Gutter vacuuming
A blocked gutter does not announce itself. It quietly runs down the wall all winter, and you find out in spring when the plaster inside starts to go.
Best timeSeptember and November, or after a gale
This is done from the ground with a vacuum and long-reach poles. Nobody is up a ladder and nobody is walking about on your roof, which is better for your tiles and considerably better for everyone’s nerves. The moss, silt and leaf mulch comes out of the run and into the machine.
The month that matters is September, before the leaves come down, and again in November once they have. If there are trees over the roof, twice a year is the honest answer. If there are not, once is usually plenty.
I can tell you what I find. If a run is holding water, a joint is dripping or a bracket has dropped, you will hear about it, because that is a gutter that will block again by Christmas whatever I take out of it today.
Gutter vacuuming, before and after
Drag the handle, or use the arrow keys.
Questions people ask
- How often should gutters be cleared?
- Once a year for most houses, done in autumn. Twice if you have trees overhanging the roof, once before leaf fall and once after.
- Do you go up on the roof?
- No. It is all done from the ground with poles and a vacuum. No ladders against your guttering, no footprints across your tiles.
- What if the downpipe is blocked, not the gutter?
- Different problem. A vac clears the gutter run itself. If the blockage has gone down inside a pipe I will tell you what I have found and what it will take, rather than pretend the job is done.
- Can it be done in winter?
- Yes. It is one of the few garden jobs that is not really weather dependent, and midwinter is often exactly when people notice the problem.