Going up on a ladder is one of the most dangerous things a person can do. In the USA there are over five hundred thousand ladder accidents a year with three hundred deaths, almost all of them from less than ten feet up. Trying to climb to a second story is even more dangerous. Ladders are a technical device and industrial tool that must be used by an at-heights trained and experienced contractor or technician. Climbing up a ladder even just ten feet is a guaranteed way to injure yourself permanently or possibly die. Keep the ladder for wallpapering and high bookshelves. If you need someone to go on your roof, hire a trained professional.
Cleaning your gutters is very important. If your gutters get clogged they can cause all sorts of damage to your home and can also break themselves. Putting anyone on the property in danger of a falling piece of sharp metal. Ice is especially problematic and demands immediate attention. If your gutters fail to flow water correctly the least of your worries will be getting wet from falling blobs of water. Your attic and your foundation will soon turn into mush. The concrete will wear away and crumble your insulation will dampen and become useless. The facia vents will take in water and floor your attic causing your ceiling to leak., this is the most common cause for a roof leak. The cost of repairs for faulty, damaged, clogged or uncared for gutters is insurmountable. Up to the hundreds of thousands. You may as well buy a new house.
The good news is you can clean your gutters on the first or second floor without ever touching a ladder. You can get a hooked extendable pole that will allow you to dig out the detritus in the eaves before it causes a blockage. A blockage is the worst thing that can happen and will cost you more than you can imagine fixing. So if you are worried at all about the quality of integrity of your eaves call the professionals for an inspection for repair or replacement. If they have rusted to the point of having holes you can assume they will need to be replaced but if there are only some minor orientation problems causing dripping then they can be adhered to the drip edge and bent back into shape. However, new eaves will always be better than repairing old ones.
To clean the gutters you must first get rid of all the collected material like leaves and twigs and the errant bird’s nest. Remove the detritus firest and then clean it carefully with a hose making sure not to get water into the attic or on the roof. While the roof is waterproof it is only so when rainfalls. Spraying upwards with a hose can most certainly get water in the attic and once it’s there it can not be fixed without remediation of the damaged insulation.