Gutter Cleaning Before and After: A Tile Roof Edge Packed With Dead Leaves

Leaves pile up fast next to a pool cage. Here is what a packed gutter looks like and what the same spot looks like once it is cleaned.

By Paps Exterior Cleaning · September 20, 2026

Before

After

Left: before. Right: after. Photos from a Paps Exterior Cleaning job. The after photo is a close-up of the same stretch of roof edge.

What the photos show

The before photo is a clay tile roof running alongside a screened pool enclosure. Dead leaves are packed along the whole roof edge and into the gutter, and more have landed on the pool screen and on the roof tiles above the gutter line.

In the after photo the roof edge is clear. You can see the perforated gutter guard again, the tiles are clean down to the edge, and the gutter is open. The ladder in the frame is how the work gets done: up on the roof edge, by hand.

Why it matters next to a pool cage

A gutter that is full cannot carry water. When it rains, the water has nowhere to go but over the edge or back under the tile. Leaves that sit in a gutter also stay wet, which keeps the debris and the growth on the roof edge going. And on a house with a pool enclosure, every leaf that blows off the roof ends up on the screen or in the water.

What to check on your own gutters

• After a windy day or a storm, look at the roof edge from the ground. If you can see a line of leaves or dirt along it, the gutter is filling.
• Watch a downspout during heavy rain. If water is spilling over the top of the gutter instead, it is blocked.
• Check the trees that overhang the roof. Those are the ones feeding the gutter.

We clean gutters as part of our exterior cleaning work in Sarasota and Manatee County. If yours looks like the before photo, we can get it cleared. Property managers can also see our commercial pressure washing.