Getting your roof and gutters ready for winter

Dexters Build new guttering

Autumn is the point in the year when a small roofing problem turns into an expensive one. With the leaves about to come down across Berkhamsted and Tring, local roofing and building firm Dexters Build says half an hour of checking now saves most homeowners a much bigger bill in January.

‘Nearly every damp job we get called to in the spring started with a blocked gutter the autumn before,’ says James at Dexters Build. ‘It is one of the cheapest things on the house to look after, and the one people leave longest.’

Why gutters matter more than they look

A gutter that overflows sends water straight down the wall instead of away from it. Over a wet winter, that soaks into the brickwork and shows up inside as damp patches. Water sitting in a blocked gutter also rots the timber fascia behind it, so what would have been a quick clear out becomes a replacement. And when the temperature drops, water trapped in the channel freezes and expands, which is what pulls guttering away from the fascia and cracks the joints.

What you can check from the pavement

You do not need a ladder to get a fair idea of how your roof is doing.

  • Stand back on a rainy day and watch where the water goes. If it spills over the edge rather than running to the downpipe, the gutter is blocked.
  • Look for staining or green algae on the wall below the gutter line. That usually means it has been overflowing for a while.
  • Check for sagging sections, and for grass or seedlings growing in the channel.
  • Look along the roof for slipped, cracked or missing tiles, and at the ridge for gaps in the mortar.
  • On older houses, check the mortar around the chimney and the lead flashing where the chimney meets the roof. It is one of the most common places for a leak to start.

Flat roofs on garages, extensions and dormers are worth a look too. Clear the outlet, and if water is still sitting on the surface a couple of days after rain, get someone to look at it before winter rather than after.

The timing

September and October are the useful window. Clear the gutters too early and they simply fill again as the leaves come down. Leave it until December and you go into the coldest months with a gutter already full of standing water. Around Berkhamsted and Tring, where a lot of houses sit under mature trees, a second quick clear after the main leaf fall is usually money well spent.

Dexters Build Ltd is a family-run roofing and building company with over ten years’ experience, working across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The team covers everything from gutter clearing and roof repairs to chimneys, flat roofs and full re-roofs, on period and modern homes alike. There is more about their work in the town on the Dexters Build page for roofers in Berkhamsted, or you can call 01582 438542 for a free, no-obligation quote.