We have been providing our gutter cleaning service to the Port Phillip suburb of St Kilda for over ten years. Port Phillip suburbs like St Kilda may have fewer trees on the blocks compared with the leafier parts of Melbourne, but being so close to the beach can create another range of problems for your roof gutters. Seagulls will bring small pieces of meat inland that they find around the beach areas. They will land on roofs to peck on these little meaty treats; unfortunately they aren’t polite enough to drop their rubbish in a bin and small bones end up in the gutter. While cleaning gutters we have found up to 100 litres of bones (5 large buckets full) on a single roof. Many St Kilda householders may have contemplated perching themselves on the roof with an old BB gun to solve this Seagull issue. There are other bird species that will create issues for gutter and roofing, such as Indian Mynas and Pigeons. We have more humane methods available for pest bird control such as blocking the entry points in the roof.
We always clear any blocked downpipes as part of our regular gutter cleaning service and cut back overhanging tree branches that are too close to the roof edge. Cutting back these overhanging tree branches will reduce the need for gutter cleaning in future.