Corfe Castle gutter cleaning, valleys included
On stone houses the gutter that does the damage is the hidden one. We clear the valleys and parapets as well as the eaves, and prove every run.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
In Corfe Castle the gutter that causes the damage is usually the one you cannot see. Stone properties here run water in valleys and behind parapets, and those flood into the building rather than down the wall.
So the calls divide neatly. Either something is overflowing outside, which is the easy sort, or a ceiling has gone brown in a corner after a wet week and nobody can work out why. The second one is nearly always a hidden gutter that has silted up.
The site visit is free and it covers every run, not just the one that is complaining. We clear by hand into a bucket, lift packed moss and sludge out rather than flushing it down, clear each outlet and shoe, then run water through so you can see it go. A written itemised quote follows, with clearing and any repair on separate lines.
The work
Behind the parapet, and down the valley
The hidden runs first. A stone house with two ranges has a valley gutter between them, and a house with a raised gable end often has a box gutter tucked behind the parapet. Neither can be seen from the ground and neither has anywhere to spill except inwards. Leaf and moss collect at the head of the valley, silt builds under it, and then one heavy afternoon the water backs up over the upstand and into the roof. We clear them out by hand, check the outlet at the low end, and where the angle is awkward a camera on a reach pole shows you what is there before and after.
The ordinary runs. Eaves gutters here fill with a mix of moss off stone slate and tile, leaf from the village trees, and grit. Loose debris is scooped out, packed material is dug out or lifted on a vacuum, and the run is cleaned down to the bottom so the fall works again. None of it goes down the outlet, because a gutter emptied into a drain is a drain job later.
Outlets, hoppers and downpipes. Older properties in the village usually have a hopper head at the top of the pipe, and a hopper fills silently. We empty every one by hand, clear the outlet, run the downpipe through from the top and rod from the shoe where water is backing up. Then every downpipe is proved with water while you watch.
Cast iron and what it needs. A good deal of the rainwater goods on the older houses is cast iron, and it should never be jetted or levered. It is emptied by hand, the bolt through each joint is checked, and the brackets are looked at, because cast iron gives way at its fixings rather than along its length. On plastic runs added to extensions the faults are the usual ones: a dropped bracket, a sagging length, a union whose seal has hardened and begun to drip. We refix brackets, realign and re-hang the length to its fall, and replace a union rather than patch it.
Why it is worth doing. Water over the front edge keeps brickwork and render wet through the winter and brings the green with it. Water behind the gutter takes the fascia and runs along the soffit. And water out of a valley goes straight to a ceiling. Soft fascias, damp staining and anything else we find gets photographed and reported.
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 and repairing gutters is maintenance, so no planning application and nothing for building control to sign off. Replacing them is another matter here. The village sits in the Corfe Castle conservation area and carries a very large number of listed entries, so changing cast iron for plastic on a visible elevation can need listed building consent. 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 stone cottage on the street with no room to stand a tower, a house with a rear range and a valley between them, and a bungalow on the edge of the village are three different afternoons, and only one of them might want a scaffold. 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. If the water is showing on a ceiling rather than outside, say so when you ring, because that moves the valley and the parapet to the front of the survey. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
Hidden gutters are the ones that need a routine
An eaves gutter tells you when it is blocked. It spills over the front edge, it stains the wall, and somebody notices. A valley gutter or a parapet gutter tells you nothing at all until it has already put water into the roof, and by then the damage is a ceiling, not a stripe of green on the stone. That is the single thing worth knowing about rainwater on the older properties in this village.
So treat them differently. Eaves runs can be cleared when they look like they need it. Hidden runs want an annual routine at a fixed time: autumn, after the leaves are down, and a second look in spring if there are trees over the roof. Ask whoever clears your gutters whether the valley and any parapet gutter are included, because plenty of quotes cover the eaves only and nobody mentions it. Ours names them as separate lines so you can see they have been done, and if a lead lining underneath has failed rather than simply filled, you get a photograph and an honest answer about what that needs and how long it takes.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Corfe Castle, Kingston, Church Knowle, Wareham, Swanage and the villages across Purbeck, broadly BH20, under Dorset 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
Corfe Castle questions we get asked
What is a parapet gutter and why does it matter more than the others?
It is a gutter hidden behind a raised wall at the edge of the roof, common on older stone houses. It has nowhere to spill except into the building, so when it silts up the water goes over the upstand and into the roof. That is why it does more damage than an eaves run.
Our ceiling has stained but the gutters outside look clear. What now?
Look at the runs you cannot see. A valley between two ranges, a box gutter behind a parapet or a blocked outlet at the head of a valley floods inwards while every eaves gutter looks perfect from the ground. We check those first when a ceiling is the symptom.
Do you clean cast iron gutters differently from plastic ones?
Yes. Cast iron is emptied by hand and never jetted, because pressure drives water behind the joints and finds every pinhole in the back of the section. The bolt through each joint and the brackets get checked at the same time, since cast iron gives way at its fixings rather than along its length.
Do we need consent to replace rainwater goods in the village?
You might. The village is a conservation area and a great many buildings here are listed, so changing cast iron for plastic on a visible elevation is a change of appearance rather than a repair. We check the address first and say so in writing.
What routine does a hidden gutter need?
Give it a fixed routine rather than waiting for a symptom. Once in autumn after the leaves are down suits most properties here, with a second look in spring where there are trees over the roof. Eaves gutters can wait until they look like they need it. Hidden runs cannot.
Nearby, and next door
Gutter cleaning near Corfe Castle
Gutter cleaning nearby
Our other trades in Corfe Castle
Everything we do in Swanage Gutter cleaning, all areas Every area we cover
Free quote
Get the hidden gutters checked, not just the eaves
Thomas comes out, clears the valleys, parapets, hoppers and downpipes, proves each one with water and prices any repair separately. Free.