A Perth gutter calendar
Autumn, before Makuru
July, June and August are Perth's wettest months. A clean in April or May means the gutters are clear when the rain arrives, which matches the NSW heritage schedule's advice to clear gutters, guards and rainwater heads each autumn.
Spring, if you're near bush
The 2011 Roleystone and Kelmscott fire in the City of Armadale destroyed 69 homes and badly damaged 71 more. The NSW RFS recommends clearing leaves from roofs, valleys and gutters before the bushfire season.
After hail or a big blow
Hail in the March 2010 storm blocked gutters and drains and made flooding worse. After hail, or a wind that strips leaves off the trees, it's worth another look.
Summer isn't always dry
Ex-tropical cyclone Joyce dropped 96.2 mm on Perth on 15 January 2018. Gutters left full since winter can overflow in a summer deluge too.
Ladders, roofs and asbestos
If you clean your own gutters, use a stable ladder on firm, level ground, have someone hold it, and never step onto the roof. Leave two-storey gutters to a professional. ASSEA warns that gutters under an asbestos cement roof will likely collect asbestos debris that should be treated as friable, so don't scoop those out yourself.
What a proper clean includes
Scooping out leaves and sludge, bagging it rather than leaving it on the roof or lawn, flushing each downpipe to check it drains, and telling you about rust, sagging or leaking joints. Ask whether valleys and box gutters are included, because not every cleaner does them.
Monier recommends cleaning gutters, downpipes and valleys at least once a year, and twice in tree-lined areas. If you're under big trees or in the hills, the twice-a-year end is more realistic.
Questions to ask a gutter cleaner
- Do you bag and take away what you remove?
- Will you flush the downpipes and check they drain?
- Will you tell me about any rust, sagging or leaking joints you find?
- Do you clean valleys and box gutters as well?
- Do you carry public liability insurance?
What you can safely do, and what to hand over
You can
- Clear single-storey gutters from a ladder if you're comfortable and someone's holding it
- Keep downpipe grates at ground level free of leaves
- Trim low branches over the roof from the ground
Leave to a roofer
- Two-storey gutters and steep roofs
- Valleys and box gutters
- Anything that means standing on the roof
- Gutters under a roof that might be asbestos cement
What we'd tell a friend
Book it for autumn every year, and add a spring clean if you're near bush. If the cleaner reports rust or sagging, get that fixed before winter instead of paying to clean the same leaking gutter next year. And if the house has an old grey sheeted roof, find out whether it's asbestos before anyone touches the gutters.
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.
Send us your postcode and whether it's one storey or two. Where we have a licence-checked roofer for gutter work in your part of Perth, they'll get your phone and email and nobody else will; where we don't, we'll say so straight away. There's more on our main gutter cleaning page and the Perth hub.