Newcastle's gutter timetable
March to June is the wet stretch
Nobbys averages 113.5 mm in March, 116.4 mm in May and 125.2 mm in June, on 1991 to 2020 figures. A gutter blocked with summer and autumn leaves overflows in the first big rain of that run.
The big lows come in autumn and winter
The East Coast Low that flooded around 10,000 Newcastle properties hit on 8 June 2007, the 2015 storm on 20 to 22 April, and another low in early June 2016. Clear gutters won't stop a storm like that, but blocked ones make the damage worse.
An autumn clean is old advice
The NSW Government's heritage maintenance schedule says to clear gutters, guards and rainwater heads each autumn. It's written for heritage buildings, and Newcastle has nine heritage conservation areas full of older cottages and terraces, but the timing suits any roof here.
A second clean on bush fire prone land
The NSW RFS recommends clearing leaves and litter from roofs, valleys and gutters before the bush fire season. If your property is mapped as bush fire prone, book a clean in late winter or spring as well.
What a good clean includes
Debris scooped out by hand and bagged, downpipes flushed so water runs freely to the stormwater, and valleys and box gutters cleared, since they carry the most water. A careful cleaner will point out rust, sagging sections or loose brackets, and near the coast should check the underside, where salt collects.
On a two-storey terrace or a steep roof, the cleaner needs proper fall protection. Safe Work Australia notes that gutter cleaning carries the same fall hazards as bigger roof jobs.
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Check from the ground for overflow stains, plants growing in gutters and sagging runs
- Keep ground-level downpipe outlets and grates clear before the wet months
- Hose the underside of gutters from the ground if you're near the beach
Leave to a roofer
- Anything that means standing on a ladder you're not comfortable on
- Two-storey homes, terraces and box gutters behind parapets
- Gutters under old fibre cement roofing, which may hold asbestos debris
Older roofs and asbestos
NSW says a house built before 1990 probably contains asbestos, and ASSEA warns that gutters under asbestos cement roofing collect debris that should be treated as friable, meaning it releases fibres easily. Never use a blower or pressure cleaner on those gutters. Leave them to someone who knows how to handle and dispose of it.
Ask before you book
- Will you clear the downpipes, valleys and any box gutters, or just the eaves gutters?
- Do you bag the debris and take it away?
- What fall protection do you use on two-storey homes?
- Will you photograph any rust or damage you find?
- Can you come back before the fire season if my block is bush fire prone?
If it were our gutters
We'd book a clean every March or early April, before the wet months and the autumn lows. On bush fire prone land, we'd add one in spring, and near the beach we'd hose the gutter undersides between cleans. The national gutter cleaning page covers the job in more detail, and the Newcastle page explains the local weather.
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.