Summer is officially here, meaning it is now time to ramp up your home maintenance in anticipation of the heat, bushfire risk, and crazy storms. The hot weather also means though that you really don’t want to spend your time out working in the heat, and usually, you’re busy enjoying the beautiful weather anyway. At this time of year, maintaining around your home easily gets bumped to the bottom of your list, when it really shouldn’t.

At Gutter-Vac, we can help you get on top of that list. We can quickly and effectively clean your gutters, downpipes, solar panels and more. Don’t waste your weekend out in the heat, or sacrificing family time – give us a call on 1300 654 253 or use our Request a Quote button.

Join the
Gutter-Vac Team

Buy Gutter Guard

With Christmas right around the corner, now is the time to start preparing your home for the endless gatherings. If your home will be inundated with family and friends over the festive season, then no doubt you will want your home looking its best. Here are a few quick tips to help get you started before the silly season begins.

Banish unnecessary things from the surface of your home…

Throwing out old magazines, newspapers and piles of paper while you clean can be an easy, quick way to instantly refresh your home. Removing the clutter from your surface tops can make a huge difference.

Outside the home…

The outside of your home is the first thing your visitors will see, so it is important not to neglect your home maintenance in the lead up to Christmas. It is easy to remember to mow your lawn and rake, but it can be much harder when you are busy to remember the parts of your home that are out of sight. Getting your gutters and roof professionally vacuumed cleaned can make a huge difference to the overall appearance of your home.

Get dusting…

Dusting surfaces with a damp cloth can help everything feel and look fresh, with minimal effort.

Start early…

A great way to prepare for Christmas is to start preparing your home now! Set yourself two jobs a week, and make sure you tick them off. Whether that be ensuring that you take the time to book your home in for a gutter clean, or finally weeding the garden, starting early is a great way to avoid stress later on.

If you have left it to the last minute…

If you are time poor and your visitors are arriving soon, focus on the rooms that you think your guests will be in most. Your dining room and spare bedroom are great places to start.

Join the
Gutter-Vac Team

Buy Gutter Guard

You might be horrified to learn that your gutters are most likely home to creepy crawlies, reptiles and animals, like vermin, snakes and frogs.

The debris in gutters is the perfect environment for insects and bugs to breed. Once these insects take up residence in the gutters, larger predators such as mice and rats come along to prey on them. The vermin then generally don’t move on, and instead live in your gutters and roof cavity. If you have a mosquito, cockroach, ant or termite problem around your home, your unclean gutters may be to blame.

The most effective way to get rid of these unwanted guests, is by having your gutters professionally vacuum cleaned.  Vacuuming cleaning the debris out of your gutters means that you are totally removing the environment that insects and bugs breed in, and thereby the food source for larger animal’s food source. They will very quickly move on once their home and food disappears!

 Get your local Gutter-Vac technician in to quickly and effectively clean your gutters. Give them a call on 1300 654 253 or use the Get A Quote form here.

Join the
Gutter-Vac Team

Buy Gutter Guard

Over in Western Australia, Thomas and Sarella Kessel are busy cleaning gutters, solar panels, ceiling cavities. We recently caught up with them between jobs, and had a chat about what life as a Gutter-Vac franchisee is like. 

Where do your territories service?

Midland, Joondalup & Wanneroo, in Perth.

What are the benefits of having your gutters regularly cleaned?

Your service will prevent any unforeseen damage from gutter and downpipe overflows, caused by leaves and debris, thus giving you peace of mind, and reducing the chance of needing a costly insurance repair. It prolongs the life of your guttering by removing moist sludge and moss to prevent rusting.  It also protects from the threat of embers in bushfire season.

 What does an average day as a Gutter-Vac franchisee look like for you? 

We are out in nature most days (no boring office job here), protecting millions of dollars in commercial and residential property and doing our bit to help the community.

 What is the strangest thing you have found in a gutter?

We have found everything from half the kids toybox – to a cat skeleton…inside ceiling cavities is where you never know what you will find.

 What would you say to someone considering buying a Gutter-Vac franchise?

 If you want a business to suit your lifestyle, this is it…. work to suit your leisure hours, or make your hours suit your bank account…the choice is yours.

Join the
Gutter-Vac Team

Buy Gutter Guard

Experts are warning that most of Australia’s population will face an above-normal bushfire risk this year. Now is the time to be proactive and take note of the warning by getting your home prepared.

Reduce vegetation around your home

During bushfire season, it is critical that you keep vegetation around your home to a minimum. This includes keeping your lawn mown, raking up leaves and trimming low-lying branches that are two metres from the ground, and any branches that hang near your roof.

Ensure your gutters are free from debris

It is important to ensure that your gutters are free from any debris, as the leafy debris can act as a fuel for stray embers. Scarily, 90% of homes in a bushfire are lost to an ember attack. Embers can travel kilometres in the wind, so even if the fire is not directly near your home, your home can still catch alight. Getting your gutters professionally cleaned prior to bushfire season will ensure that this fuel is removed, reducing the risk to your home.

Move flammable items away from the home

It is recommended that you move flammable items away from your home, such as woodpiles, paper, boxes, paint, crates, hanging baskets, mulch and garden furniture.

Water

Check that your hose reaches all sides of your house. If you have a dam, pool and tank, put a Static Water Supply sign on your fence. This alerts firefighters that there is an ideal supply of water on your property that can be used in an emergency.

Put together a bushfire survival kit and a relocation survival kit

In the event of an emergency, ensure that you have organised a bushfire survival and relocation kit for you and your family. Ensure that it includes important things like torches, bottled drinking water, a first aid kit, medication, a portable radio, valuables and a form of identification.

Join the
Gutter-Vac Team

Buy Gutter Guard

With your gutters up high and out of sight, it can be a struggle to know if they are overdue for a clean or not. Here are some tell-tale signs that your gutters need servicing:

Plants are growing in them

If your gutters have plants in growing in them, then they are well in need of a clean. Not only are gutter growths unattractive, but the weight and speed of the growth can cause irreparable damage to your gutters.

When it rains, they overflow

If your gutters are overflowing when it rains, that is a sign that is a sign that your gutters are blocked and water cannot drain away. Over time, water spilling over the sides of your gutters can cause damage to the foundation of your home.

Animals are living in your gutters

If you spot animals, pests or birds hanging out in your gutters, then that is another indication that your gutters need a professional clean. Gutters full of debris are the perfect place for vermin, birds, insects and snakes to live.

Sagging gutters

If it looks like your gutters are sagging, it means that your gutters are in urgent need of a clean. Gutters that are full of debris for an extended amount of time bend under the weight. If your gutters are sagging, it is important that you book in for a professional gutter clean as soon as possible.

You don’t remember when you last cleaned them

If you can’t remember the last time that your gutters were cleaned, then chances are they need a clean. Even if your gutters aren’t showing some of these signs, they can still need a clean.

If you are unsure, give us a call and we can pop out to your property and assess the situation, and give you a free quote if need be.

Warren recently recorded a podcast with the team over at EdenExchange.com. If you haven’t already listened to it, make sure you do! In the podcast, he shares his insights into the world of franchising and talks through how to be a successful franchisee.

Join the
Gutter-Vac Team

Buy Gutter Guard

Meet Noel Jago – the face behind Gutter-Vac Wyong and Gutter-Vac Lake Macquarie. Noel has been operating in the Wyong and Lake Macquarie regions since 2016. Have a read about how he can help residents in those areas prepare for Summer, and what the best thing about being a Gutter-Vac franchisee is.

What areas does Gutter-Vac Wyong and Gutter-Vac Lake Macquarie service?

Gutter-Vac Lake Macquarie services the entire Lake Macquarie region from Charlestown in the North East and Cameron Park in the North West, to the bottom of the lake. Gutter-Vac Wyong services from the bottom of Lake Macquarie to Tuggerah in the west and across to Bateau Bay on the coast.

We focus on providing gutter vacuum cleaning and solar panel washing. We also perform ceiling cavity cleans, pressure washing and gutter guard installations.

How can Gutter-Vac Wyong and Gutter-Vac Lake Macquarie help people get ready for Summer?

The biggest issue that we are currently facing in the region is due to the incredibly dry weather throughout Winter, which has left the bush in a very highly flammable position. Although the RFS has spent enormous resources in the last few months in back burning, there is still a very high fire danger for our region. Our region is very bushy and a lot of homes are close to the bush. We believe that getting gutters vacuum cleaned now will assist in preparing our customer’s homes for the bush fire season.  We not only clear the gutters of flammable debris, but we can also assist in clearing around your property and removing excess dry debris.

How long have you been operating your two territories, and why did you choose Gutter-Vac?

We have been operating Gutter-Vac Lake Macquarie since February 2016 and Gutter-Vac Wyong since July 2016. We have recently hired our second employee to keep up with the workload to keep our customer’s gutters clean. Gutter-Vac was my choice for starting my own business as I wanted to work outdoors (only ever been an office worker), and actually meet customers every day. Having the flexibility to schedule my own workload and hours was a big factor in choosing Gutter-Vac.

What is the best part about being a Gutter-Vac franchisee?

Being a Gutter-Vac franchisee was the perfect way for me to start my own business, and has allowed me to work directly with customers and to resolve their problems immediately. Today I was called by an older lady that recently lost her husband and was now left with trying to understand how to do many of the things around her property. We not only unblocked her gutters, but fixed her garden hose, resolved a problem with her tank and provided some advice on getting the right trade in to help with some other items. She was extremely happy to not have to deal with those issues, and I was glad to be able to help someone directly.

Join the
Gutter-Vac Team

Buy Gutter Guard

Getting your gutters and roof professionally cleaned can add years to the life of your house. One reason why getting your gutters cleaned is so important is because it minimises rust. Did you know that debris left to rot in gutters breaks down and forms a destructive sludge? Unfortunately, this acidic sludge then causes the formation of rust, which often corrodes gutters past the point of the repair.

One easy way to prevent premature rusting, is to have your gutters cleaned regularly. At Gutter-Vac, we offer a preventative maintenance plan, whereby we do the worrying about your gutters for you. Call 1300 654 253 or fill out our free Get A Quote form on our website, and your local Gutter-Vac technician will call you for a chat.

Join the
Gutter-Vac Team

Buy Gutter Guard