This past weekend, he decided to tackle gutter cleaning for the first time. I couldn't resist the title for this post, it seemed to obvious with the whole gutter and ladder theme.
Really, it was an excuse for him to try out toys like the extension ladder and the ladder stabilizer. Despite the fact that I told him it was worth paying a professional to do this type of work, he gamely climbed to the top of the ladder and had my dad holding the bottome of the ladder (which was originally supposed to be my job). Now that's what I call trust, having your father-in-law hold your life in his hands - literally!
I was shaking my head as I took in this scene from every angle. Andrew had tied a rope to the end of a hose, and was slowly pulling the rope up so that the hose would rise to his level (rather than having to climb the ladder rungs worrying about a hose getting entangled around his feet):
Then came the most nerve-wracking part for me but I suspect it was the best part for Andrew - he used the hose to blast leaves and sediment from the gutters in front of the house:
Carefully maneuvering, he was able to get both sides:
As a result of cleaning the front gutters, Andrew was able to test some theories on why some of our gutters weren't draining properly - namely, it wasn't due to a build-up of leaves but some problems in configuration/damage caused by the previous' owners installation of our sprinkler system. This process took hours and only involved the front of the house, which means the back side will have to be tackled next.
Bringing the extension ladder down was a full family affair - my mom couldn't resist helping which meant I was the odd man out, "supervising' and taking picures:
Turns out, extension ladders aren't as heavy as you would expect but are awkward to handle.
Ah, the joys of being a homeowner. What was I doing while this was going on? I was indoors working on an arts and crafts project, to be revealed in a future post.
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