Why Bendigo gutters need watching
A dry climate keeps leaves crisp
Bendigo Airport records 504.6 mm of rain a year on just 112.1 days. Between rains, leaf litter in a gutter dries out and stays that way, which is exactly the fuel a drifting ember needs.
Long Gully and Eaglehawk burned in 2009
On Black Saturday the fire west of the city reached Long Gully and Eaglehawk, destroying around 61 houses and 125 sheds and outbuildings. If you live on the bush side of town, a clean gutter going into summer is basic preparation.
Hail fills a gutter in minutes
In the January 2023 storm, hail lay ankle deep on the golf course at Neangar Park. Hail sitting on top of leaves blocks outlets fast, and the meltwater then spills back under the roof edge.
Flash floods test every downpipe
Flash floods hit in 2010, again in October 2022 and in January 2024. A gutter that copes with a shower can't cope with that if its outlets are half blocked.
Cottages with verandah gutters
The Vahland cottage design that came out of Bendigo has an iron-lace verandah, and a verandah means a second gutter to clear. It's the one people forget.
Before summer on the bush side of Bendigo
- Gutters and valleys cleared of leaves, bark and twigs
- Downpipes flushed so they run freely
- Leaf litter swept from the verandah roof and its gutter
- Branches overhanging the roof trimmed back where you can do it safely
- Ember guard priced if the gutters fill quickly
- Gaps under roof edges noted for a roofer to seal
What you can do, and what to leave to someone else
You can
- Check from the ground after a storm that water is coming out of every downpipe
- Scoop hail and leaves from a low verandah gutter if you're steady on a ladder with someone holding it
- Hose out downpipes from the bottom cleaning eye where there is one
- Keep a record of how quickly the gutters fill, so you know if guards are worth it
Leave to a roofer
- Main roof gutters on a two-storey house, or anything over sloping ground
- Box gutters and valleys, which can only be reached from the roof
- Gutters dented or pulled loose by hail
- Sealing ember gaps along the roof edge
Questions to ask a Bendigo gutter cleaner
- Does your price include the verandah gutter as well as the main roof?
- Will you check for hail dents or loose brackets while you're up there?
- Can you flush every downpipe and tell me if any are blocked underground?
- Do you take the leaves away?
What we'd do
On the bush side of Bendigo, we'd book a clean every spring, before the first hot spell, and look at ember guard if the gutters fill again within months. After any hailstorm, we'd check from the ground that the downpipes are flowing, because hail on top of leaves is how ceilings get wet. For ladder safety and doing it yourself, see gutter cleaning.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.