Gutter clearing is one of those jobs where two quotes for the same house can differ by half, and the reason is almost always what is and is not included. Knowing what a full visit looks like makes it much easier to compare.
Here is exactly how ours runs, from the quote to the photographs afterwards.
Before the visit: the quote
Gutter clearing is one of the few exterior jobs that can be priced accurately without a site visit, because it is driven by the number of sides and the length of the runs rather than by condition. Our instant calculator prices one side, a terraced front and back, a semi-detached front and back, a bungalow, or a detached property up to four sides, with an add-on for the exterior gutter, fascia and soffit scrub.
Commercial sites, box gutters, parapets and anything needing powered access are quoted after we have seen it, because access drives the cost far more than the clearing does.
On the day: access and set-up
We work from the ground wherever we can, using a carbon-fibre gutter vacuum on telescopic poles. It is faster than laddering round a house, and it keeps ladder feet off your fascia boards, window frames and planting.
We need reasonable access round the property and, ideally, cars off the drive. Where a run genuinely cannot be reached from the ground — an enclosed courtyard, a parapet, an awkward extension roof — we use tower or powered access, agreed before we arrive rather than sprung on you on the day.
The clearing itself
Every run gets cleared to the base of the gutter, not just skimmed of the loose material on top. Wet sludge, packed roof grit and moss are what actually block a gutter, and they are what a quick scoop leaves behind.
- All accessible gutter runs vacuumed clear, front and back.
- Hoppers and outlets cleared by hand where they need it.
- Every downpipe flow-tested with water before we finish.
- Debris bagged and taken away — nothing left in your borders or your bin.
- Before and after photographs of the inside of the runs, sent with the job.
What is not included as standard
Clearing the inside of the gutter does not clean the outside of it. The green streak on the front face of the gutter, the fascia and the soffit is a separate scrub-down — usually worth adding at the same visit, because a second mobilisation costs more than the add-on does.
Repairs are also separate. We will tell you if we find a dropped bracket, a leaking joint, a rotten fascia board or a missing gutter section, and photograph it, but a clearing visit is not a repair visit.
Afterwards
You get the photographs and a written record of what was cleared and tested. If a downpipe was silted and needed extra work, that will be in there too.
Most Kent homes then want the same visit once a year, or twice under heavy tree cover. We can add you to a maintenance reminder so you get a nudge at the right point in the autumn rather than remembering it in the middle of a storm.
The short version
- A full visit clears every run, tests every downpipe and removes the debris.
- Ground-level vacuum work keeps ladders off your fascias and frames.
- Before and after photographs should come as standard, not on request.
- The outside face of the gutter, fascia and soffit is an add-on worth doing at the same visit.
