Gutter Guard, Roof Safety And Working At Height

Cleaning a gutter is a simple task. Getting onto the roof to do it is the part that carries the risk and most of the cost.

Which means roof maintenance on a building is really a question about access provision.

What has to exist

Anchor points, designed, installed and certified, where a fall restraint or fall arrest system is needed.

Static lines or walkways on larger roofs, so there is a defined safe route.

Guardrails, on roofs where they are practical, which removes the need for harnesses entirely and is the better solution where it can be afforded.

Safe roof access, which means a ladder bracket, a roof hatch, or a defined ladder position rather than a ladder leaned against a gutter.

Current certification on all of it, tested at the required interval.

A building with none of these is a building where every roof job needs a scaffold or an elevated platform, and that is where the cost comes from. It is the same provision question as [window cleaning and facade access](/blog/window-cleaning-and-facade-access), and the same anchors frequently serve both.

Why skylights matter here

A skylight looks like part of the roof and will not carry a person.

Falls through skylights and through brittle roof sheeting are a recurring cause of serious injury in roof work. Which means any roof with skylights needs them identified, and ideally protected with a mesh or a guard, before anybody works up there.

The same applies to old fibre cement sheeting, corroded metal, and any roof over a certain age. On anything from before 1990 there is also an asbestos question, and the register gets checked before the work is planned.

Gutter guard, honestly

Gutter guard is sold as a permanent solution to gutter cleaning and it is not.

What it does well. Keeps leaves out of the gutter and out of the downpipe, which is the main cause of overflow. Reduces the frequency of cleaning substantially. On a building surrounded by trees it is worth having, and it helps with ember protection in a bushfire area.

What it does not do. Remove the need for maintenance. Debris collects on top of the guard instead of in the gutter, and it still needs clearing. Fine material washes through and silts the gutter slowly.

Where it causes problems. Poorly fitted guard lifts in wind, blocks the flow into the gutter, or holds water against the fascia. A guard fitted over a gutter that already does not fall correctly makes the existing problem harder to see.

So the useful framing is that gutter guard reduces cleaning frequency and changes what the cleaning involves. A building told it will never need the gutters done again has been sold something.

What actually causes gutter problems

Falls. A gutter that does not fall to the downpipe holds water regardless of how clean it is. Very common in older buildings where the gutter has sagged, and it is the cause that gets treated as a cleaning issue for years.

Downpipe capacity and blockages, including underground drain lines that are blocked well below the visible part.

Overflow provision. A gutter should overflow outward, away from the building. A gutter that overflows backwards into the eaves and the wall is a design fault that shows up as internal damp, which is the [penetrating damp](/blog/damp-in-basements-and-ground-floor-walls) mechanism.

Corrosion at the joints and the outlets, which is where gutters fail first.

All of which means a gutter complaint is worth inspecting rather than just cleaning. A clean gutter with the wrong fall keeps producing the same problem, and that is the point made in [roof and gutter leaks that are not plumbing](/blog/roof-and-gutter-leaks-that-are-not-plumbing).

Planning the work

Roof access is expensive to mobilise, so the work at height gets batched.

Gutters cleared. Downpipes checked and rodded. Roof sheeting, flashings and ridge capping inspected. Sealant at penetrations checked. Solar panels cleaned where they exist. Antenna mounting checked, which connects to the [antenna and reception](/blog/tv-antennas-and-reception-in-apartment-buildings) complaints. Anchor points inspected and recertified while somebody is already up there.

One team at height covers all of it. Four separate mobilisations pay the access cost four times.

The frequency

Twice a year for a building with trees, before the storm season and after autumn. Annually for a building without.

More often for a building where a blocked gutter has somewhere bad to overflow, such as into a roof space or over an entry.

What to hold on file

The anchor certification and the next due date. A photographic record of the roof condition from each visit, which is what lets a committee see deterioration over time rather than being told about it. The safe work method statement for the building.

Ample manages roof, gutter and height work across apartment buildings and houses in the eastern suburbs and inner city.