We look first
From the ground, and specifically above wherever the wall is marked. That stripe tells us exactly where the run is failing, so we start with a fair idea of what we are going to find.
Gutter Cleaning in Castlebridge, Co. Wexford
A dark streak running down the wall under one spot on the roofline is not the wall failing. It is water leaving the gutter in the same place every time it rains, and it will keep arriving there until the run is cleared.
01
The cause, not the mark
Clear the run and the streak stops growing.
02
Cleared, not skimmed
Wet silt is the part that holds water.
03
The whole run
Both sides, not just the one that stained.
04
From €75
Sent to you in advance, in writing.
Why Castlebridge walls stain before anyone else's
Where the rivers meet the harbour, nothing on the outside of a house gets a chance to dry out properly.
Air that keeps everything wet
The Castlebridge River and the River Sow meet the harbour side here, so moist air sits over the village far longer than it does inland. Whatever lands in a gutter stays wet, breaks down in place and turns into silt rather than blowing out again.
A full run spills in one spot
Gutters do not overflow evenly. Water finds the lowest point in a blocked run and comes over there every single time, which is why the stain is a stripe rather than a patch.
Then the wall keeps it
Render that is repeatedly soaked in the same line grows algae along it, and that is the dark mark you are looking at. Clearing the gutter stops it getting worse; the wall itself can be treated separately once the water has stopped arriving.
Around Castlebridge and Ardcolm we see the same thing on the harbour-facing sides: one clean stripe under a joint or a low point, and nothing either side of it. That pattern is worth knowing, because it means the gutter is the fix rather than the wall.
Two ways to deal with a stained wall
One of them lasts until the next heavy shower.
Clean the wall only
The mark comes back
- The mark goes, the cause does not
- The next downpour puts it back
- You are cleaning the same stripe twice a year
WHAT WE WOULD DO
Clear the run first
From €75
- The water stops leaving the run there
- Nothing lands on the wall to feed it
- Decide about the render once it has dried out
How a Castlebridge gutter visit runs
Four steps, and the second is the one that takes the time.
The run is cleared
Wet silt and broken-down leaf come out of the channel in sections. Around here the material is heavier and wetter than it looks, so it is lifted rather than dragged along the run.
The length gets walked
Every section, corners and returns as well, because the part still holding material is usually the part nobody passes. The runs are what we clear.
We leave it tidy
Debris goes with us, the ground goes back as we found it, and you get told honestly what the run looked like underneath.
Everything the visit covers in Castlebridge
The run, along its whole length.
Covering Castlebridge and the roads around it
These roads are on our sheet already, so getting to you is not the hard part.
The village and the townlands around it, with Ardcolm beside it and Curracloe out towards the coast. Houses on the harbour-facing side are most of our work here.
Wider out we cover Wexford Town and Ballymurn, with Enniscorthy up the valley. A photo from below tells us most of what we need to know.
Questions about stains under the gutter
Asked most often after a wet fortnight.
Does the mark go when the gutter is cleared?
The cause goes. The mark itself may fade over a season or may need the render treating separately — we will say which, rather than let you find out in the spring.
Is the stain doing any harm to the wall?
The mark itself is growth on the surface. What matters is the water behind it: render that is repeatedly soaked in the same line stays damp, and damp render is worth dealing with before winter rather than after.
Do you do the whole gutter?
We clear the runs — every accessible length of channel along the roofline, emptied and taken away. The run is walked end to end before we pack up.
What does it cost around Castlebridge?
Gutter cleaning starts at €75. Yours depends on three things: the length of run, how packed it is, and how we reach it. Send a picture and we will come back with what it comes to.
Book a gutter clear in Castlebridge
Send a photo of the mark and the roofline above it, and we will come back with a day and a price. From €75.