Ten Call-Outs, One Year, and a Fair Bit of 'We Told You So'
We sat down with a cuppa and a year's worth of job sheets and had an honest count-up. What did we actually get called out for most? The answer surprised even us — because the majority of it wasn't bad luck. It was maintenance that got put off until it couldn't be.
Here's the top ten, warts and all. We're not having a go at anyone — life's busy and gutters are nobody's idea of a fun Saturday. But if we can save you a phone call and a bill next year, that's a job well done.
1. The Blocked Gutter (Our Reigning Champion)
Every autumn, without fail, the leaves come down and the phone goes up. Blocked gutters caused more call-outs than anything else last year, and nearly all of them followed the same script: water trickling down the rendering, a damp patch indoors, and a customer saying "we meant to get them cleared."
The fix: Get gutters cleared every autumn once the leaves have dropped. A half-hour job beats a damp-proofing bill every time.
2. The Dripping Tap That Became a Bigger Problem
A washer is pennies. The damage a drip does to a basin, a cupboard base, or a ceiling below isn't. We've lost count of the calls that started with "it's been dripping for a few months."
The fix: If a tap starts dripping, deal with it that week. Don't give it time to become a character in the house.
3. The Door That Wouldn't Latch
Sticking doors, dropped hinges, latches that need a shoulder to shut. Half of these were down to seasonal swelling and a bit of neglect — the other half down to hinges that needed a quarter turn of a screwdriver two years ago.
The fix: If a door starts catching, tighten the hinges and check the strike plate before the wood has its say.
4. The Boiler That Wasn't Serviced
Every January, the same story. Boilers that hadn't been looked at since the last government, giving up just as the frost arrives.
The fix: An annual service, ideally in late summer or early autumn, before the heating is on full tilt. It's cheaper than an emergency call-out and it keeps the warranty intact.
5. The Downpipe Nobody Noticed
Water pouring down the outside wall, a soggy patch by the foundations, a customer wondering why the patio keeps flooding. A cracked or dislodged downpipe joint is a five-minute fix — if you catch it.
The fix: Have a look at your downpipes after the first proper storm of autumn. Water should go down the pipe, not round it.
6. The Seized Gate and the Wonky Fence
After every winter, we get a run of gates that won't close and fence panels doing their best impression of a sail. Most of it comes down to posts that were rotting quietly below ground for years.
The fix: A post that wobbles is a post worth replacing before the next gale. Check them in spring, not mid-storm.
7. The Draughty Letterbox (and Friends)
Not every call-out is dramatic. A surprising number of jobs were draughts — through letterboxes, loft hatches, and old door seals. Small stuff, but it's costing people real money on heating.
The fix: On a windy day, walk round with the back of your hand. Where you feel a draught, there's a brush strip or a seal with your name on it.
8. The Loft Hatch Left Open to the Elements
Loft insulation that's been squashed by boxes, hatches that don't sit flush, and cold rooms below. We got called out for "the cold bedroom" more than once, and the answer was above it.
The fix: Don't store things directly on insulation, and make sure the hatch closes snugly. Two minutes with a draught excluder strip works wonders.
9. The Silicone That Gave Up
Mouldy, peeling sealant round the bath and shower — and the water damage quietly happening behind it. This one's sneaky because it looks cosmetic until it isn't.
The fix: If the sealant is black with mould or pulling away, strip it and redo it before the water finds its own route. It's a Sunday-morning job, not a call-out.
10. The Smoke Alarm With No Battery
We'll finish on the serious one. A good chunk of call-outs last year were safety checks people had been putting off — alarms that didn't beep, CO detectors past their date. Nothing bad happened on our watch, and we'd like to keep it that way.
The fix: Test your alarms monthly. It takes ten seconds and there's no honest excuse.
The Pattern in All of This
Nine out of ten of these jobs could have been prevented with a simple twice-yearly walk-round of the house: gutters in autumn, pipes and posts in spring, alarms all year round. We're always happy to come out and fix things — that's what we're here for, and we'll never turn a job away just because it was avoidable.
But we'd rather be the firm that helps you avoid the call in the first place. If you'd like a hand with an autumn once-over, you know the number — and yes, we still answer it like it's 1995.
