About Thomas
Limerick lad. Twenty years up ladders. One opinion on bracket spacing.
Thomas grew up in Caherdavin, watching his dad climb the same ladder twice a year to clean the same gutter. That gutter eventually fell off. Thomas remembers it as one of the more formative experiences of his life.
After a construction studies course at LIT and a four-year apprenticeship with a Limerick roofing crew, he started Guttering Services in 2009 with a single van and a paper invoice book. Sixteen years and roughly 4,500 gutter jobs later, the van's been replaced a few times. The standards haven't.
He still does most of the trickier surveys - older estates with cast-iron downpipes, listed houses where you can't just rip and replace, commercial buildings where the wrong slope means you've a flooded car park. The team handles the day-to-day; Thomas handles the calls that come in saying "three other companies quoted but I don't trust any of them."
Outside work he runs slow, fishes badly, and writes the technical posts on this site. The articles come from real jobs, not generic SEO content. If you ever want the answer on a specific gutter question, the form below or the phone go straight to him.
Career milestones
From apprentice to author
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2004
First job out of LIT
Apprenticeship with a roofing crew in Limerick. Climbed his first ladder, learned the difference between a real fall protection setup and a wing and a prayer.
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2009
Started Guttering Services
Bought a small van, a ladder rack, and a phone number. First customer was a semi-detached in Castletroy with a sagging gutter that nobody else would quote on.
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2014
First seamless aluminium install
Brought one of the first on-site rolled aluminium machines to Limerick. Most installers in the area still don't offer it.
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2019
Hit 1,000th gutter clean
A milestone celebrated quietly with a coffee on the way to job number 1,001.
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2024
Took on training
Started supervising apprentices for the firm. Mostly Limerick lads who grew up watching the same gutters fail year after year.
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2026
Today
Still on the ladder most days. Still writing the technical posts you read on this site. Still convinced most gutter problems start with someone cheaping out on brackets.
Known for
Strong opinions, formed on real roofs
Seamless aluminium gutters
"The right call for any house with a roof area over 100 m². Done right, they outlast the roof itself."
Gutter sealant
"Most failures aren't the sealant - they're the prep. Wipe the joint dry, prime the surface, and a tube of decent silicone lasts ten winters."
Bracket spacing
"Every 600mm on exposed runs. Every 700mm on sheltered. Anyone telling you to space at a metre is fitting half the brackets they should be."
When to repair vs replace
"Three repairs on the same run inside two years - it's replacement time. Cheaper than the next callout."
Popular guides
Most-read pieces by Thomas
- Gutter Installation Cost Ireland 2026: Per Metre & Full House Guide
- How Long Does Gutter Sealant Take to Dry?
- Gutter Bracket Spacing: How Far Apart Should Brackets Be?
- Types of Gutters: K-Style, Half-Round & Box Gutters Compared
- How to Install Gutters in 7 Steps
- What Are Rain Chains? Pros, Cons & Should You Use One