NEED HELP COMPLETING YOUR QUOTE? Call our assistant for quick step by step guidance. 0345 300 0065
Growth around a house can be part of the design, or it can arrive without anyone noticing. A wisteria trained neatly across a wall serves a purpose. A climber that reaches the eaves, works into joints and fills the gutter creates a different maintenance problem.
The same applies to moss, lichen, sedum and small plants. Some growth has been deliberately encouraged. Some has simply found the damp, shaded conditions it needs. Either way, once it reaches the roofline, it can start affecting how the house sheds water.
The season just gone is a good example of how quickly this can change. A dry spell held a lot of hardy growth back, then the rain returned and it caught up all at once. With the growing season closing, this is the natural moment to clear what has built up and start the next one from a healthier roofline.
We look at the intended design, the condition of the surfaces and the drainage details before recommending any work.
Dense growth holds moisture against brickwork, render and fascia boards, and the covered surface stays damp for longer than the wall around it. Climbers also trap leaves and small pieces of debris against the wall, and once a plant reaches the gutter that material washes into the channel and collects around the outlets.
Roots behave differently. Where a crack or a gap in the mortar already exists, they work into it and widen it as they thicken, and the growth holding moisture against the same spot keeps the surrounding material wet for longer. They travel downwards too. A hopper collects water and debris from the roof above and stays damp, which makes it a natural place for growth to take hold, and from there roots can work into the downpipe and mat together with moss and leaf debris. A downpipe packed like that still lets some water through, which is why it often goes unnoticed until the water backs up at the hopper and runs down the wall instead.
The effects are often gradual:
A blockage of loose leaves is one problem. One containing wet moss, roots, soil and small seedlings is more compact and holds considerably more water, and tree seedlings in the channel show that debris has sat there long enough for plants to establish. Material that stays wet also attracts insects and gives them somewhere to shelter.
Over time, constant moisture can affect paint, render finishes, timber trims and the joints around the roof edge.
I think the purpose of the growth is worthy of mention here too. A regularly maintained living sedum roof is part of a planned roof design, with specific layers and drainage arrangements. Sedum that has spread across an unplanned roof extension needs to be treated differently, because it may be hiding outlets or retaining moisture where it was not intended.
Wisteria makes the same point. Trained along a wall it is an intentional feature, but once it reaches the roofline its stems can work around fixings, joints and gutter brackets. The plant may still be wanted, and the growth at roof level needs assessing separately.
Climbers differ from one another as well. Ivy holds on with aerial roots that can work into mortar and pointing, so it is best kept away from the details it can loosen. Russian vine does the opposite, travelling metres in a season and hiding roof edges and outlets as it goes.
The same applies to moss and lichen. A light covering on a sound surface is not the same as thick moss that has reached the eaves or filled a valley.
This distinction comes down to three practical points:
We consider those points before recommending cleaning, treatment or removal, and we take a flexible approach to each property rather than forcing one method onto every job.
Growth does not stop at a boundary. A neighbour's tree, hedge or climbing plant can reach across a fence line or overhang a roof, and whatever it sheds lands wherever gravity takes it. That is a common reason a roofline cleared every year keeps filling up, and why two similar homes on the same street can need very different amounts of attention.
The growth itself is a matter for your neighbour. What can be done on your side is to keep your own roof, gutter and wall clear. Where the debris is coming from is part of how we assess a property, because it shapes how often the roofline is worth checking.
Several signs can be checked without disturbing the growth. Look along the roofline for plants growing out of the gutter, staining below the eaves, green patches on walls or growth reaching towards the roof edge. During rainfall, look for water overflowing from a joint or spilling over the front of the gutter. If water is leaving the roof somewhere unusual, the outlet or channel may be obstructed.
A handheld inspection camera is available on request, to look at gutters and outlets where a closer look would help. It is optional rather than an automatic part of every clean, and it is there to understand what is happening before any work is recommended. Where growth has been left for several seasons, a roofline can become difficult to reach at all, because the growth sits across the very stretch that needs clearing.
Looking is only half of it. Trimming climbers back from the eaves before they reach the roofline, keeping wall planting within its intended area and clearing what falls are all things a household can do between visits, and they make a noticeable difference to how quickly a roofline fills up again. Where a plant is meant to stay, the aim is to keep it in its place rather than to remove it.
Growth turns up in different places around a property, and each place tends to call for a different service.
Gutter, fascia and soffits. Whatever falls from above ends up here, whether it came off a roof, washed down a valley or dropped from a plant at the eaves. Professional gutter cleaning clears the channel, the outlets, the hoppers and the downpipes down to the elbow, using our ground-based vacuum method, so the roof surface is rarely disturbed. Where access or the condition of the gutter calls for something different, we adapt.
Roof surfaces. Moss and lichen take hold where shade and damp allow. Roof cleaning suits many coverings, with the method chosen to suit the material and the amount of growth.
Walls, render and cladding. Dense growth holds moisture against a surface and leaves organic staining behind, particularly below roof edges and on walls in less direct sunlight. Cladding and render cleaning deals with that staining. Roots in a joint or a line of pointing are a separate matter, best looked at before the gap widens.
Conservatory roofs and gutters. These are often connected to the same drainage as the main roofline, so they are worth considering together. Our packages mean conservatory cleaning can cover just the roof and gutter line, or the whole conservatory itself, either externally or internally.
Driveways, paths and patios. Moss, algae and weeds establish in the joints between slabs, blocks and setts and across the surface itself, holding moisture against the hardstanding rather than letting it drain. Driveway, path and patio cleaning clears the growth so water runs off as it should.
Solar panels. Moss and lichen shedding from the roof above, leaves and bird debris leave a film across the glass, and shading on part of an array holds back what the whole system produces. Solar panel cleaning removes that build-up, and is worth pairing with a roof or gutter clean.
The growth itself. Where the growth is organic, an eco-friendly biocide treatment may be considered. It works on the growth present to help slow regrowth on the treated surface, without harming the surrounding environment.
That walk around the property is a starting point rather than a fixed prescription. A plant may need to remain in place while the gutter around it is cleared. A roof may need treatment rather than aggressive removal. A wall may need cleaning only after the source of the staining has been addressed.
Where growth is hiding the drainage details, or water is overflowing from somewhere that cannot be accounted for, a closer look tells us what we are dealing with before anything is recommended.
Growth is rarely one problem in one place. It climbs a wall, works along a fixing, drops into a gutter and stains what sits below it. Treating the property as a whole, rather than one symptom at a time, is usually what keeps a roofline clear.
Our quotation and booking system uses tick-box questions to collect the information needed for most jobs, which usually removes the need for a site visit before we provide a price. You can get your own instant quotation in real time, at your own convenience.
Growth around a home is not automatically a problem. The important point is where it has travelled, what it is covering and whether it is changing the way water leaves the roof. A planned climber, sedum roof or wall planting can remain part of the property when its boundaries and drainage details are maintained. When growth reaches the eaves, blocks an outlet or keeps a wall damp, dealing with it early can help protect the roof edge, fascia, render and guttering.
When choosing our services we understand that it can all mount up, so we offer two further payment options, for those eligible. VIP Membership is domestic-only and open to existing customers, with the annual clean included and split into monthly payments, the price held for three years, and blockage removal between annual cleans free up to three times a year under our fair use policy. Outside that scheme, an interest-free option through our partners at PayItMonthly spreads the cost over three monthly instalments at checkout, for customers 18+ who pass standard eligibility and affordability checks.
Read more about VIP Membership and Instant quote and booking system
Page generated in 0.0004 seconds.
24/7 Sales Tool v3.0