Timing gutter cleaning to Melbourne's year
Before the spring rain
October (64.2 mm) and November (64.4 mm) are the wettest months on average at Olympic Park. A gutter clean in September means leaves and silt from winter are gone before the heaviest falls arrive.
Before the fire season, if you're near bush
Black Saturday was on 7 February 2009 and Ash Wednesday on 16 February 1983. If you live in or near the Dandenong Ranges or on the bushland fringe, a clean in late spring or early summer clears out the dry leaves embers can catch on.
Holiday homes on the peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula has about 24,000 holiday homes, and an estimated 30 to 40% of houses there aren't owned by permanent residents. Nobody is home to see a gutter overflowing in a storm, so a booked clean before summer and another in autumn is worth setting up.
Storms that pick on the south-east
Narrow bands of heavy showers often hit the same places, usually the south-eastern suburbs, while the rest of the city stays dry. Melbourne also had flash flooding on 31 December 2009 and 11 February 2010. Blocked downpipes are what turn that kind of burst into water through the eaves.
If your roof might be asbestos cement
The national asbestos agency says gutters under asbestos cement roofing will likely collect asbestos debris that should be treated as friable, and only a Class A licensed removalist can remove friable asbestos. Don't scoop, hose or blow out those gutters yourself. The Victorian Asbestos Hub recommends a licensed removalist for any amount of asbestos. Get them assessed first, and read is my roof asbestos?.
Do it yourself or get someone in?
You can
- Clear single-storey gutters from a ladder if you're comfortable, on firm level ground, with someone holding it
- Never work from the roof itself, and never in wind or rain
- Check from the ground after a storm for water spilling over the front of the gutter
Leave to a roofer
- Two-storey homes and steep blocks
- Box gutters behind terrace parapets
- Any roof that might be asbestos cement
- Valleys, which need someone on the roof
What to ask a gutter cleaner
- Do you clear the valleys and flush the downpipes, or just the gutters?
- Will you send photos of the gutters before and after?
- Will you tell me about any broken tiles, loose caps or rust you notice?
- Is taking the waste away included in the price?
- Can you set up a regular booking for a house we're not always at?
What we'd book
We'd book a clean every September, with downpipes flushed, and add a second one in early summer if there's bush or big trees nearby. For a peninsula holiday house, we'd set up a standing booking rather than relying on memory. Our national gutter cleaning page explains what a proper clean covers, and the Melbourne hub has more on local conditions.
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.
