Access to roof to clear blocked gutter - advice needed

usignuolo

We live in a tall semi detached Victorian house in outer London. The houses here are very close to each other, divided by a 5ft high cement wall. There is a rear extension containing breakfast room and kitchen which is narrower than the front of the house. Historically there was a gap between rear extension and the neighbouring wall of around 5 feet, by 13 feet, forming a rear yard area. The previous owners built a lean-to conservatory in this space with the glass ending on the party wall with next door. Along the outer wall is a range of utility cupboards.

The conservatory is hard wood and was custom built to fit the site - there are lead flashings where the glass roof adjoins the house. However the double glazed glass is wearing out and will need to be replaced soon. The roof itself is slate and quite old but was repaired a few years ago and is not in bad condition.

The downpipe from the guttering, (both cast iron), sits in the corner where the main house meets the extension, and has become blocked. When it rains the water overflows the downpipe and cascades down the conservatory roof. As a result it has started to leak just there. It is difficult to tell what is blocking the pipe, a piece of broken tile, a dead bird, dead leaves. But it needs fixing. However it is not possible to put up a ladder to it because the conservatory fills the available space.

We could put up a ladder from next door's yard - we are friendly with them - as it is not built over but the house is very tall and and the roof steeply pitched and would be a bit precarious. Or maybe we could build a scaffolding tower at the back of the house, outside the kitchen where there is room to gain access. But the roofer would still need to get access to the downpipe by scrambling over the roof above the conservatory.

I consulted a local firm who claim to work on old houses but they would not consider the job unless I had the whole house scaffolded at the back and replaced all the guttering and downpipe with plastic, supplied by them.

Is there anyone out there with any roofing experience who can advise? Alternatively does anyone know of a specialist firm which repairs hard to access guttering in old houses. We are resigned to having to pay for the work at a premium. I particularly do not want scaffolding all over the back garden as I have just spent the summer doing it up.

irnbru_2

usignuolo wrote: »

I particularly do not want scaffolding all over the back garden as I have just spent the summer doing it up.

Can a cherry picker get access to it?

littleboo

There are companies that do gutter inspections and cleaning from the ground, normally the same people that do high level window cleaning from the ground. They use a camera on a long pole to inspect the gutter and can hoover it out from ground level. Looking into it myself as much of my rear guttering is inaccessible due to a 7m wide conservatory and I have a lot of trees Here is an example of a company doing it.
http://www.guttervacuuming.co.uk/