Wost Product Ever – the Gutter Flusher

The Gutter Flusher. It’s a tool that attaches to your water hose. It has a long handle that telescopes to make it even longer to prevent having to climb a ladder. The curved end was developed to loop over the edge of the gutters of the house and easily blast away debris, leaves, and other crud that collects there. It appears to also be a great way to water hanging plants that are too high to reach with a regular spray nozzle and to keep from drenching yourself. A nice added bonus is that it can also be used as a power washer for washing vehicles.

Sounds like a nice tool to have around the house doesn’t it? It appears to be one of those things that are just too simple to have anything go wrong with it. Perhaps it’s one of those things that make you scratch your head and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Well, it took one use of this thing to realize that simplicity isn’t always better. While the design of the contraption could have been a good idea the craftsmanship of the item was very poor. The first step is to hook the item up to any garden hose. Sounds easy. Well, it wasn’t. The threads in which to screw it onto the hose were misshapen and poorly constructed. It never did sit right on the end of the hose. The telescoping arm is supposed to change the product from being just thirty-one inches in length to up to fifty-four inches. It seemed sturdy enough at its shortest length but as soon as it was stretched out, it became flimsy and unstable.

And then we get to the spraying action. Assuming that one is able to hold the thing still in its extended length without any complications, the next step is to position it so the hook is pointed in the direction of the gutter, spraying forced water into the gutters to blow out the debris. At the flip of the “on” switch, water comes streaming out of the end of the Gutter Flusher. It is forceful enough to blow out debris but it’s also forceful enough to cause everything to come splashing down on top of the user. It takes some getting used to in order to get the thing positioned in a way that keeps the user free of debris.

However, by the time you begin to figure it out, the product starts to fall apart. Water leaks and sprays out of the connections between the telescoping arm and the hose as well as the connection between the arm and the sprayer. The plastic that the arm is made of is of poor quality, the threads that are used to attach the hose are easily stripped and the metal of the sprayer is thin and flimsy. Even the nozzle at the end of the sprayer comes blasting off from the water pressure.

Had it been constructed better, this product may be something ideal to have around the home. In its current state though, it’s more work to actually figure out how to get it to work effectively without getting yourself covered in crud and water than it is to simply clean out your gutters manually. Or better yet, get those gutter guards and prevent the gutters from filling up in the first place!