Gutter Cleaning in Strathfield

Strathfield's street planting sets it apart from most of the suburbs we service. Plane trees, camphor laurels and jacarandas dominate rather than eucalypts, and that changes the nature of the problem entirely.

A eucalypt drops narrow leaves and bark year round, and water finds a way through. A plane tree drops a broad, flat leaf in a concentrated few weeks, and those leaves lie flat and overlap like roof shingles. The result is a sealed mat that stops water dead rather than slowing it, which is why gutters here can be perfectly clear in February and completely blocked by June. Camphor laurel adds a small hard berry that washes straight into downpipes and lodges at the bend.

The housing amplifies it. Much of Strathfield is large Federation and inter-war homes on generous blocks, with complex roof forms: multiple gables, internal valleys and box gutters that drain to a single outlet. A valley packed with matted plane leaf backs water up under the tiles rather than over the edge.

We vacuum the full run and the valleys, and clear downpipes rather than flushing debris into them.

Strathfield is one of the few suburbs where gutter cleaning has an obvious right time of year, and using it well saves money.

Because the street trees here are deciduous, the load arrives in a concentrated few weeks rather than year round. A clean scheduled just after that drop clears the whole season's material in one visit, where the same property cleaned in February will be blocked again by June. Getting the timing right is often the difference between one visit a year and two.

What it protects is significant. The grand homes here have complex roofs with internal valleys and box gutters, and a valley sealed by matted plane leaf backs water under the tiles rather than over the edge. On a period property that means saturated ceiling framing and, frequently, damage to original plaster and cornice work that cannot be patched invisibly.

Timber fascia and eaves detailing on these houses is original and painted, and repeated overflow strips paint and rots timber that is expensive to replicate.

We clear the full run, the valleys and the downpipes, and flag failing valley irons while they are still isolated.