Gutter Cleaning in Northfield

Moss and roof grit in brittle older plastic half-round

A Northfield gutter fills differently from one in a heavily wooded suburb. The estates are not densely canopied, so leaf fall is moderate on most streets, and the main load is moss and grit shed off concrete interlocking roof tiles. Those tiles went on across the post-war stock and they are a moss magnet on the north pitch, so the run silts up steadily all year instead of filling in one autumn week. Where a property backs onto Victoria Common or a stand of mature trees, the leaf load rises sharply and autumn does matter. The long rear runs above the side path are the ones that get overlooked.

• Plastic half-round fitted in the 1960s and 70s, gone brittle under decades of ultraviolet
• Concrete interlocking roof tiles feeding moss and grit into the run all year, not only in autumn
• Heavy leaf fall only where a property backs onto Victoria Common or a stand of mature trees
• Long rear runs directly above the side path, so an overflow soaks the path people walk down daily
• Pebbledash under the run, which stains green where an overflow has been going all season

Emptied by vacuum from the ground, nothing resting on old plastic

The vacuum head goes up on a pole and the run is emptied at ground level, three storeys if need be, so nothing at all rests on your guttering, fascia or render. We lift the moss and grit bed as well as the leaves, because a run stripped of leaves alone silts up again by midwinter under a concrete tile roof. We then flush the downpipes, so we know the whole thing actually drains. On old plastic the handling is deliberately gentle: no pulling at brackets, no levering at joints. Anything cracked, sagging or coming away from the fascia is photographed and shown to you, and left as it is.

• Everything emptied by vacuum from the drive, with nothing leaning on brittle plastic or on pebbledash
• Moss and grit bed lifted as well as leaf litter, since concrete tiles keep feeding the run
• Downpipe flushed too, because a blocked pipe under a clear gutter still puts water on your side path
• Brittle sections photographed and reported, never levered or pulled back into line

More detail on the equipment and the order of work: the full gutter cleaning process.

The runs that block in B31

The pattern across Northfield is consistent enough to predict. Front runs on the estates stay reasonably clear, rear runs over the side path silt up with moss, and the houses that genuinely fill with leaves are the ones backing onto Victoria Common and the stretches of mature trees. Late autumn is the main window, but B31 gutters can need clearing in any month, because moss does not wait for October. Nobody needs to be home, though we do need the side gate unlocked, since the rear run is nearly always the one causing the trouble. At about twelve minutes from Selly Oak, a slot within the week is usually possible.

Run, height and fill on a standard Northfield semi

What we charge depends on how much run there is, how high it sits and how full it is. A standard semi with a front and a rear length is one of our quicker jobs, and quicker still where it was done the previous year. A first clear on something untouched for years, with seedlings rooted in it, takes longer and costs more than the visits that follow. Two Northfield specifics: a rear extension adds run that the frontage gives no clue about, and where a pair of semis feed into one continuous length, clearing both halves together is the version that works, since half a run is not a solved problem.

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November each year, twice beside the Common

Once a year covers most B31 houses. Book it for November, when the trees have finished, not early autumn while there is plenty still to come down. Twice yearly is worth it if you back onto the Common or mature trees, or if a north-facing concrete tile roof drops moss into the run continuously. If a downpipe is already gurgling, or the pebbledash under the gutter has gone green, do not wait for the season to come round.