Blocked gutters and downpipes cleared across Canterbury and the surrounding villages. Everything done from the ground, with nothing propped against the building.
Inside the city walls, and out through Wincheap, Northgate and St Dunstan’s, a large proportion of the housing is either listed or sits in a conservation area. Original cast iron guttering, decorative bargeboards and old lime mortar are the norm rather than the exception, and none of it responds well to a ladder being footed against it.
Access is the other issue. Narrow lanes, no parking, and rear yards you can only reach on foot or through the house.
Everything is done from ground level with a high reach vacuum system, which takes both problems out of the equation. No contact with the fabric of the building at all, and no need to get a vehicle up a lane it won’t fit down.
Gutter Cleaning
Canterbury has a large rented sector, and rented property is where guttering gets left longest.
Around the university areas at St Stephen’s, Hales Place and out towards Whitstable Road, a lot of the housing is let to students. Tenants generally don’t notice a gutter overflowing, and if they do it isn’t their problem to solve. Landlords aren’t there to see it.
The result is that the properties that most need a regular clear are usually the ones that never get one, and the first anyone knows about it is damp on an internal wall or a rotten fascia at the next inventory.
We work with a number of landlords and agents on that basis: an annual clear booked in during the summer void, before the new intake arrives and while access is easy.
The Canterbury district covers three quite different sorts of property.
In the city itself it’s period housing, original guttering and access restrictions.
Out at Whitstable, Herne Bay and Tankerton you’re on the coast, and coastal gutters fill differently. Gull nesting material is heavier and more stubborn than leaf litter and tends to compact at the head of a downpipe, and the salt air corrodes older cast iron and metal brackets faster than anything inland.
The villages at Chartham, Bridge, Bekesbourne, Littlebourne and Sturry are more conventional, with mature trees and heavier autumn leaf fall.
Because we work from the ground, there's no contact with the building at all.
No ladders resting on original cast iron, no weight on decorative bargeboards, and nothing propped against old brickwork or lime mortar. That matters on a listed building, where damage to original fabric is a good deal more than a repair bill.
It also means no scaffold, which on a city centre terrace with no frontage is often the only alternative and rarely a cheap one.
Do mention it when you call if your property is listed or in a conservation area, so we can talk through access beforehand. Same if you’re in a flat or a converted townhouse where the guttering is shared, since it’s usually worth clearing the whole run rather than one section.
Where we cover
Wincheap, Northgate, St Dunstan’s, St Stephen’s, Hales Place, Thanington and Harbledown, plus Whitstable, Tankerton, Herne Bay, Sturry, Chartham, Bridge, Bekesbourne, Littlebourne, Blean and Chestfield.
We also work right across the rest of Kent, including Ashford, Folkestone, Maidstone, Medway, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Dartford and Gravesend.
Not sure if we come out your way? Give us a call and we’ll tell you straight away.
We also cover Tonbridge, Dover, Deal and everywhere in between.
Gutter Cleaning
The things people ask most before booking.
Tell us what needs cleaning and we’ll come and look at it. No charge, no obligation, and a fixed price in writing before anything starts.
Because we work from the ground with a vacuum rather than putting ladders or scaffold against the building, there's no contact with the fabric of the property at all. Do mention it when you call so we can talk through any access restrictions.
Usually yes. The reach pole means we can work from further back than a ladder would allow, so narrow lanes and restricted parking are less of a problem than they'd otherwise be. Let us know when you book if access is particularly tight.
Yes, and around Canterbury a fair bit of our work is exactly that. An annual clear during the summer void is the sensible slot, before the new tenants arrive and while access is straightforward.
It depends on the size of the property and how much guttering there is. A mid-terrace is at the lower end, a larger detached towards the higher. We give you a fixed written quote before any work starts, and there's no charge for coming out to look.
Yes. We're regularly out at Whitstable, Tankerton, Herne Bay and Chestfield. Coastal properties often want doing twice a year rather than once, since gull nesting and salt air both take their toll on guttering.
