Editorial policy
This policy explains how Mr Gutter Cleaning researches, writes and updates the advice on this website. We publish it because gutter advice affects your home and your money, so you should know where our claims come from. It applies to every guide on the blog, every service page and every city page.
Who writes our guides
The Mr Gutter Cleaning editorial team writes our guides. We write for homeowners and small businesses, so we use plain words and short sentences. Each guide has one job, which is to help you decide what to do about your gutters.
We are a quote service for gutter work, and we say so openly. Because of that, our guides link to the quote form where it is useful. However, the advice must stand on its own, even when the honest answer is that you do not need a professional.
How we research a guide
Every guide starts with a clear question that a real homeowner would ask. We then collect facts from reliable sources before we write a word. If a source does not back a claim, we leave it out or we write around it in general terms.
We prefer plain, true statements to impressive ones. For example, we say that blocked gutters can cause damp, but we do not invent a figure for how often it happens. If we do not know a number, we do not print one.
Primary sources first
For facts about places, we use official data. Population and housing facts come from the Office for National Statistics, the 2021 Census and National Records of Scotland. Rainfall and weather facts come from Met Office climate averages.
For rules, safety and building advice, we use gov.uk, the Health and Safety Executive and the Building Research Establishment. We link to the source on the page when we quote a figure or a rule. Blogs, forums and other companies' websites are not enough on their own to support a fact.
How we check facts and dates
Before a guide goes live, we check each fact against its source. We also check names, dates and rule references, since these change over time. We remove anything that we cannot trace to a source.
We do not publish invented customer reviews, ratings, awards or accreditations. We also avoid fixed prices, because the right price depends on your property. Instead, we describe the factors that change a quote and send you to the form for a fixed price.
How and when we update pages
Rules, products and prices change, so we review our pages over time. Every page shows the date it was last reviewed in the footer. When we change the advice in a guide, we update that date.
We also revise a page sooner if a source changes or a reader points out a problem. Seasonal advice gets a fresh look each year, because the best timing depends on the weather and the trees around your home.
Corrections
If you spot a mistake, please tell us through the contact form. Name the page and say what looks wrong, and include a source if you have one. We check the claim, and if you are right, we fix the page and update its review date.
We correct errors openly. We do not quietly change a page to hide that it was wrong, and we do not ignore a fair challenge.
Independence and advertising
No one pays to appear in our guides. We do not sell advertising, we do not accept money to feature a product or brand, and we do not run sponsored posts. If that ever changes, we will say so on this page first.
Our commercial interest is simple: we offer the services our guides describe. That is why you will see links to our service pages and our locations. Read the about page to learn how the service works, and judge our advice with that in mind.