Blocked gutters and downpipes cleared across Sevenoaks and the surrounding villages. Everything done from the ground.
This is some of the heaviest tree cover in Kent. Not street trees either, but mature specimens standing in people’s gardens and along the boundaries of larger plots, dropping directly onto the roof rather than nearby. Oak, beech, lime and chestnut around Knole, Kippington and Wildernesse fill a run faster than almost anywhere we work.
There’s a second problem particular to this area. A lot of Sevenoaks commutes, which means nobody is home during the day when it rains. A gutter can overflow down the same stretch of wall for months before anyone sees it happening, and by then the evidence is a stain rather than a splash.
Everything is done from ground level with a high reach vacuum system, so nothing leans against your guttering, your fascias or your conservatory roof.
Gutter Cleaning
The housing here is bigger than average, and so is the guttering.
The detached properties around Kippington, Wildernesse, Bradbourne and the Vine sit on generous plots with complex rooflines. Multiple wings, valley gutters, dormers, garden rooms and outbuildings all with their own runs. It’s more guttering than a standard semi by some margin, and the valley gutters between roof sections are the ones that cause real damage when they block, because the water has nowhere to go but inwards.
Out in the villages at Otford, Kemsing, Seal, Shoreham and Chipstead you get older cottages under mature trees, often with original guttering and awkward access down narrow lanes.
Riverhead, Dunton Green and Halstead are more conventional, with post-war and interwar housing and lighter tree cover, though still heavier than most of the county.
Once a year is the national rule of thumb. Around Sevenoaks it usually isn't enough.
Under mature trees a gutter can fill completely between autumn and spring, and then fill again with seed, blossom and leaf litter through the growing season. Properties backing onto woodland at Knole, Seal Chart or Shoreham are the clearest cases.
The damage when it goes wrong is worse on larger houses too. A blocked valley gutter on a complex roof doesn’t spill neatly over the front edge the way a simple run does. It backs up under the tiles and comes through into the roof space, and by the time it shows on a ceiling it has usually been going on a while.
Late autumn is the important clear. A second in late spring catches the blossom and seed drop.
They help, but they don't remove the need to clear.
We see a lot of gutter guards around Sevenoaks, which makes sense given the tree cover. They do stop the big stuff, and on a property under a single deciduous tree they can genuinely halve the problem.
What they don’t stop is fine debris. Seed, blossom, pine needles, roof grit and moss granules all get through the mesh and settle underneath, where you can’t see them and rain can’t flush them out. On a guarded gutter the blockage tends to build slowly and invisibly, then present as an overflow with no obvious cause.
We can clear beneath most guard types without removing them. Worth mentioning when you call so we know what we’re dealing with, and if yours are the sort that need lifting we’ll tell you before we start rather than after.
Where we cover
Kippington, Wildernesse, Bradbourne, the Vine, Riverhead, Dunton Green, Chipstead, Halstead and Weald, plus Otford, Kemsing, Seal, Shoreham, Eynsford, Westerham, Brasted, Sundridge and Ightham.
We also work right across the rest of Kent, including Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Medway, Dartford, Gravesend, Ashford and Canterbury.
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.
Twice a year for most properties around here, which is more than the national rule of thumb. The tree cover is heavy enough that a run can fill between autumn and spring and then again through the growing season.
Usually yes. Guards stop leaves and twigs but not seed, blossom, pine needles or roof grit, which settle underneath where rain can't flush them out. We can clear beneath most guard types without removing them.
It depends on the size of the property and how much guttering there is. The larger detached houses with valley gutters and outbuildings take longer than a standard semi, so we come out and quote first. There's no charge for that and no obligation.
Yes, and they're worth paying attention to on a complex roofline. A blocked valley gutter doesn't overflow at the edge the way a normal run does, it backs up under the tiles and comes through into the roof space instead.
Yes. We're regularly out at Otford, Kemsing, Seal, Shoreham, Eynsford, Westerham, Brasted, Sundridge, Chipstead and Ightham, along with the smaller villages in between.
