What is actually in there
Almost never just leaves. A gutter we open up in Shropshire usually holds a compacted mix of leaf litter, roof grit washed off the tiles, moss that has dropped from the ridge, and a surprising amount of moss seed that then grows in place. Once that mix holds water it turns to a heavy sludge, and that is what actually blocks the downpipe.
Two things make it worse locally: mature trees on the older estates, and moss. Shropshire roofs grow a lot of moss, and every bit of it eventually ends up in the gutter.
What a blocked gutter does to the house
- Wet walls. Water going over the front edge runs down the render or brickwork instead of into the drain. That is the dark streak under the gutter line, and it is the start of a damp patch inside.
- Rotten fascias and soffits. Water sitting behind the gutter goes straight into the board behind it. Timber rots, UPVC stains and warps.
- Frozen splits. A gutter full of wet sludge in December freezes, expands and cracks the joint. That is a repair, not a clean.
- Weight. Sodden debris is heavy enough to pull brackets away from the fascia over a season or two.
None of that is dramatic on the day. It is all slow, and it is all cheaper to prevent than to fix.
How often they need doing
Once a year is the baseline for most houses, ideally in late autumn once the leaves are down. If you have trees close to the roof, or a lot of moss on the tiles, twice a year saves a great deal of grief. Bungalows and low-pitch roofs tend to need it more often than you would think, because there is less run-off to flush them.
Worth knowing: we clear from the ground with a 40ft vacuum system and put a camera up the pole first, so you get to see what was actually in there rather than take our word for it. No ladders leaning on your gutters, which is how a lot of gutter damage happens in the first place.
What it costs
Gutter clearing starts at £80 for a standard semi and is priced by the size and layout of the roof, not by the hour. Downpipes are flushed and everything that comes out is bagged and taken away. Current prices for every service are on the gutter clearing page, and the instant calculator will price your house in about thirty seconds.
If the fascias and soffits have already stained, they can be washed at the same visit, which is cheaper than booking two separate jobs and means one set-up rather than two.
How to tell without going up a ladder
- Plants growing out of the gutter line. Obvious, but people get used to seeing it.
- Water running over the front edge during heavy rain rather than out of the downpipe.
- A dark vertical streak on the wall under a joint.
- Splashback marks up the bottom of the wall by a downpipe.
- Green growth on the fascia board directly under the gutter.
Any of those and it is worth a look. We cover Telford and the surrounding Shropshire towns, and a gutter check takes minutes if we are already on your street.