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.
Last updated
Under this much tree cover a gutter fills from above, not from the roof, so in Burley the question worth asking is not whether it needs clearing but what month you have it done in.
A Burley gutter under oak tells you when it needs clearing. 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, not empty. Or a dark green stripe has appeared on the brickwork under one length of gutter and it was not there last winter. If it is the first of those and it is happening now, ring 07435 839745; under oak, the outlet is where we look first.
In Burley what we do about it is the same whichever sign you have seen. We walk every run from both ends, take out what is in there by hand and by vacuum, never 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, with no second visit.
The site visit and the written itemised quote are both free. If the fault turns out to be a split union or a dropped bracket, 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. None of it goes 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 in Burley 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, never 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. A new union seal we can fit on the visit, but re-hanging the run or replacing a brittle section is gutter repair in Burley, priced on its own line.
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
Clearing gutters that fill with leaves every autumn
Thomas looks at each run, notes which trees hang over it, and prices the clear himself. The quote shows access, length of run, number of outlets and downpipes, any repair, and what happens to the debris. We price it and do it.
Oak and beech leaves can fill a Burley gutter in one autumn, and pine needles mat together until water will not pass. We scoop by hand from a ladder or a tower, push water down every downpipe to the gully to prove it runs, and take the leaves and silt away in bags. On gravel or a soft lawn the tower sits on boards. Anything that is repair rather than clearing, a dripping joint or a sagged bracket, is photographed and priced, and waits for your answer.
Clearing needs no permission, and building control has no interest in it. Replacing cast iron with plastic on the front is a change of appearance, and the planning body here is the Park Authority, not the district council. Burley is in the Burley Conservation Area, so check with them whether your house is also listed before anything is ordered; National Park heritage and conservation guidance explains what applies.
Cost
How much leaf, how many outlets, and how high
We do not charge by the metre of gutter. The same length under a line of oaks and on an open gable are different jobs.
How high. A single storey forest cottage or chalet bungalow in Burley can be cleared off a ladder, or with a pole from the ground. A tall gable needs a tower, and a valley between roofs needs a safe platform. Under the work at height rules that access is priced by itself.
How much has built up. Dry leaves lift out fast. Leaf mould, moss off the tiles and silt that has settled for a few winters are heavy and slow, and a Burley gutter left since last autumn takes far longer than one cleared in spring.
Outlets. Blockages form at the outlets and hoppers, so a house with several downpipes takes longer than one long straight run. A downpipe blocked at the bend or the shoe has to be rodded.
Repairs. Resealing a joint, or rehanging a sagging length between brackets, counts as repair, and is priced on its own line so you can choose.
From any other quote, check whether downpipes are flushed too, whether joints are tested with running water, and who takes the waste.
If it is overflowing now
Gutters spilling over in heavy rain
If water is pouring over the gutter or down the face of the wall, ring us rather than using the form. Gutter clearing is booked Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm; ring anyway in a storm, and we will return a missed call as soon as we can.
Water down a wall soaks the brickwork and reaches a ceiling sooner than you would think, and on shrinkable clay ground, roof water dumped beside the foundations is a problem of its own, which is why Approved Document H wants it carried away. We clear the outlet, run water through to prove it, and tell you plainly if the fault is a broken joint.
Worth knowing
How often it needs doing when you live in the trees
Most of the country manages on one gutter clear a year. In Burley, 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 in Burley 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 without removing it.
Who you are dealing with
Gutter clearing for the village and Burley Street
We clear gutters in Burley, Burley Street, Bransgore, Ringwood and Sopley, and out across the forest to Lyndhurst. We are 8.8 miles away at our base in Boscombe, and planning questions in Burley go to the New Forest National Park Authority, while Ringwood, Bransgore and Sopley sit with New Forest District Council.
Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. The business is run by its owner, Thomas Hannen, and he comes out to look at the gutters and price the job. Checkatrade lists a 10 out of 10 given by a verified customer. The visit and the itemised written quote are both free of charge. Before you book a visit in Burley, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Burley?
Most repairs in Burley 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 Burley |
|---|---|
| Who decides | New Forest National Park Authority is the planning authority for Burley. New Forest National Park Authority's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Burley Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Burley. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | Inside the New Forest National Park, where design is looked at more closely and permitted development rights are narrower. |
Questions
Questions about gutter cleaning in Burley
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, not 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 is packed at the outlet or in the swan neck behind the fascia, not 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, not 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.
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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.