Gutter repair in Lewisham
Guttering is the cheapest thing on a roof to maintain and one of the most expensive to neglect. A significant proportion of the "roof leaks" and "rising damp" we are called to look at turn out to be a gutter that has been overflowing for years.
We clear, repair, refix and replace gutters, downpipes and hoppers across Lewisham — and, just as often, identify the gutter as the actual cause of a problem someone was about to spend a great deal more money on.
Why this matters more than it sounds. A gutter's job is to keep water off the wall. When it overflows, water runs down brickwork that was never designed to be permanently wet. That saturated masonry then does exactly what saturated masonry does: it fails in frost, it grows moss and algae, it pushes damp through to the inside face, and it degrades the mortar. Years of a blocked gutter can cost you a repointing job.
What goes wrong
- Blockages — leaves, moss washed off the roof, silt, tennis balls, and nests
- Water overflowing at the back, between gutter and fascia, where you cannot see it from the ground
- Sagging runs where brackets have failed, creating a low point that holds water
- Wrong fall so water sits in the run instead of moving to the outlet
- Leaking joints on plastic systems where the seals have perished
- Cracked or split sections from frost or impact
- Corroded cast iron on original period guttering
- Downpipe blockages, often at the shoe or a bend, backing water up the whole run
- Discharge in the wrong place — a downpipe emptying onto a path or against a wall rather than into a drain
How to tell a gutter problem from a roof leak
This is worth getting right before you pay for scaffolding.
| Clue | Gutter | Roof |
|---|---|---|
| Where the damp shows | High on a wall, near the top of an upstairs room, or on an external wall face | Ceiling, often away from the wall |
| Outside evidence | Staining, moss or algae in a vertical stripe down the brickwork | Nothing visible on the wall |
| When | Heavy rain specifically — light rain drains fine | Any sustained rain, sometimes wind-direction dependent |
| Visible during rain | Water spilling over the edge or running behind the gutter | Nothing at gutter level |
| Cost to fix | Often very little | Considerably more |
The single most useful diagnostic act available to a homeowner is to go outside and look during heavy rain. A gutter overflowing is obvious when it is happening and invisible an hour later. See also roof leak repair.
Cast iron guttering on period property
Plenty of Lewisham's Victorian and Edwardian housing still has original cast iron rainwater goods, particularly on front elevations and in conservation areas. Cast iron is worth keeping where it is sound:
- It is appropriate to the building and, in a conservation area, may effectively be required
- It is rigid and holds its line where plastic sags between brackets
- Individual sections can be replaced rather than the whole run
- It lasts a very long time when kept painted
It does need maintaining: the enemy is corrosion at the joints and the back edge where water sits. Replacing a full cast iron run with plastic is cheaper up front and often the wrong decision on a front elevation of a period terrace.
Clearing, repairing or replacing
- Clearing is routine maintenance, and on a house with trees nearby it needs doing more than once a year. Most gutter "faults" are actually just blockages.
- Repairing covers refixing brackets, correcting falls, resealing joints and replacing individual damaged sections. Usually the right answer when the system is basically sound.
- Replacing makes sense when a run is comprehensively perished, undersized for the roof area, or has been patched repeatedly.
Gutter guards and brushes
Worth a realistic word. Mesh guards and brush inserts reduce how often gutters need clearing, and on a difficult-to-access run they can be sensible. But they do not eliminate maintenance: fine silt and moss still get through, and debris can build up on top of a guard and form its own dam. They change the maintenance interval, not the requirement.
Access and cost
Gutters sit at eaves level, which makes them among the cheapest roof-related work to access — often reachable from a ladder or tower rather than a full scaffold. That is precisely why it is worth dealing with them promptly: the same water damage, left to soak into the brickwork, leads to work that does need a scaffold. See what roof work costs.
If scaffolding is already up for chimney work, having the gutters cleared and checked at the same time costs very little extra.
Ladder work at gutter height causes a lot of injuries. Leaning out sideways from a ladder to reach along a gutter run is exactly how people fall. If you clear your own gutters, move the ladder frequently, keep your hips between the stiles, and do not do it in wind or on soft ground.
Gutter overflowing, or damp on a wall?
If you can, look outside while it is raining hard and tell us what you see. It frequently settles the diagnosis on the phone.
Gutter questions
How often should gutters be cleared?
At least annually for most houses, and twice a year where there are trees close by — ideally late autumn once leaves are down, and again in spring. Roofs shedding a lot of moss need it more often, because moss washes into the gutter and turns to silt.
Is damp on my wall definitely the gutter?
Not definitely, but a vertical stripe of staining, moss or algae down the outside of the brickwork is strong evidence of water running down it repeatedly. Damp with no external staining is more likely to be something else. Looking during heavy rain settles it quickly.
Should I replace cast iron with plastic?
Not automatically. Sound cast iron is worth keeping, particularly on a period front elevation or in a conservation area where it may effectively be expected. Where it is comprehensively corroded, replacement is reasonable — but consider matching the profile rather than defaulting to standard plastic on a visible elevation.
Water is getting in behind the gutter. Why?
Usually one of three things: the gutter has sagged and is holding water above the back edge, the roof covering does not project far enough into the gutter, or a blockage is causing the run to overflow backwards rather than over the front. All are fixable, and all cause damage to the fascia and wall top while they continue.