Gutter cleaning · Dublin
Gutter cleaning Dublin
Gutter cleaning for houses across Dublin, done from the ladder by hand and finished with a flush through every downpipe. You get photos of what came out and what the gutters look like now.
The short answer
Blocked gutters are a small job to fix and an expensive one to ignore.
We clear gutters and downpipes by hand on houses across Dublin, flush the run to check it drains, and look at the joints, brackets and the first course of slates while we are up there.
Most houses are done in a morning. Ring or send a photo of the overflow and we will give you a price, usually without needing to call out first.
Why Dublin gutters block
Moss is the main one. It grows on the north-facing slope of nearly every slate and tile roof in Dublin, breaks off in dry weather and rolls straight into the gutter, where it packs down into a sponge that holds water and grows more moss. Add a season of leaves from the sycamores and limes that line the older roads, the odd tennis ball, and the grit that washes off concrete tiles, and a gutter that was clear two years ago is now a planter.
Once the run is blocked, water goes over the back edge instead of down the pipe. On a house with a soffit that means a wet fascia board, and fascia boards rot from the back where you cannot see it. On an older house with no soffit the water runs down the wall, into the top of the window reveals and through into the plaster. A patch of damp in a top corner of a bedroom is nearly always a gutter, not a roof.
What a gutter clean includes
It is a hand job, not a vacuum pole from the ground. The reason is simple: from the ladder we can see the state of the gutter, and from the ground nobody can.
- Every run of gutter cleared by hand, front and back of the house, garage and extensions included
- Downpipes rodded or flushed from the top until water runs clear at the bottom
- Outlets, swan necks and hopper heads cleared
- A flush through the whole run to check it falls to the outlet and does not pool
- Joints, brackets and end caps checked, with anything loose or leaking noted in the photos
- First course of slates or tiles and the eaves felt looked at while we are there
- Debris bagged and taken away, path and driveway swept
- Before and after photos of every run sent the same day
When to have gutters cleaned
Once a year is enough for most Dublin houses, late autumn after the leaves are down being the sensible time. Houses under big trees, houses with a mossy north slope and anything with a valley gutter running into the main run need it twice: once in spring and once at the back end of the year.
The signs it is overdue are easy to spot in rain: water sheeting over the front edge, a drip line on the path under one point of the gutter, green streaks on the render below a joint, or a downpipe that is silent while the gutter above it is full. In dry weather, grass growing along the gutter line says it all.
Gutter cleaning or gutter repairs
Often a clean is the whole job. Sometimes we find something while we are up: a joint that has dried out and drips, a bracket that has pulled out of a rotten fascia, a run that has sagged in the middle and will never drain no matter how clean it is. When that happens you get a photo and a separate price for the repair, and you decide. Nothing is done on the day that was not on the quote.
Where the gutters are cast iron, which is common on the older houses around Rathmines, Drumcondra, Phibsborough and Dun Laoghaire, we clean them the same way but check for rust at the joints and the back of the run, because that is where cast iron fails.
How it goes
- Ring or send a photo. A photo of the overflow or the moss line, plus the type of house, is usually enough for a price. Two-storey, dormer and terraced houses are all normal.
- A date and a price in writing. One price for the whole house. If the downpipes turn out to be blocked underground, that is a separate job and we say so before touching it.
- The clean. By hand from the ladder, run by run, then a flush through every downpipe. A typical semi-detached house takes a morning.
- Photos and anything we found. Before and after photos of each run the same day, plus a note and a price for any repair we spotted, for you to decide on in your own time.
What we do not do
We do not clear underground drains or gullies below the downpipe, and we do not clean gutters on commercial buildings that need a cherry picker. If a downpipe is blocked below ground we will tell you and leave it for a drain contractor. Everything above ground on a house, including replacing a section of gutter that is beyond cleaning, we do.
Common questions
How much does gutter cleaning cost in Dublin?
It depends on the size of the house, how many storeys and how much is in the gutters. We give one written price for the whole house before the date is booked, usually from a photo and a description. There is no extra charge for the downpipe flush or the photos.
Do you use a vacuum pole from the ground?
No. We go up the ladder and clear the gutters by hand. It takes longer but it means the gutters are actually clear, the downpipes get flushed properly, and we can see and photograph the state of the joints, brackets and the edge of the roof while we are there.
Can you clean gutters on a two-storey or terraced house?
Yes. Two-storey semis, terraces with no side access and dormer bungalows are the normal Dublin job. We work from a roof ladder or, where the height or the ground needs it, a scaffold tower, and that is agreed in the quote.
Will you fix a leaking joint while you are up there?
If it is a small job and you are happy for us to, yes, at the price we give you on the day. Anything bigger is photographed and quoted separately so you can decide without pressure.
Get a free quote
Call 085 781 4603 or request a quote. Free site visit, written quote within 48 hours.