Pricing Guide for Gutter Cleaning

Summary Price Guide

Price range = £2 to £15 per linear metre

Average cost = £4.50 to £5.52 per linear metre

Best / cheapest price = £2 per linear metre for exterior gutter cleaning

The primary purpose of a gutter is to collect rainwater and melting snow from the roof and channel it through the downspouts to a water drain or soak-away. Unfortunately, most people experience blockage with their gutters. But while gutters are prone to be blocked by roof moss, leaves, twigs, excessive moss growth, etc., they remain an integral part of the drainage system of houses and cannot be neglected.

Apart from the possibility of causing mould growth, roof damage, flooding, water stains, dampness, which can also lead to expensive damage to other parts of the building, clogged gutters often create the perfect room for insects to breed. To put it another way, keeping a blocked gutter is simply an open invitation to pest infestation! It’s essential to keep your gutters clean and in good condition.

Gutter cleaning usually involves clearing of leaves, twigs, roof moss, debris, and other things that might clog the gutters and ensure the guttering system is properly flushed. But what is the pricing model involved in the cleaning process, and how much does gutter cleaning cost?

How much does Gutter Cleaning cost?

In the UK, the average gutter cleaning cost is £4.50 to £5.52 per linear metre. Although extra dirty or clogged gutters will result in a cleaning cost of £7 or more per linear metre. Cleaning the exterior of the gutter will cost you £2 to 5 per linear metre on average. The cost of having your downpipe filters cleaned is often fixed at around £5 per filter. Additionally, if you want to replace a part of your gutter, it will cost you more money. Usually, replacing any part of your gutter will attract about £10 to £15 per part, depending on the size of the segment.

The prices mentioned above are the average prices for manual gutter cleaning. The actual price you end up paying may vary from the prices given here—so don’t fight the gutter cleaners you hire over their charges! The given prices here are to provide you with an idea of the pricing model and the average amount you could be likely pay to clean your gutters. Keep in mind that the cost of vacuum-cleaning a gutter is much higher than it would be otherwise.  

Overall, the average cost for gutter vacuum cleaning is between £30 and £150 for the clear outs, while fascia and soffit cleaning can cost you between £40 and £200 using a vacuum. Additionally, the cost of having your gutter cleaned will be higher in rare cases where the cleaning will require the use of scaffolding, than where scaffolding is not required.

Cost factors of gutter cleaning

The cost factors of gutter cleaning your house include:

• House type
• Roof type
• Ease of access
• Location of property
• Size of gutter
• Type of gutter

House type

There are various sizes of houses, namely:

• Large detached
• Semi-detached
• Detached
• Terraced
• Bungalows

The amount of time gutter cleaning requires depends a lot on the type of your house. Naturally, you’ll pay more when the cleaning process requires a long time to accomplish. Generally, gutter cleaning in terraced houses takes a shorter time and is cheaper than gutter cleaning detached homes, which are often expensive to gutter-clean.

Similarly, the cost of gutter cleaning semi-detached houses is often higher than terraced houses but not as expensive as the fully detached ones.

Roof type

The cost of gutter cleaning your property will depend on the type of roof that your property has, whether is it’s a gable end roof or hip roof for example.

Accessibility of the roof

Accessing the roofs of some homes can be complicated because of the house design. It can be extremely difficult to clean these houses and will require a higher labour cost and longer time on the job. Gutter cleaning these houses with difficult roof accessibility will cost more because of the time and labour cost needed to get the job done correctly.

Also, as mentioned earlier, scaffolding may be required to access the roof of some houses, particularly those with difficult accessibility. The use of scaffolding will also add to the cost of getting the gutter cleaning done.

Location of property

The cost of gutter cleaning also depends on which area you live in UK. For instance, contractors in South East England and London charge more and gutter cleaning costs are usually higher than those in other parts of the country. Conversely, in Scotland and the North of England, contractors and tradesmen generally charge lower than other parts of the UK.

Size of the gutter

The size of the gutter will also determine how much it will cost. Gutter cleaning prices are usually calculated by how many square metres of guttering you need to be cleaned. The bigger the size of the gutter, the higher the cost.

Type of gutter

Gutters that are not broken into sections and have continuous length usually don’t accumulate a lot of debris. Because of this, these types of gutters are often easier to clean than gutters that are divided into sections. Generally, contractors tend to charge higher rates for gutters that are broken into sections than those with continuous length.

Can I do the gutter cleaning myself?

While you can clean your gutters by yourself, you need to ask yourself some important questions before you even begin the process. Will the cleaning require a ladder or scaffolding, and do you have the necessary gutter cleaning equipment? Perhaps most importantly, how confident are you about cleaning the gutters, especially with regard to health and safety?

Would you be able to clean the gutters without damaging anything? For instance, some plastic gutters can be damaged if you apply excessive pressure on them. It’s essential that you adequately answer these questions before trying to clean the gutters by yourself.

If you have doubts, you should hire tradespeople who can professionally help you get your guttering system clean. Also, gutter cleaning can be a dangerous task, (electrocution, high falls, property damage are real!) which professionals would be better equipped to handle.

It is especially important to hire professional tradesmen if if you notice any of the following signs:

• Your gutters are bending, sagging, or coming away from your house
• You observe pest infestation around the gutter
• You observe that water is overflowing over the edges of the gutters
• Plants are growing from the gutters
• You observe stain marks on your siding (which often result from the build-up of water and foliage)

Choosing the right gutter cleaning tradespeople

Four different types of tradespeople can help you gutter-clean your house:

• Window cleaners are people who sometimes offer this service as an additional service to their window-cleaning business. Window cleaners can be very affordable
• Roofing companies if they are proficient in everything associated with roofing.
• Gutter installers and fascia/soffit companies usually engage in gutter cleaning and maintenance
• Professional gutter cleaning companies that are entirely focused on gutter maintenance.

Generally, professional gutter cleaning companies are the cheapest because, aside from having the necessary equipment to get the job done, they offer per metre pricing, which would give you the ability to determine how much the work will cost before the actual cleaning takes place. Roofing companies are, by far, the most expensive because they also charge the same amount per hour. This is perhaps because they charge the same amount per hour for complex roof repairs and gutter cleaning.

Before hiring tradespeople for gutter cleaning, look out for the following:

• Ensure they are experienced
• Check their previous ratings from past jobs
• Look at the jobs they’ve done before
• If available, you may also want to check their qualification and accreditations. However, many professional contractors are competent although they don’t have qualifications.
• Hire only professionals who can competently deliver the job without any hassle.

Please note that these prices are estimates only.