Gutter Cleaning in London
Gutter Repairs London | Gutter Cleaning in London
Welcome to our blog post for London roof and Guttering, read on to find out about the essentials to know regarding gutter cleaning in London. See recommended top tips below for cleaning and maintenance of your property’s rain water gutters
The importance of gutter cleaning in London
Gutter cleaning is not important, do they not clean themselves, rain water will clean them, water will still drain even if they are full of debris
All the above are myths surrounding the importance of gutter cleaning in London.
For many property owners importance of gutter cleaning in London is not at the top of the list of things to do, why should they, the gutters sit on the roof and generally do what they need to without any bother.
despite the fact that your guttering is “out of sight and out of mind” for the majority of the time, your rainwater gutters actually contribute huge role in the structural integrity of your property, keeping clear, clean and well maintained is the best solution to avoid the potentially expensive cost of guttering repairs.
Gutters have an important job, this is simply to direct rainwater off your roof down to the ground level drainage via the down pipes. Despite the importance of gutter cleaning, it is not uncommon to forget about them until something goes wrong. If your rain water roof guttering becomes blocked or damaged, this may result in serious damage to your property, not only may you end up with structural damage, damp ingress in to the property internally can result health issues for any occupants of the building.
No matter whether you have plastic (PVCu) guttering, pressed steel gutters or traditional cast iron guttering, it is recommended that they are cleaned annually to ensure they operate efficiently and effectively, and to reduce the potential requirement of guttering repairs in the future. We call this preventative maintenance
Read on to find out more about keeping your gutters well maintained.
The cause of blocked and damaged guttering?
When deciding about preventive measure to avoid guttering repairs, you should be aware of one simple fact: clean gutters are far less likely to damage than blocked guttering. In fact, the two most common gutter related issues for properties are blockages in the gutter itself, and blocked down pipes. These blockages are mostly caused by debris like fallen leaves, moss, building works (i.e rubble) and in some cases dead animals such as birds and squirrels. The best way way to check if there are any potential issues with your roof gutters is view them externally during rainfall, signs of water running down walls and puddles of water or erosion to the ground are potential issues from blocked gutters or blockages in the down pipe
Another common problem to look for is leaking gutter joints, leaking gutters are the most common cause of isolated damp in properties across London. Leaks in joiners occur occur when bits of debris get caught in the joints, joints disconnect due to stormy or windy weather, or worn rubber seals form everyday wear and tear. Damp in your property could be caused by faulty gutters , it’s recommended that you check your gutters first before arranging any other services such as roofers or damp specialists, as the guttering repairs are generally low cost to resolve
Another sign of damage to keep an eye out for is incorrectly aligned or sagging gutters. This is likely to happen when the guttering becomes heavily blocked and weighed down by debris and standing water or faulty brackets due to damage or rusty fixtures and fixings
Regular gutter cleaning and maintenance inspections will highlight potential problems: you should be able to easily check the integrity of the guttering by inspecting the down pipe from the ground, and if anything appears a little loose you can arrange preventative maintenance prior to any occurrence of costly damage.
Fixing damaged or blocked gutters
If you have damaged or blocked guttering, the best and safest way to solve the issue is use the guttering services of the professionals – they will be able to carry out a full survey on your guttering and advise on everything from the process and cost of cleaning the gutters and removing debris to providing a written quotation for recommended guttering repairs. a professional company will have all the correct equipment tools and materials to carry out the cleaning maintenance and guttering repairs
A professional guttering services company should start by identifying the location and cause of the blockage, This will the be removed using the correct tools. Once they are confident that the cause of the blockage has been cleared the gutter should be tested using water to ensure the service has been completed correctly and the gutter is draining down efficiently and effectively.
It would also be a good idea at this point to ask them to carry out a complete clean and repair service of the rest of the rain water gutters on the property as this will be more cost effective
For any leaking gutter joints it’s essential to get them repaired immediately. Removing the gutter joiner cleaning the joint can fix the issue, as dirt built up may have forced the gutters apart. Any cracks will need to be filled in with a exterior grade sealant such as CT-1. Sealant can be used on both PVCu and metal guttering.
Long-term solutions to guttering maintenance?
Gutter cleaning in London recommends that you gutters are cleaned at least once a year. Whilst it can be done any time, the best time is at the beginning of winter, soon after the autumn leaves have fallen from trees by doing this at this time you reduce the chances of experiencing blocked guttering during the winter period when we experience our worst weather conditions. This will also ensure the conditions are safe to carry out the works.
Gutter Cleaning in London recommend your gutters are checked in spring. You can carry out the check yourself to see if any large pieces of debris have blown in over winter and check that all of the brackets are secured correctly and that no fixtures have come loose or fall out. The Gutters may have been damaged by heavy snow-fall and high winds during the winter months. If you suspect any issues then call on the services of a professional guttering service company.
If the environment surrounding your property has a lot of trees and debris is unavoidable, gutter guards or gutter brushes can be installed. These prevent the debris from getting into the gutter by act as a filter, allowing water to drain down. The guards will prevent the majority of debris blocking the gutter, however some debris will still get through, meaning that regular cleaning and maintenance should still be carried out albeit less regularly.
