the price is getting the crap from the gutter all over you when you get 'blow back' if you work from ladder (not recommended) or of increased lack of safety, since you have no free hand if ON roof, unless you have a one-handed leaf blower. (ANY time I had heavy items with me on roof, whether a 5 gal bucket for leaves or the string trimmer with blower or just the leaf blower or the garden hose and nozzle, I ALWAYS tied off that item to peak of roof with their own safety lines, so that if I was losing balance or accidentally dropped item - it was not going ballistic and smashing to ground or into picture window or into someone on ground. You won't believe how heavy garden hose is when it's full and 30 plus feet off ground and you're 'anaconda-snake-wrestling'!

8] Plastic gutter-top leaf screens seem to wind up either being ripped off from gutter when snow/ice load rumbles off roof as winter abates OR gets shoved INto gutter by weight of snow. DO NOT get screens that have 'insect screen' but only bigger diamond or ovals or slots. These insect screen types stop everything, for sure, but also soon foul with the small debris it stops and so become 'mossy roofs' for your gutters. I LIKE the solid metal sheets that slip under first shingle and clip onto outer lip of gutter and have curved edge at outet lip that carries water by adhesion into the gutter. Heavy rainfall does sheet off these to some extent; I'm willing to allow that - my foundation plantings below appreciate the moisture. These also seem to hold up to the snow/ice rumbles mentioned in number 7.
Unfortunately, I cannot used these, except on my sunporch, which is all glass and aluminum, because I placed my gutter supports so that they were just below the projected plane of the roof slope so that ice/snow avalanches off roof could not catch gutter and rip it off. That's a problem with gutters in Maine.

9] Three recommendations for plastic gutters - they warm up faster or cool down slower - so seem to not 'ice up' like aluminum gutter runs AND they have raised lines of plastic inside the gutter to keep leaves from 'plating' down into the gutter so they can be floated away by water flow UNDER them at the start of each rain. Third advantage is the gutter/downspout connection can be curved to allow better water flow to carry small leaves and debris and keep gutter from 'filling up' with debris and leaves and water. Aluminum gutter runs only have these small 2 x 3 inch rectangles cut into them squarely that then have the downspout connected into them by flanges bent around the perimeter of the hole. NOT conducive to good water flow and they trap small leaves and debris AT the downspout connection and then start the debris collection process upstream by blocking high flow rate of water.

10] Want any more details or more opinions? Contact me. Good luck!

I actually installed a gutter guard system myself. It is a stainless steel mesh guard called Gutterglove Gutterguard. I was shocked with how easy it was to install. It lets nothing through it but water, so we never have to clean it. I love having it on my home because now I know there will be no damage to it from clogged overflowing guttters and my husband and i never have to take the time to clean it. Well worth the investment!

I searched into endlessness, to find the best gutter protection system for the money ... the result was 100% gutter glove and actually I got the cheapest quote from gutter glove of nc rather than my local dealer.. the webpage is http://gg-nc.com/

We all know that keeping the rain gutters clean is very important to protecting the home from serious damage when water gets trapped from debris.The problem has always been what is the safest and easiest way to remove the leaves and other debris that collects in them. Nobody looks forward to climbing the ladder and scooping the junk out and the water tools just make a wet slimy mess everywhere. The robot is okay but you still have to climb the ladder to put it in the gutter and take it out when it's done. Then of course there's all the junk that was in the gutters all over the sidewalk, bushes, and flowers that has to be cleaned up. My wife and I tried everything on the market for our house and finally decided to invent our own gutter cleaning tool. Now there is the Gutter Clutter Buster that attaches to a standard 2-1/2" wet/dry vac hose that keeps you safe on the ground and vacuums every bit of debris out of the gutters right into your shop vac. You don't get wet and it is so easy to use, you almost look forward to cleaning the gutters. Check out the web site at www.gutterclutterbuster.com and see for yourself.