Gutter cleaning and clearing in Stourpaine

Emptying the run. Leaf, moss and the grit off an old tile settle into one wet mat along the bottom. The sludge comes out by hand with a scoop, or off a reach pole with a vacuum head where a ladder cannot be footed, and it goes in the van. A jet drives it along to the outlet, where it sets harder than it was.

Cast iron takes different handling. Iron is heavy, brittle at the ear where it screws to the fascia, and often painted solid at the joints. A ladder leaned against it cracks the front edge, so it is worked off a standoff or a tower. Inside, the scale and rust flake off with the debris and have to come out with it, because they are what silts the outlet again by February. A sound run cleared, descaled and re-hung on new fixings will outlast a plastic one.

Proving it goes. Every length is flushed and every downpipe has water run through it while somebody watches the shoe. If nothing arrives, the pipe is backing up below the eaves, and a rod or a camera settles where. An iron downpipe blocks at the swan neck more often than anywhere, and that is not visible from the ground.

Hoppers, outlets and valleys. The number of outlets decides how often a gutter blocks, not its length. Older properties here often have a hopper head where an upper roof discharges into a lower run, and a hopper packs quietly then overflows down the back of the pipe, so the wall gets wet where nobody looks. Where two ranges meet the water is in a lined channel instead: a valley gutter silts faster than the eaves and has nowhere to overflow except into the roof, so it wants a platform under you rather than a ladder over the edge.

The repairs that come with it. A dripping union has lost its seal. A plastic run sagging between brackets holds a puddle and goes green. A gutter hung with the fall away from the outlet overflows however clean it is. We refix a bracket, replace a union, re-hang or realign a length, and we tell you when a run is genuinely past saving instead of clearing it twice a year for ever.

What it costs the building, and how often to do it. Water over the front edge soaks the soffits and fascias, then the wall: a green stripe on render, a dark band on brickwork, damp at the head of a wall and staining on a ceiling inside. Frequency follows the cover overhead rather than a calendar. An annual clear after the leaves are down does most houses, and a second seasonal visit in spring is worth it where a valley or a box gutter is in the run.

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 lane within reach of a standoff, a two storey house with a long rear range, and a barn with a valley against it are three different platforms, and only the last of them is likely to 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.

Plenty of people ring wanting a quote to replace cast iron with plastic, on the grounds that it will stop blocking. It will not. What blocks a gutter is the outlet, the fall and what is landing in it, and none of those change with the material. Cast iron cleared, descaled, painted and re-hung on sound fixings will run as well as anything and go on doing it for decades.

There is a second reason to think twice here. The village has its own conservation area, and rainwater goods on a visible elevation are part of what that controls. Like for like repair is maintenance and nobody needs to be asked. A different material on a front elevation is a change of appearance, and on a listed building it is protected fabric whatever the elevation. So the cheap route and the permitted route are the same one: clear it, fix the fall, replace the failed fixings, keep the iron. If a length really has gone, matching cast iron is available and a heritage profile in aluminium is the usual second answer.

We cover Stourpaine, Durweston, Pimperne, Blandford Forum and the villages along the Stour valley, broadly DT11, 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.