Gutter cleaning in Broadstone, and what it uncovers
Most of these houses went up within a few years of each other, so the gutters are wearing out together. We clear first, then tell you what is actually left.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Nearly two thirds of the housing here went up between 1945 and 1982, busiest in the late fifties and early sixties. The rainwater goods went on with the houses, which means whole streets are reaching the end of the same lifespan in the same few years.
That changes what a gutter call turns out to be. On a newer house a blocked run is a blocked run and clearing it fixes it. On a run that has been up for sixty odd years, the clearing is the easy half and the awkward half is what the clearing reveals: brittle plastic, a union with no seal left in it, a bracket that has been holding on by one screw for a decade.
So we clear first and judge afterwards, with the run empty and the fixings visible. You get a written itemised quote that separates the clearing from any repair, and photographs of anything we think should be dealt with now rather than left. Nothing beyond the clearing happens without you saying yes to it first.
The work
Clearing a run that has been up since the sixties
Empty it, then look at it properly. You cannot judge a gutter you cannot see the bottom of.
The clearing itself. Leaves, moss off the tiles, roofing grit and the black sludge all of that becomes, scooped out by hand from a ladder and bagged. Where a border or a conservatory blocks a ladder pitch we lift it with a vacuum on a reach pole from the ground instead. Then every outlet is cleared and every downpipe is flushed through with water while you watch, and a pipe that will not take it gets rodded or a camera put down it.
What sixty years does to plastic. Early plastic rainwater goods go chalky and brittle in ultraviolet light, so the material loses its spring. A brittle run cracks at the bracket instead of flexing, the seals in the unions harden and stop sealing, and the whole thing sags between supports until the fall runs the wrong way. That is why so many gutters round here drip after a clean: the debris was never the problem.
Cast iron, where it survives. Some of the older houses still have theirs, and sound cast iron will outlast anything you replace it with. It wants clearing, wire brushing at the joints and painting, not a skip. A weeping cast iron joint can usually be taken apart, cleaned back, re-bedded and drawn up again, and we say so rather than sell you a replacement.
Repairs on the same visit. Refixing a bracket into sound timber, realigning a length to get the fall back, renewing a union seal, re-hanging a run that has dropped, replacing a single cracked length rather than the whole elevation. Small work, done while the access is already there, and priced on its own line.
The wall underneath. A run that has been overflowing for a couple of winters leaves green first, then staining down the brickwork or the render, then damp on the inside face, with the fascias and soffit under it soft by the end. Clearing stops that. Leaving it does not.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
Same team from first visit to last, one person to ring, and no sub-contracting your work out to somebody you have never met. The quote is itemised, not a figure on the back of a card: access, the length of run, the number of outlets and downpipes, any repair, and where the debris goes on separate lines, so you can compare it properly against anyone else's.
Nothing is left open or unusable overnight. The site is swept at the end of each day rather than the end of the job, and what comes out leaves with us. If something turns up once we start that nobody could have seen, you get a photograph and a price before we carry on.
Clearing, repairing or replacing rainwater goods on an ordinary house is maintenance: no planning application, and nothing for building control to sign off. Broadstone has no conservation area of its own and four listed entries, where the original rainwater goods count as protected fabric and replacing them is a consent question, and the council keeps the list for the council area.
Cost
What decides the price of a gutter clean
No rate per square metre, because a metre of gutter behind a conifer and a metre on an open gable are not the same metre.
Getting to it. A detached bungalow with runs on all four sides, a chalet with a dormer over the front, and a two storey house needing a tower are three different mornings. A bungalow run comes off a ladder or a pole, a three storey gable wants a tower, and a valley gutter between two roofs wants a proper platform. The work at height rules are why the access is a priced line rather than something absorbed into a rate.
What is in it, and how far it has travelled. Leaf litter lifts out in minutes. Moss washed off the tiles sets into a wet mat that has to be dug out, and silt in a long run behind a hedge is heavier and slower than anything a photograph shows. The number of outlets matters more than the length, because that is where it packs.
Whether it is a clean or a repair. A joint that drips once it is running again, a downpipe blocked at the shoe, a length of plastic that has sagged between brackets: none of that is clearing, and it is the part that decides whether you are booking an hour or half a day.
Comparing quotes? Ask whether the downpipes are being run through or just the gutter cleared, whether the outlets and hoppers are checked, whether it is a clear or a clear and a check for leaks, and who takes the debris away. Two quotes for the same job are usually two different jobs.
If it is overflowing now
Water coming over the gutter in heavy rain
Ring rather than use the form. Water running down a wall in a downpour soaks the brickwork and finds its way to a ceiling faster than most people expect, so a blocked outlet in a wet week goes to the front of the queue. We clear it, run water through to prove it, and tell you honestly if what you actually have is a broken joint rather than a blockage. On brittle old plastic a blockage in a cold snap is what splits a length, so it is worth ringing early rather than in February. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
Whole streets here are on their original rainwater goods
Housing that goes up together wears out together. Around six in ten homes here date from the three decades after the war, with the busiest years in the late fifties and early sixties, and unless somebody has changed them the gutters and downpipes are as old as the houses. So the calls arrive in clusters. One winter a road that has been quiet for years produces four jobs in a fortnight, all the same fault, because the same material has reached the same age at the same time.
What to do with that is straightforward. Ask for the run to be judged once it is empty rather than from the ground, because chalky, brittle plastic and a hardened union seal look perfectly fine from a garden. Expect the honest answer to be a mixture: most of a run is usually sound and one or two lengths are not, so a targeted repair beats a full replacement more often than not. And if a neighbour has just had theirs re-hung, take that as a prompt to have yours looked at, not as proof that yours needs the same. We quote clearing and repair separately for exactly that reason, so nobody is nudged into replacing a gutter that has years left in it.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Broadstone, Merley, Corfe Mullen, Canford Heath and across into Poole and Wimborne, broadly BH17 and BH18, under Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free.
Questions
Broadstone questions we get asked
Our gutter drips even after it has been cleared. Why?
Because the debris was never the fault. On a run that has been up since the sixties the plastic has gone brittle, the seals in the unions have hardened and the fall has sagged between brackets. Any of those drips on a perfectly clean gutter, and each is a small repair rather than a replacement.
Should we replace the whole run or just the bad bits?
Usually just the bad bits. Most of a run is sound even when a length or two is cracked, and a targeted repair with the access already up costs a fraction of doing an elevation. We photograph what we find, price the repair on its own line, and let you decide.
Is old cast iron worth keeping?
If it is sound, very much so. It will outlast anything you put up in its place, and it wants clearing, wire brushing at the joints and painting rather than removing. A weeping joint can normally be taken apart, cleaned, re-bedded and bolted up again.
A neighbour has just had new gutters. Do we need them too?
Not necessarily, though it is a fair prompt to get yours looked at. The houses here went up together so the material is the same age, but exposure, tree cover and whether anyone has maintained them vary house by house. Have it judged empty, not from the ground.
How long does the clearing take on a house like ours?
A morning on most of them, including proving every downpipe with water. A run nobody has touched in a decade comes out as a solid wet mat rather than loose debris and takes longer, and we will say so on the visit rather than afterwards.
Nearby, and next door
Gutter cleaning near Broadstone
Gutter cleaning nearby
Our other trades in Broadstone
Everything we do in Broadstone Gutter cleaning, all areas Every area we cover
Free quote
Get the run cleared and then honestly judged
Thomas comes out, empties every run, flushes the downpipes and photographs anything that needs repair. The visit and the written quote are free.