Choosing a gutter system means choosing a material, a profile and a way of joining the sections, and each decision shows for years. The material sets how the gutter ages. The profile sets how it looks from the pavement. The joints decide whether it leaks in year three or year thirty. Most advice online compares only price, which is the least useful comparison on a house you intend to keep. This guide sets uPVC, aluminium, cast iron and copper side by side on appearance, typical life, upkeep and suitability. It uses the published lifespan figures that exist and says openly where they are thin. Whichever material you choose, the fixings, the fall and the downpipe connections matter as much as the channel itself.
uPVC: the lightweight default
uPVC is the plastic most modern gutters are made from. It is light, cut with a saw, and sold as a kit of lengths, corners, stop ends and outlets that clip together with rubber seals. It does not rust, it needs no painting, and it is the cheapest of the common materials to buy and fit. For a plain post-war house or a modern extension, it is a sensible choice.
Its weaknesses show over time. Sunlight dulls the surface and can make it brittle, so an old run of plastic may crack when a ladder leans on it. The clip-together joints rely on their seals, and the seals harden and shrink. A joint that was watertight in year one may weep by year ten, which is why so many repair calls are about a single leaking union. Long runs also expand and contract with the temperature, and a bracket spaced too widely will let the channel sag between supports.
One trade blog, Pureseal Services (December 2025), gives uPVC guttering a typical life of 10 to 20 years. That figure comes from one cleaning firm's blog, so read it as a rough guide. White and black are the common colours, and brown and grey are widely stocked. Fading and staining vary with the product.
The plastic profile also has a limit on character. On a period house, plastic squares and half-rounds can look out of place, and a listed house, or one inside the conservation area, may not be allowed the material at all. The separate answer on plastic guttering and conservation rules goes through that question.
Aluminium: lighter than iron, longer lived than plastic
Aluminium sits between the two. It is light enough to handle without a second person, it does not rust in the way iron does, and it can be supplied in a baked-on powder coat in a wide range of colours. Some systems are formed on site from a roll into one continuous length, which reduces the number of joints along a run. Others come as cast or extruded sections that imitate period profiles.
The Pureseal Services table gives aluminium a typical life of 20 to 30 years, again from that same lone source. The material resists the weather well, and the main failure points are the joints and the finish rather than the metal. A scratch through the coating can start to corrode at the edge, and a dent from a ladder will stay. Aluminium is softer than iron, so it is easier to damage and impossible to repair by welding in the way a thick casting can be.
Cost is higher than uPVC and usually lower than cast iron or copper, though MyBuilder's 2026 guide gives a single range of £30 to £70 per metre for guttering supplied and fitted, so the real difference comes down to the specific system and the access. Our answer on whether aluminium gutters are worth it looks at that balance in more detail.
For a house where the owner wants a long-lived, low-maintenance system that looks closer to traditional metal than plastic does, aluminium is often the practical answer. It is also a common choice for extensions and commercial buildings, where long runs and a clean line matter.
Cast iron: heavy, durable and faithful to old houses
Cast iron is the original gutter material, and on Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian houses it is usually what the building was designed for. Its profiles are part of the architecture: the half-round on a plain cottage, the ogee on a Victorian terrace, the decorated hopper heads and the round downpipes with their ears and collars. Replace them with something thinner and the building's face changes.
It is also the longest lived of the common choices. Pureseal Services gives cast iron a typical life of 40 to 70 years and sometimes beyond 100, and describes it as heavy and in need of regular care. That care is paint. Iron rusts when the coating fails, and the rust starts at joints, bolt holes and the back of the channel where nobody looks. A cast iron gutter that has been painted and cleared regularly can outlast several plastic ones. One that has been left will rust through at the lowest point of each run.
Weight matters. Cast iron needs sound brackets and a sound fascia or rafter ends to carry it, and the full channel of rainwater adds to the load. If the timber behind has rotted, fixing iron to it fails quickly.
Jointing is bolted with sealant between the sections, which gives a long life if done well and a leak if the sealant has dried out. Repairs are often possible: a cracked length can be replaced, a hopper repaired, a run re-hung. Our guide on cast iron gutters on period houses covers restoring and repainting, and our answer on cast iron guttering cost covers the money.
Copper, steel and the less common choices
Copper is the long-term, high-end option. The same Pureseal table puts it at 50 to 100 years or more. It weathers from bright metal to brown and then to green, it needs no paint, and it can be soldered to repair a leak. It also costs a good deal more, and it is rarely the answer on an ordinary house.
Copper is not a good partner for every other metal. Where copper water runs onto aluminium, zinc or galvanised steel, it can start corrosion in the softer metal, so a copper gutter should not discharge over a different metal below it. A careful roofer will check what the water passes over on its way down.
Galvanised steel and zinc are also sold as gutters, and some period houses carry them. They last well while the coating is intact and rust where it is scratched. We do not usually recommend them for a new system when a sounder alternative is available, but on a building that already has them, the question is how much of the original can be saved.
If you are replacing a mixed run, with some sections of iron, some of plastic and some of aluminium from different repairs, the cleanest approach is usually one material from end to end. Mixed systems have mismatched profiles, mismatched brackets and joints that were never designed to meet.
Profiles: half-round, ogee, square and what suits the house
Profile is the shape of the channel in section. It changes how the gutter looks and how much water it carries.
Half-round
The simplest shape, a semicircle on brackets. It suits cottages, farmhouses and many Georgian houses, and it is the profile most often found in cast iron on older buildings. It is also the easiest to clear, since there are no corners for debris to settle in.
Ogee
A moulded profile with an S-shaped front, associated with Victorian and Edwardian terraces. In cast iron it can be quite ornate. Plastic and aluminium versions copy it, with varying success.
Square and box
A modern profile with straight sides and a flat base. It sits neatly against a plain fascia and suits contemporary extensions and many post-war houses.
Deep-flow and large capacity
Some systems are made deeper or wider to carry more water from a large roof. They are common on commercial buildings and on big roof areas. The right size depends on the roof area draining into the run, and an undersized channel will overflow in heavy rain whatever it is made of.
When replacing guttering on a period house, match the profile to the original wherever you can, and photograph surviving sections before anything comes down. See the answer about a leaking gutter joint to understand why the way sections meet matters as much as the shape.
Choosing for a Bath house and the next step
The honest way to choose is to ask what the house is, how long you will keep it and how much upkeep you will accept. A 1930s semi that you will sell in a few years suits uPVC. A family home you intend to keep for a long time may do better in aluminium. A Georgian or Victorian house, especially a listed one, usually belongs in cast iron or a faithful metal match.
In Bath, that choice has a regulatory side. The whole city is inscribed by UNESCO, while a designated conservation area takes in about half of it, and a listed house needs B&NES Council's consent for alterations to its character. A change of gutter material belongs in that category, so raise it with the council first. A house that is unlisted but in a designated area still deserves a call to B&NES before you commit.
Cost works differently over a long period. MyBuilder's guide gives £30 to £70 per metre for guttering supplied and fitted, as a typical UK range. Our guide to guttering costs breaks down the rest of the bill, including fascias, soffits and scaffold. A material that lasts three times longer for twice the price is the cheaper choice over the life of the house, as long as it is looked after.
Whatever material you choose, the gutter only works if the water reaches it and leaves it. A blocked system fails whatever it is made from, and our guide on blocked gutter damage shows what follows. After a survey of your roofline, with photographs of it, you get a written fixed price that names the material and the profile. How the work is carried out is set out on the main roofline page, and a repair will be priced instead of a replacement wherever repair is enough.