Launceston's gutter season
Clear them before July
July (78.6 mm) and August (83.8 mm) are Launceston's wettest months. A gutter blocked with autumn leaves going into that stretch overflows for weeks, and water that backs up behind it soaks fascia boards and eaves.
Work around the frost
Overnight lows dip below 2 °C on about 61 days a year, and foggy mornings are a Launceston signature. Wet, frosty gutters and ladders are a slip waiting to happen, so book cleans for the middle of the day, once things have dried.
A second clean before summer
Summers can be hot, with the station's record at 39 °C. On land covered by your council's bushfire overlay under code C13.0, dry leaves in the gutter are fuel right at the roof edge. A late-spring clean is worth it there.
What you should get for your money
All leaves and sludge removed by hand and bagged, each downpipe flushed through to the ground, and a note of anything that needs fixing: sagging runs, rusted joints, loose brackets or soft fascia. Photos make it easy to check.
If the same gutter keeps blocking, it may be short of downpipes or falling the wrong way, which cleaning won't fix. Our national page on gutter cleaning explains more, and gutter guards in Launceston are an option if you're cleaning more than twice a year.
Your job or theirs?
You can
- A single-storey gutter from a sturdy ladder, on a dry afternoon, if you're comfortable
- Hosing out downpipes from the ground
- Raking leaves away from downpipe outlets and drains
- Trimming branches that hang over the roof
Leave to a roofer
- Two-storey houses and steep or awkward access
- Anything that means getting onto the roof itself
- Repairs to rusted, sagging or leaking gutters
- Any roof that might be asbestos cement
Worth asking when you book
- Is flushing the downpipes included?
- Will you take the waste away?
- Can you come in the middle of the day, once the frost has gone?
- Will you tell me, with photos, if anything needs repair?
- Do you have insurance for working at height?
What we'd do
We'd book a clean for late autumn, once most leaves are down but before July. If the house backs onto bush or rough grass, we'd add a second clean in late spring. And we'd only do it ourselves on a single-storey house, on a dry afternoon, with someone holding the ladder.
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.