Winterborne Kingston gutter cleaning, before winter
When the winterbourne is up the ground cannot take any more. We clear the runs, prove the pipes and get the roof water away from the wall.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Get it done before the winterbourne comes up. When the stream is running the ground through the village is already holding as much water as it can take, so a gutter spilling onto a wall in December shows up inside far faster than the same fault would in July.
Most calls here start in the first properly wet fortnight of the year. Water is coming over a length of gutter in every shower, there is a dark band on the wall under it, and something inside has started to smell of damp. By then the wall has been soaking for weeks and there is nowhere for it to dry to.
The visit is straightforward. Every run emptied by hand into a bag, the outlets picked clear, water put through each downpipe until it comes out at the shoe, and the gully or the outfall at the bottom checked to see whether it is actually taking it. Then you get told what was in it and what, if anything, needs more than clearing. The site visit and the written itemised quote cost nothing.
The work
Clearing the runs before the wet half of the year
The work itself is ordinary. The timing of it is what matters here.
Emptying the runs. Debris comes out by hand into a bag rather than being flushed along the gutter, because a flush through a full run packs the outlet harder than it was. What comes out is usually leaf litter, moss washed down off the tiles and a fine grey silt underneath that sets like soil once it has dried. Long low runs behind a hedge hold more of it than anybody expects from the ground.
Outlets and downpipes, proved not guessed. The outlet, the swan neck and the shoe are where blockages sit, not the middle of a run. Each one is cleared by hand, then water goes in at the far end and we watch it come out at the bottom. If it does not arrive, a camera down the pipe finds out why. Where the pipe discharges to a gully or a soakaway, we lift the grate and look, because a gully standing full in January means the gutter above it will keep backing up whatever anybody does to it.
Falls, joints and brackets. A run that has been full for a few winters loses its fall, holds water in the middle and drips over the front edge even when empty. That is a re-hang rather than a clear: brackets off, the line realigned to fall towards the outlet, the run refixed. A joint that weeps once water is moving gets a new union seal, and a bowed length gets extra support or is replaced. All of that is priced on its own line.
Getting the water away from the wall. Where a downpipe simply ends a few inches above a border, roof water goes straight into the ground at the foot of the house. On a village where the water table sits high through winter that is the last place you want it. Moving a shoe, adding a length of pipe or running the discharge to a better outfall is small work with a large effect.
What it has already reached. Fascia and soffit first, then brickwork or render, then damp on the inside face and staining on a ceiling. Green down a wall under one joint tells you how long it has been going on, and we photograph it.
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 needs no permission and there is no planning application in it, and nothing goes to building control unless the rainwater drainage itself is new or altered, which sits under Approved Document H. Winterborne Kingston has no conservation area of its own, and there are seven listed entries in and around the parish. On a listed building the rainwater goods count as fabric, so changing cast iron for plastic needs listed building consent first. Dorset Council is the authority.
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 right on the street with the run over a footway, a bungalow with a long rear length into one gully, and a farmhouse with a valley between two pitches are three different set-ups before anybody starts. 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. Say if the ground below is already standing wet, because that changes what we bring and what we look at first. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
Wet ground makes an overflow show up faster
The North Winterbourne runs within a stone's throw of the village and the parish sits in flood zones two and three, with a high surface water risk on top of that. You can see it for an address on the flood and surface water maps. None of that is a reason to worry about a gutter in summer. It is a very good reason to have the gutters right before the stream comes up, because from about November the ground here stops being able to absorb anything extra.
That is what changes the advice. In a dry village an overflowing gutter is a nuisance you get round to. Here the wall below it is already sitting in wet ground and drawing moisture up, so water arriving from above has nowhere to go and the damp shows inside within weeks rather than years. Book the clear in early autumn rather than after the first storm, ask for every downpipe to be proved to its outfall, and get any discharge that ends at the foot of a wall moved away from it while somebody is there.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover Winterborne Kingston, Winterborne Whitechurch, Bere Regis, Milborne St Andrew and up to Blandford Forum, 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.
Questions
Winterborne Kingston questions we get asked
Which month is worth booking the clear for?
Early autumn, once most of the leaves are down but before the ground gets properly wet. That single visit does more good than any other, because it takes the winter's water away from a wall at exactly the point the ground stops being able to soak anything up.
Our downpipe just ends above the border. Is that a problem?
In this village, yes. It puts the whole roof's water into the ground at the base of the wall, where the water table is already high in winter. Extending the pipe, fitting a proper shoe or running it to a better outfall is small work and it makes a visible difference.
Can a blocked gutter really cause damp indoors?
It is one of the commonest causes we see. Water over the front edge keeps a strip of wall saturated from the top down, and a wall that never dries will show inside as a dark patch, peeling paint or a musty smell. Fix the gutter and the wall usually recovers on its own.
Do you clear gutters in the middle of a wet spell?
Yes, and that is often when it needs doing. What we will not do is work at height in a strong wind. If the weather is against us we move the day rather than rush it, and we will say honestly whether it can wait a few days.
Is a yearly clear enough, or does it need more?
For most houses here once a year is right, in autumn. Anything with mature trees over it, or a long run behind a tall hedge, is worth a second check in spring, because those outlets pack in a single season.
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Get it cleared before the ground fills up
Thomas comes out, clears every run, proves each downpipe to its outfall and sends a written itemised quote with any repair on its own line. Free.