Gutter cleaning cost
What is the going rate to clean gutters and fascias?
The short answer
There is no single going rate, because the price follows the height of the house, the length of the run, how clogged the gutters are and how the cleaner reaches them. A labour benchmark helps: Checkatrade gives roofers around £35 to £45 an hour, or £280 to £360 a day. Our written quote follows a survey and gives one total price.
What decides the price of cleaning gutters and fascias, a labour benchmark to measure any quote against, and the extras that change the total.
Why there is no single going rate
Ask five people what it costs to clean gutters and you will get five figures, and each could be fair. A bungalow with a short, low run is a quick job from a ladder. A three-storey house with a long frontage and a hidden valley gutter is a different day's work. The same cleaner charging the same hourly rate gives two very different totals.
For that reason we never give a flat number over the phone. What helps more is knowing what moves the figure, so that you can judge any price put in front of you. The main factors are the length and height of the run, the amount of silt, moss and roof grit in it, whether the downpipes are blocked, and how easily the roof edge can be reached. Condition counts too: a gutter that is leaking or full of seedlings needs more than a rinse. Our page on gutter cleaning sets out what a visit includes.
A labour benchmark worth knowing
One national yardstick is a roofer's labour. Checkatrade's roof repair cost guide (its cost table is dated June 2026) prices roofers at around £35 to £45 an hour, or £280 to £360 a day, and says costs exclude VAT. That is a general trade rate, not a gutter-cleaning price, and a specialist with a vacuum pole may charge differently. It does give you a way to sense-check a quote, though.
If a job should take a couple of hours by ladder, a total that works out at a full day of a roofer's rate deserves a question. If the cleaner needs a tower or scaffold, the labour is only part of the figure. Ask how long the visit is expected to take and what it includes; a clear reply is worth having, and a shrug is a warning. Prices from a guide are typical UK figures and will not match your house exactly.
Access is the biggest variable
Height decides how the job is done. Gutters at single-storey level can be done from a stepladder or a small platform. Two storeys needs longer ladders with stand-offs, or a tower. Above that, scaffolding or a hired lift is normal. Checkatrade's scaffolding guide, updated in October 2026, gives about £875 for a month on a two-storey semi and a terrace nearer £800, with a licence fee on top when the poles stand over the pavement.
Few people want scaffolding only for a clean, so the sensible approach is to combine the clean with other work on the roofline. If you need a repair to the fascia or the roof edge anyway, the access is paid for once. Where the house has a conservatory, a flat extension or an obstacle under the eaves, cleaning from the ground with a vacuum pole can be quicker. Our page on gutter vacuum cleaning describes the method and its limits.
What cleaning gutters and fascias covers
A proper job clears the gutter of silt, leaves and moss, flushes it, and checks that the outlets and downpipes run freely. Washing the fascia, which is the board along the eaves that the gutter is fixed to, is a separate task. Plastic fascias take a gentle wash. Painted timber needs care so that failing paint is not driven off, and the soffit, the panel under the overhang, is wiped rather than soaked so the vents stay clear. Cleaning does not repaint or repair; it shows what needs doing.
The visit is also a chance to look. While the gutters are open we can see whether joints weep, brackets have slipped, or the board behind is soft. Cleaning that turns up a fault is a useful result, since it is cheaper to fix a joint than to replace a rotten board later. We photograph anything we find. Birds sometimes nest in gutters and roof edges, and nesting birds are protected, so we look before disturbing a nest.
Getting a firm price and keeping the bill down
For a firm figure we survey the roofline, note the heights and run lengths, and then send a written quote with one total. Whatever price you are offered, ask if it includes VAT, access equipment and the removal of what comes out of the gutters. Where cleaning will not cure the trouble, we tell you, and the fix may be as small as resetting a bracket or re-sealing one joint.
Regular cleaning keeps each visit shorter, since silt that has built up for years takes longer to clear than a season's leaves. Our guide to how often to clean gutters explains how overhanging trees, roof type and moss change the interval. The guttering, soffits and fascias hub sets out the wider work, from repairs through to full replacement of the roofline.
Related questions
Gutter cleaning price questions
Is it cheaper to clean gutters from the ground?
Sometimes. A vacuum pole can reach a low or medium roof edge without ladders, which saves set-up time. It cannot reach every roof, and it will not show how the joints and brackets look up close. The right method depends on your house.
Should the fascias be cleaned at the same visit?
Usually it makes sense, since the cleaner is already at the eaves with the access in place. Ask for it when you book. Painted timber needs gentler treatment than plastic, so mention the material to the cleaner.