Gutter cleaning in Burley, under the oaks
Under oak and holly a gutter fills twice a year, and it blocks at the outlet rather than along the run. We clear it, then prove it goes.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Under this much tree cover a gutter fills from above rather than from the roof, so in Burley the question worth asking is not whether it needs clearing but what month you have it done in.
Three things bring people to the phone here. Water is coming over the front edge of the gutter in a downpour and running down the wall. A downpipe has gone quiet in heavy rain, which means it is full rather than empty. Or a dark green stripe has appeared on the brickwork under one length of gutter and it was not there last winter.
What we do about it is the same in all three cases. We walk every run from both ends, take out what is in there by hand and by vacuum rather than washing it into the outlet, then run water through and watch where it goes. If it does not go, we find out why while we are still up there rather than booking a second visit.
The site visit and the written itemised quote are both free. If what you have is a split union or a dropped bracket rather than a blockage, you get a photograph and the repair priced on its own line.
The work
Clearing, outlets and the runs under the oaks
Clearing the runs. Oak, beech and holly all shed into a gutter at different times of year and they do not behave the same once they are in there. Leaf litter sits loose and lifts out in handfuls. Moss washed down off the tiles packs into a wet mat that has to be dug out. Silt, which is what leaves turn into after two winters, sets in the bottom of the run and holds water against the joints. We take it out by hand into a bucket, or by vacuum on a long run, and it leaves with us rather than going down the outlet or over your flower bed.
Outlets, downpipes and hoppers. The gutter is rarely where the blockage is. It packs at the outlet, at the swan neck behind the fascia, and at the shoe where the downpipe turns into the drain. So the outlet gets cleared properly, the downpipe gets run through from the top and rodded from the bottom if it needs it, and any hopper head on an older property gets emptied by hand. Then water goes down every run in front of you.
Valley gutters and the awkward ones. A fair few forest cottages have two ranges meeting, which puts a valley gutter down the middle where nothing shows from the ground, and a box gutter behind a parapet is the same problem. Both flood inwards rather than outwards, so they get looked at whether or not you asked. Where we cannot get eyes on something a camera goes up on a pole and you see what we see.
Joints, brackets and a run that has dropped. Plastic gutter is hung to a fall, and once a bracket lets go the run sags, water stands in the dip and the joint at the low point starts to drip. That is not a cleaning job. We refix or replace the bracket, realign the length back to the fall, and renew the seal in the union or change the union outright. A section that has gone brittle gets replaced rather than patched.
Fascias, soffits and the wall. Water over the front edge soaks the brickwork below, and water behind the gutter goes into the fascia and along into the soffit. Green staining on the render, a soft fascia board and a damp patch on a bedroom ceiling all start as an outlet nobody cleared.
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 a gutter needs nobody's permission and no building control involvement. Changing the rainwater goods is different: Burley has its own conservation area and seven listed entries, and swapping cast iron for plastic on a frontage there is a change of appearance rather than maintenance, so the park authority keeps the designations and we check an address before anything is ordered.
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 single storey forest cottage with a catslide over the back, a chalet bungalow with a dormer in the front slope, and a two storey house with a conservatory on the end are three different afternoons before anybody has looked in the gutter. 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. In a wet autumn here the same run can block twice in a fortnight, so tell us when you ring whether it has been cleared this year. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
How often it needs doing when you live in the trees
Most of the country manages on one gutter clear a year. Inside the National Park, with oak and holly over the roof, one is not enough and two is usually right. It is the order things fall in. Oak holds its leaf late and drops it through November and into December. Holly sheds a little all year and its leaves are stiff, so they bridge across an outlet instead of going down it. Add the moss off a north facing slope in the first wet spell and the gutter fills twice from two directions.
So the timing is the decision, not the frequency. A spring clear takes out the winter moss and the blossom. The second one wants to wait until the oak is properly down, which here means December rather than October, because booked too early you pay to clear a gutter that fills again three weeks later. If a tree genuinely overhangs the roof we will say whether a guard is worth it on that run, and on most forest properties it moves the problem to the outlet rather than removing it.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Burley, Bransgore, Ringwood, Sopley and out across the forest to Lyndhurst, broadly BH24, under the New Forest National Park Authority as the planning authority. 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
Burley questions we get asked
How often should gutters be cleared on a house surrounded by oak?
Twice a year on most properties in the forest. One in late spring for the winter moss, and one once the oak leaf is down, which here means December rather than October. Booked too early, an autumn visit just pays for a gutter that fills again three weeks later.
Is the downpipe part of a gutter clear, or an extra?
Yes, and it is the part that matters most. Nearly every overflow we attend is packed at the outlet or in the swan neck behind the fascia rather than along the run. We clear from the top, rod from the shoe, then run water down every one while you watch.
Can you reach a valley gutter between two roof slopes?
Usually yes, and it is worth doing. A valley gutter fills before anything else does and it floods into the roof rather than over the front edge, so the first sign is a damp patch on a ceiling. Where the pitch makes it awkward we say what access it needs and price that separately.
What happens if the gutter turns out to be broken rather than blocked?
You get a photograph and a price for the repair on its own line, and no pressure to take it. A dropped bracket, a split union or a length gone brittle in the sun are ordinary finds on a run nobody has touched for a while, and none is fixed by clearing.
Will the mess end up all over the garden?
No. What comes out goes into a bucket and leaves with us, and nothing is flushed down the outlet to block the drain instead. Ground under the run is sheeted where there is planting, and the site is swept before we go.
Nearby, and next door
Gutter cleaning near Burley
Gutter cleaning nearby
Our other trades in Burley
Everything we do in Ringwood Gutter cleaning, all areas Every area we cover
Free quote
Get the gutters cleared before the oak comes down
Thomas comes out, looks at every run and outlet, and sends a written itemised quote with the access shown as its own line. Free.