Gutter cleaning in Longham, under the river trees
Trees set the interval here, not the calendar. Leaves in autumn and seed in spring means most runs along the river want doing twice.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Under mature trees, once a year is not enough. Longham sits along the Stour where the planting is old and heavy, and a gutter beneath that kind of canopy will fill twice over in a single year: leaves in the autumn, then blossom, seed and catkins in the spring.
That is the single thing worth knowing before you book. The interval is not a rule, it is set by what is hanging over your roof, and along the river road and the older lanes there is a great deal hanging over the roofs. Set against that, a house on the newer parts of the village with nothing above it will comfortably go two years.
So we look before we quote. The visit is free and takes about half an hour: every run, every outlet, every downpipe, and a straight answer on how often yours will actually need doing rather than a schedule sold by the year. You get a written itemised quote with the clearing, the outlets and any repair on separate lines.
The work
What comes off the trees, and where it stops
Leaf litter is the easy part. It is what happens to leaf litter after six months in water that costs money.
Autumn leaf clearing. Whole leaves lift out by hand in minutes and go into a bag rather than over the border. That is the job at its cheapest, and doing it after the leaves are down rather than in the middle of the fall is the difference between one visit and two.
What we find when nobody has been for years. Leaves break down into a black sludge, that silt mixes with moss and roofing grit off the tiles, and the whole run turns into a wet mat that holds water like a sponge. It is heavy. It pulls a plastic gutter out of level between brackets and reverses the fall, so the run overflows at the middle instead of draining to the end. That comes out by hand, scoop by scoop, or with a vacuum on a reach pole where a border stops a ladder going in, and either way it is slow.
Outlets, downpipes and hoppers. Seed, catkins and small twigs get past a leaf guard and pack solid at an outlet. Every outlet is cleared, every downpipe is flushed through while you watch, and anything that will not take it is rodded or looked at with a camera. A hopper at high level collects everything the gutter sends it and is usually worse than the run above.
Valley gutters. Where two roof slopes meet, the valley concentrates everything that lands on both of them. Under trees that fills fast, and a blocked valley puts water under the tiles rather than over the front of a gutter, so the first sign is a stain on a ceiling. Those get cleared and checked whenever a property has one.
What the overflow leaves behind. A run that has been backing up for a couple of autumns puts water down the same strip of wall every time it rains. Green first, then staining across the render or the brickwork, then damp on the inside face, with the fascias and soffit under the run soft by the end of it. That is the cost of skipping a year, and it is a good deal more than the clearing would have been.
The repairs that follow a bad year. Sagging between brackets, a union whose seal has been forced open by ice on top of packed debris, a bracket pulled out of a wet fascia. We photograph it, price it, and refix, realign, re-hang or replace only once you have said yes.
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.
None of it needs permission. There is no conservation area here, though the village carries thirteen listed entries, and on a listed building the rainwater goods count as protected fabric, so replacing them needs listed building consent while clearing them does not. Nothing here goes near planning or building control.
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 cottage on the river road under overhanging limbs, a bungalow on an open plot, and a detached house with a conservatory in the way are three different jobs. 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. We are close by, and in a wet autumn week we would rather come out than have you climb up. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
How the trees set your interval, not the calendar
The standard advice is twice a year, and along this stretch of the Stour valley it is right for once. Broadleaf trees do two things to a gutter and they do them six months apart. In October and November the leaves come down, and a run under a canopy can fill in a fortnight. Then in April and May the same trees drop blossom, seed cases and catkins, and those are small enough to wash straight past a leaf guard and lodge in an outlet where nothing will move them.
So be specific about it. Book the main clear for late autumn, once the leaves are actually down rather than while they are still falling, because doing it in October means doing it again in December. Add a short spring visit for the outlets and downpipes only, which is quicker and cheaper than a full clear. And where limbs overhang the roof itself, ask whoever owns the tree about crown lifting: a metre of clearance over the ridge saves more gutter work than any guard sold. Frequency is a property question rather than a seasonal habit, and an annual clear on the wrong house is money for nothing.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Longham, Hampreston, West Parley, Ferndown and across the river into Bearwood, broadly BH22, 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
Longham questions we get asked
Should our gutters be done twice a year?
Under mature broadleaf trees, yes. The leaves come down in late autumn and the same trees drop blossom, seed and catkins in spring, and the spring material is small enough to pass a leaf guard and lodge in an outlet. On an open plot with nothing overhanging the roof, once every two years is usually plenty.
When in autumn is the right time to book?
After the leaves are down rather than while they are still coming, which on this patch usually means late November. Clearing in October looks tidy for a fortnight and then you pay for it again in December. If a run is already overflowing, do not wait for the calendar.
Would a leaf guard save us one of the two visits?
Sometimes, and they are not a substitute for clearing. A guard keeps whole leaves out of the run and lets seed, catkins and grit through, so the blockage moves from somewhere reachable to the outlet, where it is harder to get at. We will tell you honestly whether yours is a roof where they help.
Our gutter overflows in the middle, not at the end. Why?
Because the fall has gone. Years of wet silt and moss are heavy enough to pull a plastic run down between its brackets, so the low point ends up halfway along instead of at the outlet. Clearing it helps, but the run also has to be lifted, realigned and refixed to drain properly again.
What happens if the valley between two slopes fills up?
Yes, and under trees it is the one to watch. A valley takes everything that lands on both slopes, and when it blocks the water goes under the tiles rather than over a gutter edge, so the first thing you see is a stain on a ceiling. It gets cleared and checked as part of the visit.
Nearby, and next door
Gutter cleaning near Longham
Gutter cleaning nearby
Our other trades in Longham
Everything we do in Ferndown Gutter cleaning, all areas Every area we cover
Free quote
Book the autumn clear before the leaves are in the outlets
Thomas comes out, clears every run and outlet, proves the downpipes with water and tells you how often yours really needs doing. Free.