Blocked gutters and downpipes cleared across Gravesend, Northfleet and the surrounding villages. Everything done from the ground.
Salt coming off the estuary, industrial dust drifting across from the Northfleet side, and gulls nesting on the flat-roofed extensions and outbuildings along the riverside streets. On top of the ordinary autumn leaf fall, that gives you a heavier, greasier sort of debris that doesn’t wash through the way leaves do.
The salt is the part that does lasting damage. It keeps guttering permanently slightly damp, which means moss grows in the run itself rather than just collecting what falls in, and damp joints on older cast iron corrode a good deal faster than they would a few miles inland.
Everything is done from ground level with a high reach vacuum system, so nothing leans against your guttering or your fascias.
Gutter Cleaning
Gravesend's housing splits fairly cleanly, and the two halves block for different reasons.
The Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Windmill Street, Pelham Road and the town centre run three storeys in places, with original cast iron and continuous guttering shared along the row. Rear access is usually a shared alley or straight through the house, which makes ladder work slow before anyone has touched a gutter.
Out at Riverview Park, Painters Ash, Singlewell and Istead Rise the housing is post-war and interwar, with plastic guttering on shallower roof pitches. More forgiving material, but the shallow pitch means water moves slowly off the tiles so silt and moss granules settle in the run rather than being carried to the downpipe.
The villages at Meopham, Cobham, Higham, Shorne and Sole Street are more conventional again, with mature trees and heavier leaf fall.
On a Victorian terrace, gutter overflow doesn't stay a cosmetic problem for long.
Solid brick walls with no cavity have nothing to stop water getting through once the brickwork is saturated. Overflow runs down the same stretch of wall every time it rains, and eventually it shows on the inside.
Working from the ground matters here too. A ladder against hundred-year-old cast iron is how a cleaning job turns into a repair, and on the steeper streets running down towards the river, footing one safely is a job in itself.
Once a year is the minimum here. Twice is more sensible if you’re close to the river or under trees.
Most people call us after they've noticed one of these.
If you’ve spotted any of them, it’s worth getting looked at before winter rather than after. We’ll tell you what we find, including anything needing attention beyond a clean, and on older guttering round here the brackets are worth a look, since salt corrosion means they fail sooner than they would inland.
Where we cover
Northfleet, Riverview Park, Painters Ash, Singlewell, Istead Rise, Perry Street, Chalk and Denton, plus Meopham, Cobham, Higham, Shorne, Sole Street, Vigo and Culverstone.
We also work right across the rest of Kent, including Dartford, Medway, Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Ashford, Canterbury and Folkestone.
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.
It depends on the size of the property and how much guttering there is. A mid-terrace is at the lower end, a detached with a conservatory 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. The high reach vacuum works from ground level and comfortably handles three storeys, so there's no scaffold and no ladders on a narrow street.
Usually yes, since we work from the ground and need to reach the rear guttering. You don't need to be in as long as we can get round. Let us know about shared alleys, locked gates or dogs when you book.
Once a year for most properties, but twice is more sensible near the river or under trees. Salt air keeps guttering damp, which means moss grows in the run itself rather than just collecting what falls in.
Yes. We're regularly out at Meopham, Cobham, Higham, Shorne, Sole Street, Vigo and Culverstone, along with the smaller villages in between.
