Why it's worth doing on a schedule
Blocked spouting overflows, and that water has to go somewhere: down the fascia, into the soffits, against the cladding and around the foundations. A few winters of that and you get rot, mould and paint that won't stay on.
Insurers see it as maintenance. The Insurance Council says blocked gutters that overflow and damage walls aren't treated as sudden damage, and house policies commonly exclude rot and gradual deterioration. Keeping the spouting clear is the part you control.
Metal spouting needs washing as well as emptying. NZ Steel lists the undersides of gutters and fascias among the unwashed areas COLORSTEEL owners should wash every 6 months in its Mild and Moderate categories, and more often closer to the surf. Marley asks for the outside of its PVC spouting to be washed at least once a year.
How often, for which house?
| How often we'd plan on it | Why | |
|---|---|---|
| Open section, few trees | Once a year, before winter | Monier's minimum for gutters |
| Trees overhanging the roof | Twice a year, including after the autumn drop | Monier suggests checking and cleaning twice a year where roofs are tree-lined |
| Stone-chip pressed metal tiles | Yearly, watching for granules | BRANZ lists clearing shed stone granules from the spouting as normal upkeep |
| Metal spouting near the sea | Cleared yearly and washed on the maker's schedule | Salt builds up on parts the rain doesn't rinse, like gutter undersides |
| Snow-prone areas | Before winter, plus a check after heavy snow | Spouting there relies on extra fixings and snow straps to stay put |
| Drinking water off the roof | Before winter and after leaf fall, tank disconnected | Less rotting debris in the system, and none of it washed into the tank |
What a proper clean includes
Leaves and sludge come out by hand or vacuum and go into bags, not down the downpipes. Each downpipe is then flushed to prove it runs freely, along with the outlets, leaf diverters and overflow.
A good cleaner looks while they're there. Water still lying in the spouting afterwards means the fall has gone, and Dimond says ponding that doesn't drain or dry within hours may affect its material warranty. Loose brackets, split joins, rust and soft fascia should come back to you as photos, not as a surprise next winter.
How they get up there matters too. WorkSafe names fibrolite sheets, clear roofing, some old masonry tiles, skylights and badly corroded metal as brittle roofing that workers shouldn't walk on. Anyone planning to work from your roof should know which parts of it they'll stay off.
Why we'd keep you on the ground
WorkSafe's older roof safety guidelines, which it says haven't been updated for the current Act, found more than 50 percent of falls are from less than three metres, mostly from ladders and roofs. Its current guidance sets no minimum height for fall risk. Leaning out from a ladder with a bucket is exactly how those falls happen. Keep ladders and long poles well clear of the power line to the house, and in a home built before 2000, don't scrape, cut or water-blast spouting or downpipes that could be asbestos cement.
Cleaning spouting on a rental property
If you own a house but don't live in it, WorkSafe says you're a PCBU (a duty holder under health and safety law) while work is done on it, so you have to make sure the work is done safely, including for your tenants. That's a good reason to book a cleaner with proper fall protection rather than leaving it to a tenant with a ladder.
Living in the house yourself, you're not a PCBU, but WorkSafe says you still need to take reasonable care and follow reasonable instructions from the business on site.
Questions to ask before you book a clean
- How will you reach the spouting, and will anyone need to be on the roof itself?
- Do you take the debris away?
- Will you flush and test every downpipe?
- Will you send photos of anything that needs fixing?
- Is the outside of the spouting washed, or only cleared?
- Can you disconnect the tank line first, and tell me when to reconnect it?
Your part, and the cleaner's
You can
- Clearing downpipe outlets and leaf filters you can reach standing on the ground
- Watching the spouting in heavy rain to see where it spills
- Trimming branches you can reach from the ground, with an arborist for big trees
- Hosing the underside of metal spouting from the ground, near the coast
- A long-handled scoop from the ground on a single-storey house, kept well away from the power line
Leave to a roofer
- Anything you'd need a ladder for
- Two-storey homes and steep or sloping sections
- A downpipe blocked at the top
- Repairs the clean turns up
- Brittle roofs, or anything that might be asbestos cement
How we'd keep on top of it
We'd book a clean every year before winter, and a second after the leaves drop if trees hang over the roof. We'd ask for photos each time so small faults get fixed while they're small, and we'd sort any leaks or sagging before thinking about gutter guards. If the same spouting fills up within weeks, we'd deal with the tree first.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.