Gutter Cleaning

What we do while we're up there

The clear-out is the job, but a set of eyes at gutter height picks up things nobody sees from the ground.

• Gutters cleared by hand, not just blown along and left in a pile at the downpipe end where they'll wash straight back in
• Downpipes cleared and flow tested with a hose, because a downpipe that's blocked at the bottom makes the whole clean pointless. A blockage in an underground line gets reported.
• Valleys and roof gullies cleared — this is where leaf litter accumulates on a two-storey or a complex roof, and it's also the first thing to catch an ember
• Fall checked — a gutter that's dropped in the middle holds water permanently, which rusts it out from the inside and breeds mosquitoes
• Rust, holes and separated joins noted and photographed for you
• Fascia and eaves looked over for water staining and rot, which usually indicates the gutter's been overflowing backwards
• Roof surface checked for slipped or cracked tiles, lifted sheeting and damaged flashing, reported with photos
• Everything bagged and taken away, gardens and paths left clean

How often, and it depends on the trees

There's no single answer and any number given without knowing the property is a guess.

Properties with gums overhanging — twice a year at minimum, and through the escarpment and lower mountains sometimes three times. Gum leaves and bark shed year round rather than in one autumn drop.

Properties with deciduous trees nearby — once a year, in late autumn once the drop has finished. Doing it in September means doing it twice.

Open blocks in the newer estates with nothing overhanging — every two years is often enough, though wind still carries leaf litter surprisingly far and roofs still collect grit and moss.

If you're not sure, get it done once and we'll tell you what came out and what interval makes sense for your property.

Bushfire season

For anything backing onto bush through Blaxland, Glenbrook, Springwood, Leonay, Emu Heights or Warrimoo, gutter cleaning isn't maintenance, it's preparation. Dry leaf litter in a gutter is exactly what an ember needs, and ember attack destroys far more houses than a fire front does.

The items that matter are the gutters, the valleys, under the eaves, and the leaf litter sitting in the roof gullies where nobody looks. Get it done in spring before the season rather than in December when everyone else is ringing.

If your property is in a bushfire-prone area, this is also one of the things an insurer may ask about after a claim. Dated photos of the job being done are worth keeping.

Gutter guard

It reduces the work, it doesn't remove it. Guard keeps the big leaves out and lets the fine material — gum leaf fragments, grit, seed pods, roof granules — straight through, and that builds up into a sludge that holds water.

It also fails in ways people don't expect. Mesh sags, clips let go, and leaf litter mats on top of it and dams the gutter from above. Plastic guard goes brittle in the sun and cracks, and some of the cheaper mesh is a liability in a bushfire area.

We'll clean over and under guard where it's designed to come up, and where it isn't we'll tell you honestly what we could and couldn't reach rather than charge for a clean we couldn't do properly.