Gutter clearing & cleaning
In short
A blocked gutter puts water down the wall all winter, which is how damp inside, perished pointing and rotten fascias start. Clearing them is the cheapest job on the roof and the one that prevents the most expensive ones.
Also called: Clear gutters · Blocked gutter · Gutter overflowing · Gutter clearance
Signs you need this
- Water spilling over the front edge of the gutter in rain
- Plants or grass growing out of the gutter
- A green or damp stripe down the wall below the gutter
- Water running down the wall rather than through the downpipe
- Damp appearing on an internal wall at first-floor level
- Sagging gutter sections holding standing water
Gutters block from above. On most local roofs the material filling them is not leaves at all — it is moss shed off the slates and tiles, which breaks off in weather and washes down. Add leaves where there are trees, mortar grit from ridges and chimneys, and the occasional bird's nest, and a gutter that was clear in spring can be holding standing water by November.
What that does is out of proportion to the cost of preventing it. An overflowing gutter puts a continuous curtain of water down the wall for the whole of the wet season. The wall saturates, which means damp showing inside, mortar joints perishing faster, and — where the water goes behind rather than over — rot in the fascia and the rafter feet directly behind the gutter. That last one turns a ladder job into a joinery job.
There is also a local argument for keeping rainwater moving properly. Cheshire East's Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment designates Macclesfield as the borough's only Flood Risk Area, with 47 internal flooding incidents recorded since 2011 — the highest of any town in the borough — and attributes part of that to an ageing network of unmapped, culverted watercourses buried under the town. A street of houses discharging badly-maintained rainwater into a stressed surface-water system is not a neutral thing, and keeping your own run clear is a real part of the answer.
Doing it properly means more than scooping. The gutter is cleared along its full length, the outlets and downpipe tops are checked and rodded if needed, the gully at the bottom is cleared, and the fall is looked at — because a gutter that is holding water when it is clean has dropped and wants re-hanging rather than cleaning. Debris comes down rather than being flushed into the downpipe, which is how a clear gutter and a blocked drain happen at the same time.
How often depends on what is over the roof. A house under trees genuinely needs it annually, ideally in late autumn once the leaves are down. A roof with heavy moss growth is much the same. An exposed roof with nothing overhanging can often go two or three years. Anybody selling an annual contract on a house with nothing above it is selling frequency rather than need.
This is one of the jobs where the temptation to do it yourself is strongest and the risk is highest. Ladder falls are the commonest serious accident in home maintenance, and reaching sideways from a ladder at gutter height is exactly the movement that causes them. If it is a bungalow with easy footing, fair enough. On a two- or three-storey terrace, it is not worth it.
What the job covers
- Full length of gutter cleared, debris taken down not flushed
- Outlets and downpipe tops checked and rodded
- Gullies at the base of downpipes cleared
- Falls checked — a gutter holding water when clean has dropped
- Joints, brackets and fixings inspected while access is up
- Photographs of anything found that needs attention
What it costs
We don't publish a price for this yet, because a number pulled out of the air is worse than no number at all — your roofer has to honour it. On roofing it would also be close to meaningless: access is often the biggest single factor, and it varies enormously house to house. You'll get a firm price for your actual job when they ring you back, before any work starts. The quote itself is free and there's no obligation either way.
Common questions
How often should gutters be cleared?
With trees over the roof, once a year, ideally late autumn. With heavy moss on the covering, much the same, because moss is what actually fills most gutters round here. On an exposed roof with nothing overhanging, every two or three years is honest. There is no universal schedule and anyone insisting on one is selling frequency.
My gutter is clean but still holds water. Why?
It has dropped. Gutters are hung to a fall so water runs to the outlet, and brackets fail, fascias soften or a section sags — after which it holds a puddle even when perfectly clear. Cleaning will not fix that; it needs re-hanging to a proper fall, which is a small job compared with what standing water in a gutter causes.
Are gutter guards worth it?
Mixed. They keep leaves out reasonably well, but moss and fine grit get through and then sit under the guard where they are much harder to remove. On a leaf-heavy site they can genuinely reduce the frequency; on a mossy roof they can make the eventual clean worse. They are not a substitute for ever looking again.
Can I do it myself?
On a bungalow with firm level ground, reasonably. On a two- or three-storey house, please do not — ladder falls are the commonest serious home-maintenance accident, and reaching sideways at gutter height is precisely the movement that causes them. It is not an expensive job to have done.
Need this doing in Macclesfield?
Tell us the job and it goes straight to our local roofer — one call back, usually the same day. Free quote, no obligation.