Is gutter cleaning worth it?

When is gutter cleaning worth it?

A gutter clean is worth it as soon as the gutters stop doing their job: carrying rainwater along to the downpipes and away from the house. For most homes that means once or twice a year. Look for:

• Water spilling over the edge in heavy rain, instead of going down the downpipe.
• Grass, weeds or moss sprouting along the gutter line.
• Damp patches or green streaks on the wall below a gutter.
• A gutter that dips or has started to come away from the board behind it.
• A downpipe that stays dry when it’s pouring, or a puddle that forms at its foot.

Any one of these means the water is going somewhere it shouldn’t. Clearing the gutters at that point is cheap; waiting until a wall or a fascia board has soaked for a few winters is not. If you’re not sure how often your house needs it, see when you should clean your gutters.

When isn’t it worth paying for?

Paying for a gutter clean isn’t always the right call. It’s usually not worth it when:

• You live in a bungalow and can do it safely. Single-storey gutters are low enough for many people to clear themselves with a stable ladder, gloves and a second person holding the ladder steady. On a two-storey house or higher, it’s a different job: falls from height are the most common kind of fatal accident at work in Great Britain.
• The gutters are broken, not blocked. If water drips from the joints, a section has cracked, or the gutter has pulled loose from its brackets, clearing it won’t fix the leak. That needs a repair.
• They were cleared recently and nothing has changed. A house with no trees nearby usually needs a clean about once a year. Checking them after a storm is enough in between.

How does the cost compare with the repairs blocked gutters can lead to?

A gutter clean costs a small fraction of the repairs that blocked gutters can lead to. Water that keeps overflowing soaks the wall below, can rot the fascia boards the gutters are fixed to, and over time can bring damp through to the inside. Wet debris also adds weight, which can make gutters sag and pull away.

Typical UK prices for repair work, checked October 2026. These are not Washmates prices, and published averages don’t always say whether VAT is included. Scaffolding and new downpipes are often charged on top.

Not every blocked gutter ends in one of these bills. But overflowing gutters are one of the most common reasons for damp coming through an outside wall, and a damp repair won’t last until the gutter is fixed. You can see typical gutter cleaning prices by type of house in our cost guide.

How long does a gutter clean last?

A clean lasts until the gutters fill up again, and that depends mostly on what’s around your house. As a rough guide:

• No trees nearby: about once a year is usually enough.
• Trees close to the house: twice a year, once after the leaves fall and again in spring.
• Trees hanging over the roof: three or four times a year.
• Moss on the roof: at least once a year, until the moss itself is dealt with.

A storm can fill a gutter quickly, so it’s worth a look after a windy spell, whatever the time of year. Our guide to when you should clean your gutters explains which months work best.

What do you get for the money?

Washmates clears gutters with a gutter vacuum, which pulls the leaves, moss and silt out of the gutters and the downpipes. Every gutter clean includes:

• The gutters, emptied of moss, leaves and silt.
• The downpipes, cleared too, because a blocked downpipe fills the gutter straight back up.
• A post-service clean-up, so your property is left tidy.
• Digital before and after photos, so you can see the gutters were cleared.

Prices start from £60, VAT included, and we’re insured for £2m public liability. Washing the outside of the gutters and the fascia boards isn’t part of a gutter clean. You can read more on our gutter cleaning page.

Is it better to book a gutter clean or a roof clean?

It depends on what’s filling the gutters. If it’s mostly leaves, a gutter clean is all you need. If your roof is green with moss, the moss keeps coming loose in wind and rain and washing into the gutters, so they’ll fill up again quickly.

In that case, a roof clean deals with the cause. Moss is cleared with a low-pressure soft wash, and every Washmates roof clean includes the gutters, so you don’t pay for them twice. See what it costs to clean a roof, gutters and solar panels together.

If it’s the gutters you need, tell us about your house and we’ll send you a fixed price, usually without a site visit.