Ashley gutters, and the moss feeding them
Here the gutter fills from the roof rather than from a tree. We dig out the moss and the outlets, then prove every downpipe with water.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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In Ashley the gutter does not usually fill from above. It fills from the roof. On the concrete tile that most of these bungalows were built with, moss lifts at the lap and washes down into the run every time it rains hard.
That produces a particular complaint in Ashley. The gutters were done last year, done properly, and they are overflowing again. Nothing went wrong with the clearing. The supply did not stop, because it is coming off the tiles above rather than out of a tree. If it is spilling over in a downpour right now, ring 07435 839745 and tell us which side of the bungalow.
The site visit is free and the survey covers every run on the plot. We clear by hand into a bucket or lift it on a vacuum, dig out each outlet and shoe, then run water through each downpipe so you can see it go. Nothing is flushed into the drain, everything leaves with us, and the written itemised quote keeps clearing and repair apart.
The work
What comes off a sixties tile, and where it stops
Clearing a run fed by the roof. Moss out of a gutter is a different job from leaf out of a gutter. Leaf sits loose on top and comes away in handfuls.
Moss arrives already wet, settles in the bottom of the run and knits into a mat that holds water along the whole length, and after a winter it has broken down into a heavy silt and sludge. It is dug and scooped out rather than rinsed along, and it goes into a bucket and into the van.
Outlets, downpipes and the gully. Washed moss is the worst thing there is for an outlet, because it arrives in small pieces and packs solid rather than bridging. Each outlet is dug out by hand, the downpipe is run through from the top and rodded from the shoe where water is backing up, and the gully at the bottom is lifted and cleared so the pipe is not discharging into a blockage. Then every downpipe is proved with water in front of you.
The rest of the plot. A late fifties bungalow in Ashley rarely stands on its own by now. There is usually a garage with a short run, often a conservatory or a flat roofed extension whose gutter sits below the main eaves and takes everything off the tiles above it, and where that extension meets the main roof there is a box gutter or a short valley gutter invisible from the ground. A camera on a reach pole is how you get to look at one. Every run is counted and priced one by one, not lumped in as the gutters.
Repairs while we are there. A run carrying a mat of wet moss is heavy, and weight pulls a gutter out of shape. So on this stock the load shows at the fixings and joints: a bracket that has let go, a length sagging so water stands in the dip, and a union whose seal has hardened and started to drip. A loose bracket gets refixed and a union takes a new seal on the visit. A sagging length that needs re-hanging, or plastic gone brittle in the sun, is gutter repair in Ashley, priced separately.
What the overflow reaches. On a single storey building in Ashley the water comes over the front edge close to the wall, so the brickwork and render underneath stay wet all winter and go green. Water behind the gutter takes the fascia and runs along the soffit. Soft fascias, damp staining and anything showing on a ceiling get photographed and reported.
How it runs
Clearing bungalow gutters and flushing the downpipes
Thomas comes out, looks at each run and downpipe and at the roof that feeds them, and writes up a price himself. It shows the access, the length of guttering, how many outlets and downpipes there are, any repairs, and disposal of the waste. Clearing and repairs both sit on that one quote.
Gutters in Ashley are mostly on bungalow eaves, low enough for a ladder or a pole from the ground. Where a chalet's dormer breaks the eaves, there are short runs either side of it, and a two storey house might want a tower. We scoop the debris out by hand into bags, then run water down each downpipe to show it clears. The bags go with us and the paths are swept.
If a joint leaks or a bracket has failed, you get a photo and a price and the repair waits for your say-so. Clearing and repairing gutters is maintenance: nobody needs to apply for anything or notify building control. There is no conservation area in Ashley, and if your house is an older one, the Historic England list will tell you whether it is listed. The National Park boundary is close, so if your address falls inside it, check a change of material against the park authority's property map first.
Cost
Moss off concrete tiles, and why it fills bungalow gutters
We do not charge by the metre of gutter. A run under a conifer fills in a way an open gable never does.
The roof feeding it. Many roofs in Ashley are concrete tiles from the fifties and sixties, and those grow moss. Every storm washes some into the gutter, where it clogs into a sodden layer you have to dig out with a trowel. A shallow bungalow pitch sheds it slowly, so the gutter fills steadily all year.
Reaching it. A hipped bungalow with a garage and conservatory, a chalet with a dormer, and a later two storey house all set up differently, and only the last usually wants a tower. A valley gutter between roofs needs a proper platform, and HSE guidance decides the kit.
What is in it. Dry leaves come out fast. Silt that has built up behind a hedge is heavy, and the outlets are where it packs solid.
Repairs. A joint that drips, a shoe blocked at the foot of a downpipe, or a length sagging between brackets turns a quick clean into a longer visit.
Ask whether the downpipes are rodded through, whether the hoppers are checked, and who takes the debris.
If it is overflowing now
Overflowing gutters in heavy rain
Water spilling over the front edge of a gutter soaks the brickwork and can reach an inside wall after a few storms. From the ground, see whether it overflows at one point, which usually means a packed outlet, or along the run, which points at a sagging gutter.
Do not put a ladder against plastic guttering. We clear the blockage, flush the run to show it flows, and tell you straight if it is a broken joint. If your Ashley gutter was cleared in the last year and is overflowing again, say so, because the moss on the roof is probably feeding it. Booked work is Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. A call reaches us faster than the form does, and if nobody answers we phone back as soon as possible.
Worth knowing
A gutter under a mossy roof refills, and that is not a fault
Half the homes in Ashley went up between the mid forties and the early eighties, and the standard covering on that stock is concrete tile. It weathers open, holds moisture in the surface, and on north and east slopes it grows moss readily.
Every heavy shower detaches a little and sends it into the gutter, so the run is resupplied from above all year rather than loaded once each autumn. That is why a gutter in Ashley can be clear in November and struggling by March.
So judge a gutter clean on the outlets, not on how long it lasts, and treat it as seasonal: one clear in spring and one in autumn, after the leaves are down, suits most Ashley bungalows. Under a mossy roof no single clear lasts a year, and anyone promising otherwise is telling you what you want to hear. And if the same run keeps refilling, the honest fix is upstream. Dealing with the moss on the roof itself is a separate job, one we also quote for under exterior cleaning, and it is what reduces the load. If the gutter clear is all you need, we will say that too.
Who you are dealing with
The firm that clears your gutters, and its owner
Gutter cleaning takes us to Ashley, New Milton, Bashley, Barton on Sea, Hordle and across towards Sway, 8.9 miles or so from Boscombe, all within New Forest District Council's area. The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales with company number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Ashley, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Its owner, Thomas Hannen, looks at the gutters and downpipes and sets the price himself. A customer's verified review on Checkatrade gives us 10 out of 10. We ask nothing for the visit and nothing for the written, item by item quote.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Ashley?
Most repairs in Ashley need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.
| Question | In Ashley |
|---|---|
| Who decides | New Forest District Council is the planning authority for Ashley. The National Park boundary runs close by, and the Park's property map shows which side an address falls. |
| Conservation area | None covers Ashley, so a like-for-like repair is ordinary maintenance. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Ashley. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Ashley. |
Questions
Questions about gutter cleaning in Ashley
We had the gutters done last year and they are blocked again. Why?
Because the supply did not stop. On a concrete tile roof moss lifts at the lap and washes into the gutter with every heavy shower, so the run is fed all year, not loaded once each autumn. It is not a sign the clearing was skimped, but an annual visit is often not enough here.
Is moss harder to get out of a gutter than leaves?
Yes. Leaf sits loose on top and lifts out in handfuls. Moss arrives wet, settles in the bottom of the run and knits into a mat that holds water, and after a winter it is a heavy silt. It is dug and scooped out, never rinsed along.
Will clearing the gutters stop the moss coming back?
No, and it is worth being straight about that. Clearing deals with what has already arrived. Reducing what arrives means dealing with the moss on the roof itself, which is a different job. We tell you which of the two you need.
Why does our gutter hold a puddle in the middle of the run?
Weight: a mat of wet moss is heavy enough to pull a length down between its brackets, and once it is out of fall the water stands in the dip instead of running to the outlet. Clearing takes the weight out but not the dip, so we show it to you and price the realign separately.
Do you clear the conservatory and garage gutters too?
Yes, and they are on the quote as their own lines. A conservatory roof sits below the main eaves so it takes everything washing off the tiles above and blocks first, and a garage run is often the one nobody has looked at in years.
Nearby, and next door
Gutter cleaning near Ashley
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Get the moss out of the runs and the outlets dug
We come out, clear every run, outlet and downpipe, prove them with water and send a written itemised quote. Free.