Gutter cleaning in Merley, every run on the property

Additions are where this goes wrong, so we work round the whole building rather than along the front of it.

The main runs. Leaves, moss off the tiles, roofing grit and the silt and sludge they turn into, scooped out by hand from a ladder and bagged. Where planting or a conservatory roof stops a ladder going in, the run comes out with a vacuum on a reach pole from the ground. Every outlet is cleared and every downpipe flushed through with water while you watch.

The conservatory run. This is the one that matters most and gets looked at least. A conservatory gutter is short, shallow and often sits under the main roof, so it takes everything the tiles above shed and fills faster than anything else on the property. When it overflows the water lands on the frame, the sill and the base wall rather than on a garden, and a conservatory frame that stays wet all winter is an expensive thing to put right.

Garages, porches and bays. Short low runs with a single outlet each. An overflow there goes into brickwork just above the damp proof course, or straight down a door frame, and it shows inside as damp on a wall rather than as a stain on a ceiling. Cleared with everything else, since the cost of adding them to a visit is nothing next to the cost of a second call out.

The junctions between old and new. Where an extension roof meets the house you often get a valley gutter or a short box gutter behind a parapet, and both concentrate the water off two slopes into one narrow channel. They block quietly, and when they do the water goes under the covering instead of over a front edge, so the first sign is a stain on a ceiling.

Repairs while we are there. Sagging between brackets, a union whose seal has gone, a length knocked out of fall, a bracket screwed into a soft fascia. Photographed, with a camera down any pipe that will not run, then priced, and we refix, realign, re-hang or replace only once you have said yes. Left alone, a run that keeps backing up leaves green staining down the render, damp on the inside face, and soft fascias and soffit behind it.

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 house with a conservatory across the back, a bungalow with a double garage, and a two storey elevation wanting a tower 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.

Roughly half the homes here are detached and most of them date from the seventies and early eighties, which is exactly the stock that has had a conservatory, a garage or a rear extension added since. Every addition brings a gutter with it, and those runs share three problems. They are short, so a small amount of debris fills a big share of them. They are usually below a main roof slope, so they catch everything the tiles above shed. And they are the ones people forget to include when they book a clean.

The practical advice is to book the property rather than the house. When you ring anybody for a price, count the runs out loud: front, back, garage, porch, conservatory, bay. Ask for them itemised, because a quote for the house only is not cheaper, it is smaller. And pay particular attention to anything that discharges near a frame or a threshold: an overflow onto grass is a nuisance, while an overflow onto a conservatory frame, a door sill or brickwork near the damp proof course does real damage over a winter. We walk the whole building on the visit and list every run we find, including the ones you had forgotten were there. On frequency, most houses here want the main clear in late autumn after the leaves are down, with a spring look at the conservatory run alone, which is a seasonal job rather than an annual one for the whole property.

We cover Merley, Broadstone, Bearwood, Canford Magna and into Wimborne and Poole, broadly BH21, 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.