Guttering, fascias, soffits & rainwater goods in Macclesfield
Guttering is the cheapest part of a roof to maintain and the most expensive to neglect. An overflowing gutter puts water down the wall for the whole of the winter, and a saturated wall means damp inside, perished pointing, and rot in the fascia and rafter feet behind it. By the time it shows on the inside, the repair is joinery rather than gutter-clearing.
Most problems are one of four. It is blocked, usually with moss off the roof rather than leaves. It has dropped, so it no longer falls to the outlet and stands full of water. The joints have gone — cast iron rusts through at the back where you cannot see it, and plastic joints perish and pull apart. Or it was never big enough for the roof area draining into it, which is common where a large extension was added and everything still runs to the original downpipe.
Cast iron deserves saying something about, because there is a lot of it in this town and it is worth keeping. Original cast iron on a Victorian house can be de-scaled, repaired and repainted rather than skipped, and in a conservation area that is often the right answer aesthetically as well as practically. Where it genuinely has gone, cast-effect aluminium looks right and does not need painting.
There is a local reason to take rainwater goods seriously. Cheshire East attributes Macclesfield's flooding record partly to an ageing network of unmapped, culverted watercourses running under the town — and a hundred houses discharging badly-maintained rainwater into a stressed surface-water system is not a neutral act. Keeping your own gutters and gullies running is genuinely part of the answer.
Guttering, fascias & soffits — every job, in detail.
6 jobs in this category. Each has its own page explaining what's involved, what your roofer checks and — just as importantly — when a job can safely wait.
Gutter cleaning
A blocked gutter puts water down the wall all winter, which is how damp inside, perished pointing and rotten fascias start. Clearing them is the cheapest job on the roof and the one that prevents the most expensive ones.
Read more →Gutter repair
Most gutter faults are one of three: a perished joint, a bracket that has let go, or a section that has dropped and no longer falls to the outlet. All are repairable, and all cost a fraction of the damp and rot they cause if they are left.
Read more →Gutter replacement
A full new run goes in when the existing guttering has gone brittle, when too many joints are failing to be worth repairing individually, or when the size was never right for the roof draining into it. Sizing and fall are what make the difference between a good job and a repeat one.
Read more →Cast iron guttering
There is a lot of original cast iron on this town's older housing and most of it is worth keeping. Sound cast iron can be de-rusted, repaired and repainted for decades more service; where it genuinely has failed, cast-effect aluminium gives the same look with none of the maintenance.
Read more →Fascias & soffits
The fascia carries the gutter and closes the ends of the rafters; the soffit is the underside that ventilates the roof. Both rot when a gutter has been leaking behind them, and replacing them is the moment to sort the eaves ventilation properly at the same time.
Read more →Downpipes & gullies
A downpipe that is blocked, split or discharging in the wrong place puts concentrated water exactly where you least want it. Most of the work is clearing, re-fixing and making sure the bottom end actually discharges into a gully rather than onto the ground.
Read more →Not sure which one you need?
Describe it in your own words on the quote form. Your roofer will work out what the job actually is when they ring you back — usually the same day.
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