gutter_cleaning_cannock

Gutter Cleaning in Cannock Town Centre

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 17:29:44 GMT

Clearing Shop Gutters In Cannock Town Centre

Gutter Cleaning in Cannock Town Centre

We had a call from a shop in Cannock town centre who had a major leaking gutter over the front of their store.

After carrying out an inspection of the guttering it was clear the cause for the leak was the gutters were severely blocked which was restricting the water from flowing away from out of the gutter down the downpipe.

As the water had no were to go due to the blockage it was overflowing from the lowest point in the gutter run.

The torrential of water was directly above the shops entrance which was also finding its way into the store caused damp issue within the suspending ceiling.

Due to Cannock town centre being busy during shop opening hour the three-story building gutters had to be cleared out of hours.

So today the team had an early start before any of the shops opened which caused minimum disturbance to any of the store staff and customers.

Once the guttering was fully cleared we then ran a water flow check to ensure the water was no longer overflowing and the gutter was exiting the water from the roofline as it should.

On completion photo's were then take to show our client that the guttering was fully cleared for their piece of mind and it was also recommended to clear the guttering of debris a minimum of once per year to prevent any further problems occurring.

Have your gutters been cleaned within the last 12 months? If not don’t wait until it’s too late, call us today on 01543 547272 to receive a free quotation

Alternatively, you can fill in our online form to receive an instant gutter cleaning quotation.

Gutter Guards

Sun, 24 Nov 2019 16:42:01 GMT

Do gutter guards work?

This is another hot topic when it comes to cleaning and maintaining home gutters.

Here we will go through the most popular gutter guards used in the UK and what we think to them with both their pro and cons.

Most Popular Gutter Guards

1. Gutter Hedgehog

The gutter hedgehog became very popular after being promoted on a very popular shopping TV shopping channel. The idea behind the gutter hedgehog is that they are a quick and easy to install while preventing your guttering from being able to get block with debris whiles still allowing the water to flow.

What we have found is that they do not tend to be all that great.

The gutter hedgehog tends to catch moss, leaves and general debris which then decomposes and blocked the guards which prevent the water from flowing. Also, any seedling which gets into the guttering instead of being able to flow away with the rainwater ends up being caught in the hedgehog and start to grow as seen in the photo above.

When we clear guttering with these in place we always advise the homeowners to take them out and leave them out, they are more hassle than they are worth.

2. Leaf Guards

Leaf guards are again designed to stop the debris being able to fall into the gutter but allowing the water to flow.

This type of gutter guard unlike the hedgehog type that is easy to fit can be quite tricky to install and are generally held in place by little plastic clips. Trying to get them all connected and aligned correctly can be a fiddle/time-consuming job.

Whilst they do stop larger leaves from blocking the gutter what we find is the guttering still fills up with silt, also if to much-wet debris ends up sitting on the guard we have seen many collapse into the gutter which then causes a blockage.

Even with gutter guards fitted the guttering will still need to be cleared annually and the gutter guards make maintaining your guttering a much harder process.

3. Outlet Guards

The gutter outlet guard is more designed to stop the outlet and downpipe from blocking as this can cause majors issues.

These guards are very easy to install as they simply slot int the outlet hole and one of the more cost-effective options.

The issue we have found with this is as soon as the guard becomes blocked which can happen within a matter of weeks the water cannot flow down the downpipe as freely as it should. So as a result when you get a heavy rainfall the water starts to overflow from the top of the guttering

Summary

Over the many years and hundreds of gutter, we have cleaned we find gutter guards to be a complete waste of money and time.

We are yet to come across a gutter guard or system that we would recommend to our customers and 9/10 if the customers gutter have any type of guard fitted we always recommend to remove these as they cause more hassle and blockages than normal unguarded guttering.

The best way to maintain your gutters is to have gutter cleaning carried out a minimum of once per year and this is normally more than efficient to keep your homes guttering in full working order.

Fix a Leaking Gutter

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 13:13:24 GMT

Fixing a Leaking Gutter

We get called out to many leaking gutters along with customer phoning asking the best way to stop their gutters from leaking.

Most Common Gutter Leaks

Over the years the 3 top reasons we found for gutters to leak are -

1. Block downpipe

This stops the water from exiting the gutter, with the water having no were to go it normal finds the lowest point in the guttering a starts to overflow from the top. A lot of customer mistake this for a leak when in fact it is coming over the top.

2. Worn Seal

Everywhere there is a join on the guttering (not the downpipe) there will be a rubber seal. These seals over time start to wear meaning the seal is no longer watertight and a leak appears.

We have seen many gutter joints that have been siliconed to repair the seal and stop the leak, done correctly this repair can last sometimes although we recommend just replacing the section for new with new seals which then will give a more permanent repair.

3. Missing/Broken Guttering

This sounds obvious right?... You would be shocked at the amount of jobs we get to that the customer has said there guttering is leaking but looks to be all ok, we then arrive to find a complete section missing or broken brackets.

If a bracket breaks or detaches itself from the fascia board the guttering then can sag which is then a low point for the water to overflow from.

As guttering clips together we have seen joints unclips which causes leaks and has been a simple case of just clipping the guttering back together.

How to fix your leaking gutter

First off it is highly advised to clear all guttering of debris, once clear run water into the guttering to highlight any issues/leaks. Now the gutter's are cleared and water checked you can visually inspect where the leaks were coming from, it may just need clipping back together. If it is fully clipped together it may be the seal may have worn, you now have two options either silicone the seal for a temporary repair using a good quality sealant like CT1 or alternatively, replace the section which is normally only secured using on 4 clips and 1 screw so is a simple enough job to replace

How Often Should Gutters Be Cleaned?

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 12:09:23 GMT

How Often Should You Clean Your Gutters?

This is a question which we get asked all the time by both new and existing customers.

"How often should I get my gutters cleaned?"

There is no definite answer as there are many factors to take into account but we will go through the things to think about to determine how often you guttering should be cleared.

Location of property

A townhouse with no moss on the roof and no surrounding trees could easily get away with having there guttering cleared as part of there home's annual maintenance schedule.

Whereas a more rural house with surrounding tree's and maybe even moss present on the roof could need the gutters cleaned twice a year to keep them in full working order.

So it all really depends on where you home is situated and the surrounding's but as a general rule of thumb, every homes gutter's should have gutter cleaning carried out a minimum of once per year.

Moss on the roof

Moss on your roof will defiantly make your gutters block faster than a clean roof as the wind and rain along with the birds picking at the moss make it become loose and fall straight into the guttering. With a heavily soiled roof you can be fighting a losing battle, due to as soon as the guttering has been cleared it only takes the first bit of wind and bad weather and they have moss debris in again. This is why roof cleaning and moss removal has become ever so popular over the past few years.

The guttering

Another problem can be the gutters aren't quite fitted correctly, meaning the levels are slightly out. The water then instead of flowing towards the downpipe as it should ends up sitting stagnant in the gutter, this then is prime for debris to grow. A simple gutter repair can solve this problem by adjusting the gutters fall, most times its only a couple of millimetres out.

Also, we have seen many times people who live in terraced properties were the guttering is in a run and the downpipes are situated at one end, you are then relying on the neighbours to keep there gutters clear otherwise problems occur.

The water needs to exiting the gutters via the downpipe and if that downpipe becomes blocked or the house that has the downpipe doesn't maintain their gutters this can cause a problem for all the other homeowners within the terrace. Even with there own guttering cleared the water has nowhere to go causing leaks and water to overflow from low points in the run.

Summary

For most UK homes its recommend to ave your gutters cleared a minimum of once per year, for more rural and homes surrounded by tree's you may need the guttering cleared twice per year.