Can you just clear the gutters or does it all need replacing?

Most of the time a clear and realign is enough. We only recommend replacement when sections have gone brittle, the joints have been repaired repeatedly, or the fascia behind has rotted so the brackets have nothing solid to hold. You get photos from the gutter line, so you can see which of those applies to your house.

How often should Leeds gutters be cleared?

Once a year for most houses, and twice for anything under mature trees. Roundhay, Chapel Allerton and Horsforth have a lot of established limes and sycamores, and those fill a gutter by late November. Moss washing off an old slate roof is the other big contributor, and it builds up steadily rather than seasonally.

Should the old fascia be capped over or replaced?

Replaced, if the timber behind it is soft. Capping a rotten board with uPVC hides the problem and traps moisture against the rafter feet, which is where the expensive damage happens. Capping is reasonable where the timber is sound and you simply want to stop painting it. We check the board with a probe and tell you which you have.

What size guttering does a Leeds terrace need?

Standard 112mm half round handles most terraces and semis. A long slate slope, a steep pitch or a roof draining to one outlet can overwhelm it, and that is when you get water sheeting over the front in heavy rain. In those cases we move to a deep flow profile or add a second outlet rather than replacing like for like.

Can you keep my cast iron guttering?

Often yes, and in a conservation area it can be the better route. Cast iron fails at the joints rather than the middle. We can strip and rebed the joints, replace a cracked section with a reclaimed one and repaint the run. Where it is beyond that, cast aluminium gives the same profile and shadow line with far less maintenance.

Do you need scaffold to replace guttering?

Not usually on a two storey house. A tower or ladders with proper footing reach the eaves safely and that is how we price it. Three storey terraces around Headingley and Hyde Park, and anything over a conservatory, a flat roof or an awkward drop, need a scaffold and we say so on the quote.

Guttering, Fascias and Soffits in Leeds

New uPVC guttering in Leeds costs £25 to £50 per metre fitted, and fascias and soffits run £55 to £100 per metre. Clearing and flushing the whole house is £90 to £180. Overflowing guttering soaks the wall below it and rots the rafter feet behind it, so it is worth dealing with early.

Signs you need this

Water sheeting over the front of the gutter in every downpour

A green stripe of algae down the brickwork or the render below a joint

Plants growing out of the gutter line

Guttering visibly sagging between brackets or pulling away from the fascia

Peeling paint and soft timber on the fascia board behind the gutter

Water splashing off a broken downpipe onto a doorstep or a path

Why guttering matters more on a Leeds house than people think

A blocked or failing gutter puts water on two things that cost real money: the wall and the rafter feet. On a solid brick Victorian terrace with no cavity, a persistently wet patch of wall carries moisture straight through to the plaster inside. On a rendered house the water gets behind the render and blows it off in sheets after a frost.

Behind the gutter it is worse. The ends of the rafters sit right there, and if water has been running down the back of a rotten fascia for a few seasons they go soft. That turns a guttering job into a roofing job, which is why we always look behind the board rather than only at the plastic in front of it.

What we check

Falls first. A gutter should drop steadily to the outlet, and a surprising number have been fitted dead level or falling away from the downpipe. Then bracket spacing, because too few brackets on a long run leaves a belly that holds water and silt permanently.

Then the joints and the unions, which are where uPVC systems leak once the seals harden. Then the outlets and the downpipe, all the way to the gully at the bottom. A blocked back inlet gully floods the base of the wall just as effectively as a broken gutter floods the top of it.

On terraces we also check where your run meets your neighbour’s. Shared runs across a row need a stop end or a proper joint at the party line, and a lot of them have neither.

Material choices

uPVC is the default and it is a reasonable one. It is light, it does not rust, it comes in black, white, brown and grey, and it is quick to replace if something cracks. Half round 112mm suits most houses. Square and ogee profiles suit a 1930s semi or where you are matching the neighbour.

Cast aluminium costs more and looks like the original cast iron, with a proper deep profile and a shadow line that suits a Victorian or Edwardian elevation. It is worth the difference on a front elevation in a conservation area, and we use it on Horsforth and Wetherby properties where uPVC looks wrong.

Original cast iron is often worth keeping if it has been looked after. We can repair and repaint a run and it will outlast most replacements.

Fascias, soffits and ventilation

When soffits go on, ventilation goes with them. A continuous 10mm gap at the eaves, or vented soffit board, keeps air moving through the loft. Boxing an eaves in solid is a common shortcut and it produces condensation on the underside of the roof within a couple of winters, which people then report as a leak.

We fit over fascia vents where the roof covering sits too tight for a soffit vent to work, and we make sure loft insulation is not stuffed hard into the eaves and blocking the airflow while we are up there.

How the work runs

Survey the whole run

We check falls, joints, brackets, outlets and downpipes, and look behind the gutter at the fascia and the rafter feet. Photos of anything rotten come to you before we price it.

Clear or replace

Where the run is sound and the fall is right, a clear, flush and realign fixes it for a fraction of the cost. Where the sections are brittle or the boards behind them are gone, replacement is the honest answer.

Fit properly

New brackets at correct centres, a consistent fall to the outlet, and the downpipe connected into the gully rather than aimed at it.

Test with water

We run a hose along the finished gutter and watch every joint before packing up. Old sections and offcuts leave in our van.

What it typically costs

Job	Typical range
New guttering, per metre uPVC guttering, brackets and downpipe connections, tower access included on a two-storey house	£25 to £50
Fascia and soffit, per metre Rotten timber removed and replaced, then capped or fully replaced in uPVC	£55 to £100
Clear and flush a whole house Gutters, outlets and downpipes cleared and tested, typical two-storey semi or terrace	£90 to £180
New downpipe Per run, including brackets, shoe and connection to the gully	£70 to £150
Cast iron gutter repair Rebedding joints and replacing a broken section on a retained cast iron run	£180 to £600
Cast aluminium guttering, per metre Where a conservation area or a heritage look rules out uPVC	£55 to £110

Typical ranges for Leeds and the surrounding area , reviewed September 2026. Every quote is written and fixed before work starts.