Most people ringing round for gutter prices get a number with no explanation behind it, which makes it impossible to tell whether they are being quoted fairly. So here is how I price it and what actually moves the number.
I price per side, not per house
From £25 a side on an average home.
A side means one continuous run of gutter — usually the front, the back, and sometimes one or both gable ends. Most houses round here need two sides doing, which puts a typical job at £40 to £60.
Pricing per side rather than per house sounds like a technicality, but it is the bit that saves people money. Plenty of homes only ever have a problem at the back, where the trees are. There is no reason to pay for the front as well if the front is fine, and I would rather tell you that than quietly bill for four sides.
What changes the number
Size of the house. A small new-build with short runs and clear access is about ten minutes’ work. A large detached with a conservatory in the way is not, and the price reflects it.
Access. Sloped gardens, extensions, conservatories, a shared close, cars that cannot be moved — all of it adds time. Nothing gets damaged getting to your gutters, which occasionally means going the slow way round.
How long since the last one. Gutters that have been left five years hold packed moss and silt rather than loose leaves. That is a different job from an annual tidy.
Downpipes. Checking them is part of the price. A properly blocked downpipe — the kind where the gutter overflows while the pipe stays bone dry — sometimes needs more work, and I will tell you before I start rather than after.
Two real jobs
- Residential gutters, Kilsyth — £50. Standard semi, both sides, nothing complicated.
- Small new-build, Airdrie — about ten minutes of work. Short runs, easy access, priced accordingly.
Those are actual jobs, not illustrations.
What is in the price
- Every run cleared by hand, so the joints, brackets and outlets get looked at while the debris comes out
- Downpipes checked, and flushed through if they need it
- Cleared by hand so the packed silt and moss come out, with vacuum poles from the ground where a ladder cannot go safely
- Inline camera, so you can see the inside of the gutter before and after
- Debris bagged and taken away, not left in a heap by the back door
No ladders matters more than it sounds. Ladders are how gutters get bent and how render gets marked, and that damage costs more to put right than the clean did.
What I do not charge for
Looking. If you are not sure whether it needs doing, send a photo from the pavement and your postcode and you will get a straight answer the same day, including “leave it another year” if that is the honest answer. I give that answer fairly often — usually to people with no trees anywhere near them who have been told annual cleaning is essential.
The bit where you actually save money
The expensive part of a small job is the trip-out, not the work. If I am already at yours for the windows, the fascias or the roof, adding the gutters costs you one visit instead of two.
Fascias in particular are worth doing at the same time. The gutter sits directly above them, so clearing the gutter first and cleaning the fascia second is one visit; doing it the other way round means the fascia gets dirty again on the way past.
When it is worth paying and when it is not
Blocked gutters overflow. Overflowing water runs down the wall, soaks into render, rots the fascia behind the gutter, and eventually shows up as a damp patch on an inside wall that nobody connects to the gutter. By then you are paying a joiner, not a cleaner.
That is the real argument for doing it. Not that it looks untidy — it is that the cheap job stops the expensive one.
But if you have no trees within a hundred feet and the water runs away properly in heavy rain, you probably do not need me this year. Ask me and I will say so.
Send a photo of the gutter line from the pavement and your postcode, and you will get one fixed price back the same day.
07440347383
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