Guttering is the cheapest part of your roof to maintain and one of the most expensive to neglect. Its only job is to carry rainwater away from your walls and foundations - and when it can't, that water goes somewhere it shouldn't: into the brickwork, down behind the fascia, and eventually through your ceiling. A clean costs less than a takeaway; the damage from ignoring it runs into the thousands.
A gutter clean is usually £60-£150 for a typical house. Repairs run £80-£400; a full replacement is £400-£1,200 depending on the size of the property and the material.
Typical UK Prices
Prices are driven mainly by the height and length of the run - a single-storey terrace is quick and low-risk, while a three-storey detached needs more access equipment and time.
| Job | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Clear gutters (terraced / semi) | £60-£120 |
| Clear gutters (detached / 3-storey) | £120-£250 |
| Re-seal or re-fix a leaking joint | £80-£180 |
| Replace a sagging bracket / section | £150-£400 |
| Full gutter replacement (semi) | £400-£900 |
| Full gutter replacement (detached) | £800-£1,500 |
What Affects the Price
- Height and access
- Anything above one storey may need a tower or scaffold, which adds time and cost. Bungalows are cheapest.
- Length of run
- A long detached frontage simply has more metres of gutter to clear, seal or replace.
- Material
- Standard uPVC is cheapest; cast iron or aluminium on a period property costs considerably more to match.
- Condition
- Brittle, sun-damaged plastic that cracks when handled often tips a repair into a replacement.
Why Blocked Gutters Get Expensive Fast
When a gutter overflows, the water doesn't just disappear - it runs straight down the wall behind it. Over a wet winter that's enough to saturate brickwork, rot the timber fascia and soffit, and show up as damp patches on the inside of your upstairs walls. Left long enough, it reaches the roof timbers and the repair stops being about gutters at all.
- Overflowing water rots timber fascias and soffits
- Damp patches appear on internal walls and ceilings
- Saturated walls lose their insulating value and grow mould
- Standing water sags the gutter until brackets pull away
- In winter, trapped water freezes, expands and cracks the run
How Often Should Gutters Be Cleaned?
Twice a year is the rule of thumb for most homes - once in late autumn after the leaves have fallen, and once in spring. If you have large trees nearby, you may need it more often; a roof with no overhanging trees might manage on an annual clean. The autumn clear is the important one: it gets the leaf fall out before the wet season, which is exactly when overflowing gutters do their damage.
Clean, Repair or Replace?
- Just blocked
- Leaves, moss and silt - a clean sorts it completely. This is the vast majority of gutter callouts.
- Leaking at a joint
- A perished seal or a slipped bracket. Re-sealing or re-fixing is cheap if you catch it early.
- Sagging or cracked
- Old, brittle or storm-damaged plastic won't hold a seal again - replacing the section (or the run) is the better long-term spend.
Should You Clean Gutters Yourself?
Ground-floor gutters on a bungalow or single-storey extension are a reasonable DIY job with a sturdy ladder and a helper footing it. Anything higher is genuinely dangerous - most serious DIY accidents in the home involve ladders, and a roofer with the right access equipment clears the whole house in the time it takes to nervously do one length.
- Never work from a ladder alone - always have someone footing it
- Don't overreach; move the ladder rather than stretch
- Stay off wet, mossy or icy surfaces entirely
- For two storeys or more, pay a professional - it's not worth the fall
If a storm has just been through, run our storm damage roof checklist while you're looking up, and see how guttering fits alongside other jobs in the roof repair cost guide. Water already pouring down the wall or coming inside? Get an emergency roofer on the way on the way fast.