Autumn Drain & Gutter Checks in the New Forest
Updated: Oct 4
Every October we get the same run of calls from around Lymington, Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst. A gully that's overflowing after the first proper storm. A downpipe spitting water down a wall. A manhole cover that's suddenly sitting in a puddle. Almost all of it is preventable with an hour of checking before the leaves really come down.
Why New Forest homes get caught out
It's the trees, mostly. Oak, beech and birch overhang a lot of properties out here, and the leaves and beech mast end up in gutters, hoppers and yard gullies within weeks. Add the high winter water table in low-lying spots and the older clay pipework you find under many pre-war homes, and a small blockage turns into a damp wall or a flooded patio quickly.
Tree roots are the other culprit. They find the joints in old clay drains, get in, and slowly narrow the pipe. You won't see that from above ground, which is why a drain can seem fine in August and back up in November.
Gutters go the same way. A gutter that's a third full of compost doesn't just overflow; the weight pulls brackets loose and the fascia behind it stays wet all winter. On older Forest cottages with timber fascias, that's how a £150 clearance job turns into a rotten board and a repair bill ten times bigger.
The ten-minute check you can do yourself
Do this on a dry day, then repeat it once during proper rain. None of it needs tools.
Watch each downpipe in heavy rain. Water should leave the gutter at the top and arrive at the gully at the bottom, not pour over the gutter edge or run down the brickwork.
Tip a bucket of water into each yard gully and time it. It should clear in a few seconds. If it sits or drains slowly, the pipe beyond is partly blocked.
Look for green staining or damp patches under gutter joints and along the wall below. That's a leaking joint or an overflow that's been going for a while.
Lift any manhole cover you can reach safely. A chamber full to the brim with no movement means a blockage downstream, so put the cover back and call us.
Listen for gurgling from a toilet or sink when the washing machine empties. That's air being pulled through a restricted drain.
What jetting, surveys and gutter clearance cost
We price these on what's realistic for the south coast, not a national average. A standard domestic high-pressure jetting visit is £180 to £300, and most take one to two hours. A CCTV drain survey runs £180 to £360, and you get the footage and a written note of what the camera found. Gutter clearance on a typical semi-detached house is £120 to £180, with detached properties and anything needing scaffold or a tower higher.
A few things push those numbers up: a long or awkward run, access through a garage or a narrow side passage, a chamber that's buried under a patio, or a drain that's been neglected for years. We'd rather tell you that at the start than surprise you on the day.
Timing matters too. Clearing gutters once the trees have dropped most of their leaves, usually early to mid November, saves a second visit. But if you've got a known problem drain, don't wait for that. Get the jetting done now, while the ground is still dry enough to work on easily.
Why we camera it when a drain keeps blocking
Jetting clears the symptom. If the same drain blocks twice in a season, we put a camera down it, because there's nearly always a reason: root ingress, a slipped joint, or a sagging section holding water. We've seen all three on jobs around Christchurch and Verwood, and the fix is very different depending on which it is. A patch repair or lining is a fraction of the cost of digging up a driveway, but only if it's caught early.
It's also why we survey before we quote any repair. You get a price for what's actually wrong, not a guess. Our drainage and civil works team covers unblocking, jetting, CCTV surveys, relining and full replacements across Dorset and Hampshire, and we can usually clear a gutter run on the same visit.
If your property has an old outbuilding, garage or extension draining into the main run, mention it when you book. Those shared connections are where we find most of the trouble, and it's far easier to check them all in one go than to come back.
Related reading
Get your autumn drain check booked
Slots for October fill up once the first big storm hits, so it's worth getting in early. Book your drain and gutter check with Complete Builds and tell us your postcode and whether the problem is a slow drain, an overflowing gutter or just peace of mind before winter. We'll confirm a visit time and what to expect before we turn up.
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