Ringwood gutters, and what the access costs
On a three storey frontage the access is the job. We price the tower separately, clear the front and the back, and prove every downpipe.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
In the older part of Ringwood the gutter is three storeys up and the ground beneath it is a public pavement. That, rather than the blockage, is what decides how the job is done and what it costs.
The calls split by where the property sits. On the newer roads it is the ordinary story: an outlet packed with leaf, water over the front edge, a green stripe down the render. In the town centre it is more often a downpipe overflowing at a joint for weeks because getting to it is awkward and everyone has put it off.
The site visit is free and the survey covers the front, the back and anything hidden between. Every run is cleared by hand into a bucket or lifted on a vacuum, outlets and shoes are dug out where water has been backing up, and then we run water through each downpipe so you can see it clear. The written itemised quote shows the access as its own line, because on a town centre frontage that is the honest bulk of the price.
The work
Town centre frontages and the yards behind them
Three storeys, and no room for a ladder. Nearly one home in five in the town predates 1900, and the older frontages run straight to the pavement with nothing to stand on. A ladder cannot be footed safely on a footway with traffic beside it, so those runs come off a tower, and where the tower stands on the highway that needs a licence from the highway authority arranged in advance. We tell you which of those applies before you book, not on the morning.
The back is often worse than the front. Town centre properties usually have a yard, an outshut or a rear extension, and the rainwater there gets less attention than the street elevation because nobody sees it. That is where we find valley gutters silted solid, box gutters behind a parapet, and hopper heads that have not been emptied in years. Those flood inwards, so the first sign is a damp ceiling rather than a stain on the front of the building. Where the angle is awkward a camera on a reach pole shows you what is there.
Clearing, whatever is in it. Leaf off the town's mature limes and planes, moss washed off old tile and slate, and years of silt in a run nobody could reach. Loose material is scooped out, packed moss and sludge are dug out, and nothing is flushed down the outlet to become a drain job. An annual clear in autumn, after the leaves are down, suits most properties here, with a second seasonal look in spring where a run sits under a lime.
Cast iron on the older frontages. A good deal of the rainwater goods in the old part of town is cast iron with a hopper at first floor level. It is emptied by hand and never jetted, the bolt through each joint gets checked, and the brackets get looked at, because cast iron gives way at its fixings. On the newer estates the plastic faults are the usual ones: a bracket that has let go, a length sagging so water stands in the dip, a union whose seal has hardened and drips. Brackets are refixed, we realign and re-hang the length to its fall, and a union gets a new seal or is replaced.
What it is costing the building. On a town centre wall the water has nowhere to go but into the brickwork or render, so it stays wet all winter and goes green. Water behind a gutter takes the fascia and runs along the soffit. Soft fascias and damp staining are photographed and reported whether or not they were why you rang.
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 gutters is maintenance: no planning application and nothing for building control to sign off. Two things do need arranging in the town centre. Where a tower or scaffold stands on the public footway it needs a licence from the highway authority, and the town has no conservation area of its own but a long list of listed entries, on which changing cast iron for plastic is a change of appearance rather than a repair. We check both before a date is offered.
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 three storey frontage straight onto the pavement, a Victorian terrace with a rear outshut and a yard behind it, and a modern detached on one of the estates are three different jobs, and only the first is ever likely to want a scaffold and a licence. 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 it is a street frontage, tell us when you ring, because the access has to be arranged before anybody can start rather than on the day. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
On a street frontage you are buying access, not clearing
The clearing takes about the same time on a three storey town centre house as on a bungalow. What differs is everything around it. A tower has to be built, tied and taken down. On the footway there is a licence, a pedestrian route to keep open and a date the authority is happy with. In a yard it may have to come through the house or a shared passage. None of that is the gutter, and all of it is the price.
Two things follow, and both save money. First, get everything at that level done on one visit: gutters, downpipes, the hopper, the valley behind the parapet and any fascia or soffit that wants looking at. Split it over two visits and you pay for the access twice, and the access is the part that does not get cheaper. Second, ask any quote to show the access separately from the clearing. As one figure you cannot tell whether you are paying for a tower or for somebody's ladder on a busy pavement.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Ringwood, Hangersley, Poulner, Burley, Verwood and across to Fordingbridge, broadly BH24, under New Forest District 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
Ringwood questions we get asked
Can our gutters be cleared from a ladder if the house fronts the pavement?
Not safely. A ladder cannot be footed properly on a public footway with traffic alongside, and gutter work needs both hands. Those frontages are worked from a tower, and where it stands on the highway a licence is arranged beforehand.
Why is a town centre gutter clean priced differently from one on an estate?
Because you are paying for access rather than clearing. The clearing takes about as long on a three storey frontage as on a bungalow. Building, tying and striking a tower, and arranging a licence and a pedestrian route, is the difference, so it is shown on its own line.
Do you clear the gutters at the back as well as the street elevation?
Yes, and the back is usually the one causing trouble. Yards, outshuts and rear extensions hide valley gutters, parapet gutters and hopper heads nobody has looked at, and those flood into the building rather than down the front.
How long does a licence for a tower on the footway take to arrange?
It varies with the authority and the time of year, so we ask about it as soon as we have seen the property rather than when the work is booked. If a date matters, say so on the first visit and we will tell you honestly whether it is realistic.
Is it worth doing the fascias and downpipes at the same time?
On a tall frontage, yes. The access is the expensive part and it does not get cheaper by being hired twice, so anything at that level is best done in one visit. On a bungalow it matters far less.
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Get the access priced separately from the clearing
Thomas comes out, looks at the front, the back and anything hidden between, and sends a written itemised quote with the tower shown on its own line. Free.