Should you clean your own gutters or hire a professional?

Updated November 10, 2026 · KeystoneProGuide editorial team

Can you clean your own gutters?

Nothing in the official safety guidance says a homeowner should not. What the guidance worries about is the ladder and anything overhead. If you can work from a well-set ladder on firm ground, well away from power lines, the cautions below can be met. If you cannot, they point toward hiring.

How dangerous are ladders, really?

The federal figures are for workplaces, but they are the best counts available. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) counted 161 deaths and 22,710 injuries from ladders at work in 2020, and it says plainly that many ladder injuries happen at home. It names five main causes: the wrong set-up angle for an extension ladder, the wrong ladder for the job, not inspecting it, using it badly, and lack of safety information.

The first cause is the one NIOSH puts a number on. It says that in about 40% of cases, a ladder injury starts with the base sliding out because the angle was wrong, and it advises setting extension ladders at about 75 degrees. The improper uses it lists are overreaching, carrying things up and down, and pushing or pulling hard while on the ladder.

NIOSH also says individual ladder users usually get no training in safe ladder use, and it offers a free Ladder Safety App for extension and step ladders.

What rules do professionals work to?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ladder rule binds employers, not homeowners, but it is a useful standard to copy. Among other things it says:

the top or top step of a stepladder must not be used as a step;
ladders go only on stable, level ground unless secured, and not on slippery surfaces unless secured or fitted with slip-resistant feet;
ladders with broken or missing rungs or split rails must be taken out of service;
a worker must not carry anything that could cause a loss of balance.

If you cannot meet these on your own property, for example because the only footing is a sloped bed or a patio that is slick with wet leaves, that is a sign the job is not a DIY one.

Why do power lines change the answer?

Because contact can kill. Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission says its Safety Division counted 14 incidents in one year of accidental contact with electric lines, causing five deaths and many serious injuries, and that for people working around the home the highest risk involves ladders and poles. Its advice is to stay at least 10 feet from overhead lines, carry ladders flat on the ground and call your utility when planning work near lines.

If the electric line that feeds your house passes near the gutter you would be cleaning, or a ladder that tipped sideways could reach it, you cannot keep the 10 feet the PUC asks for. OSHA requires workers to use ladders with nonconductive side rails where they could contact live equipment.

What can you do without climbing?

Quite a lot of the useful work is on the ground.

Check where the water goes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says gutters should carry rainwater at least 5 feet from the foundation, and that the ground near the house should slope away. Watch the downspouts in a heavy rain.
Extend short downspouts. The Department of Energy's Building America guidance says a downspout's lateral pipe should run at least 5 feet from the building, sloping away, ending on ground that slopes away, with a splash block to limit erosion.
Clear the bottom of a downspout where it meets an extension or elbow at ground level.
Look for sagging, gaps and overflow from the ground or an upstairs window.
Rake snow from the lower roof from the ground. North Dakota State University Extension says removing snow from the lower part of the roof reduces ice dams near the gutter, but that roof snow removal can be dangerous: use a roof rake rather than climbing up, and keep clear of power lines.

When is hiring the safer choice?

These are the situations where the cautions above bite hardest:

a power line runs within 10 feet of where you would work, or of where a falling ladder could land;
you cannot set the ladder at about 75 degrees on firm, level ground;
you would have to overreach, or carry tools and buckets up and down, to reach the far end of a run;
the job means getting onto the roof, which NDSU Extension advises against even for snow removal;
the gutters are full of ice. A University of Massachusetts building science article says that when people attack roof ice with hammers, shovels and picks, more damage is done to "life, limb and roof" in the process.

Does doing it yourself save much?

It saves the labor, which Angi puts at about 70% of the cost of a professional cleaning. HomeGuide puts a one-story cleaning at $70 to $200 and a two-story one at $100 to $275.

Under Pennsylvania's home improvement law, work an owner does on their own home without pay is not a home improvement, so none of the contract rules apply to your own weekend job. If you hire, they may. What Pennsylvania requires explains when, how to choose a gutter company covers the checks, and local businesses are on the gutter cleaning directory page.

Sources

Ladder Safety, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC)
1926.1053 - Ladders., Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Power Up Your Safety: PUC Essential Electric Tips for Pennsylvania's Warmer Months, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
Reduce ice dam and icicle damage, North Dakota State University Extension
Preventing Ice Dams, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Building and Construction Technology
Gutters and Downspouts, U.S. Department of Energy, Building America Solution Center
Text Version of the Mold House Tour, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
How Much Does Gutter Cleaning Cost? [2026 Data], Angi
How Much Does Gutter Cleaning Cost? (2026), HomeGuide
Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (2008 Act 132), Pennsylvania General Assembly