A yearly clear, and why autumn matters
A gutter is a channel that has to stay open to work. Leaves, seeds, moss and grit settle in it through the year, and a run that is never cleared eventually blocks. When it does, the water goes over the front or the back, and that is the start of damp walls and rotten boards.
A sensible baseline is to clear every gutter at least once a year. The weeks after the leaves have fallen suit it, since that is when most debris arrives in one go. If a lot of leaf has gone in and the run is left through winter, the channel sits full of wet matter for months.
Some people add a second look in spring, to clear what the winter left and to check the joints before summer. That is a good habit rather than a rule.
It also helps to treat the clear as an inspection. While you are there, look at the joints, the brackets, the outlets and the top of the downpipe. Our guide to cleaning gutters yourself sets out how to do that without taking risks.
What makes it more often
A yearly clear is the floor, not the ceiling. These conditions push the interval shorter:
- Trees close to the house, especially broadleaf trees that drop a lot of leaf in autumn.
- A roof covering that is shedding moss, grit or granules into the channel.
- A low-pitched or flat roof draining into a gutter that has little fall.
- A run with a poor fall, where silt settles and holds water.
- Nearby building work, which adds dust and debris.
Moss is worth a word. It grows on damp, shaded surfaces, and a run with water lying in it gives the moss an ideal start. Once it is established it traps more debris, so a small problem grows, and a patch that was a nuisance in March can be a plug by October.
If you are unsure whether your gutters sit in the more-often group, look at them in a spring clear. A channel that is nearly full after one year is telling you to come back sooner. One that is clean apart from a handful of leaves can wait the full twelve months. Make a note of the date and what you found, because next year's decision is easier with last year's record in front of you.
Signs that cannot wait for the calendar
Do not wait for a date if you see any of these:
- Water spilling over the front or back of the gutter in rain.
- Plants, seedlings or moss growing in the channel.
- A damp or stained stripe on the wall under the gutter.
- A sagging section or a gap at a joint.
- A downpipe that gurgles, or stays dry while the run above it is full.
Any one of those means the gutter is not carrying water as it should. A look from the ground during rain will usually show it. The outlet, where the channel meets the downpipe, is the first place to look, and our note on a blocked downpipe is the next stop if the outlet is the culprit.
If the water is already marking the wall, work out where it is escaping before you do anything else, since a stain below a joint and a stain below an overflowing lip need different repairs. Acting early is cheap, and leaving it is not, because wet timber behind a gutter is slow to dry and quick to rot.
What clearing costs, and who does it
Which? Trusted Traders gave a range of £75 to £350 for clearing the gutters at both the front and the back of a property in November 2025. The range is a national one, quoted without VAT, and Which? warns that the South East, which takes in Kent, sits towards the dearer end.
What sets the price at the roof is access: how high the eaves are, how long the runs are, whether a ladder will do or a tower is needed, and what has to come out. You see one written total before anything is booked.
For a low run on a house you can reach safely, doing it yourself is realistic. For higher or awkward ones, a roofer can clear the gutters and report on the joints and boards in the same visit. That report is often the real value, since it catches a failing joint before it becomes a wet wall.
Our page on gutter cleaning cost goes further on price, and a cover over the channel changes the routine less than people expect. For everything else on the roofline, start at guttering, soffits and fascias.
