Vegetation in gutters

BelowTheLine

We're in the process of purchasing a freehold terraced house. Conveyancing is in progress.

We instructed an independent buildings survey and just got the report. There is only one thing which the surveyor has marked as "ugly" which is that the gutters appear to never have been cleaned. The photos show a whole garden in the gutters and in the surveyor's opinion haven't been cleaned in at least 3 years.

He says that blocked gutters can lead to a lot of hidden issues with water leaking into various parts of the building and could cost damage worth thousands of pounds, can't give an estimate without a thorough internal inspection of the loft and other areas.

The vendors are keen to sell and open to negotiate. However, I was hoping to get opinions on what kind of issues blocked gutters over 2-3 years could cause? And what how you suggest I go about finding out if there is any damage (and to what extent) from this?

Thanks in advance!

Doozergirl

It can cause penetrating damp, but you'd usually see that the outside walls are visibly wet in places as well as patches inside.

Browntoa

£200 at worst for someone to come round and clean them . Plenty of specialists who do it

BelowTheLine

There's no damp visible indoors (could be because it's summer-ish) but there is moss growing on bricks on the lower quarter of the rear wall. However, the survey report says that could be due to the trees and lack of sunlight on them.

Doozergirl wrote: »

It can cause penetrating damp, but you'd usually see that the outside walls are visibly wet in places as well as patches inside.

BelowTheLine

Of course, cleaning the gutters isn't a problem. Just what the damage could be from having blocked gutters for the past 2-3 years.

Browntoa wrote: »

£200 at worst for someone to come round and clean them . Plenty of specialists who do it

davidmcn

The most likely damage would be water getting inside, which you'd see in the form of e.g. drips when it's heavy rain and the gutters are overflowing - so if that's happened in the past then you'd see "tide-marks" etc, if it hasn't been redecorated since. I wouldn't get overly concerned about past damage, just organise clearance of the gutters.

Niv

BelowTheLine wrote: »

Of course, cleaning the gutters isn't a problem. Just what the damage could be from having blocked gutters for the past 2-3 years.

Are the gutters blocked though? All your OP says is that they have not been cleaned and then a description of what may happen IF they were blocked.

BelowTheLine

The gutters are full of moss and plants and I can't see how it could handle more than a trickle of water without overflowing.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Niv wrote: »

Are the gutters blocked though? All your OP says is that they have not been cleaned and then a description of what may happen IF they were blocked.

jimbog

BelowTheLine wrote: »

can't give an estimate without a thorough internal inspection of the loft and other areas.

how you suggest I go about finding out if there is any damage (and to what extent) from this?

Thanks in advance!

Get a builder to take a look and if there is any damage what it would cost to fix

Niv

BelowTheLine wrote: »

The gutters are full of moss and plants and I can't see how it could handle more than a trickle of water without overflowing.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I only ask as, per your description, that was how the gutters were in my new house. They were not blocked to the extent that they did not function so no damage / damp occurred due to lack of gutter cleaning.


I collected about 2.5 bucket loads of moss/plants/soily sludge, oh and a couple of sedum's that I have transplanted into the garden!

BelowTheLine

2.5 bucket loads and no damage, that's reassuring! I guess I'll have to drop in once again to inspect the insides thoroughly to look for any signs of water damage. There's nothing showing in the survey report but I'll see for myself as well.

Glad to hear this isn't uncommon.

Niv wrote: »

I only ask as, per your description, that was how the gutters were in my new house. They were not blocked to the extent that they did not function so no damage / damp occurred due to lack of gutter cleaning.

I collected about 2.5 bucket loads of moss/plants/soily sludge, oh and a couple of sedum's that I have transplanted into the garden!