Our own crew gives gutters and downspouts here a clean, full pass. We flush every downspout and flow-test it before we leave. Everything we pull out is hauled off the property, and you get photos of every run. The price comes from your stories, the size of the house and how much tree cover is over the house, and the number we give on the phone is the number on the invoice.
We have cleaned the gutter system on local homes through the spring and fall visits, and most of the houses we clean here book one of those two windows every year.
Quoted from stories, size and tree cover, over the phone, with nothing added once the crew is on the roof.
The price depends on how many stories the house has, its square footage and what is sitting in the gutters. A clean quote comes from those three things: we give it over the phone or by text, and the number we quote is the number we charge. Other gutter cleaning services that price by the linear foot land in a similar place per foot, though the total still comes down to how many runs and outlets the house has. Commercial properties need their own quote, so ask before you compare numbers.
What moves a quote on our jobs is usually a third story or a roof too steep to walk, a walk-out basement that puts the back run far up from the ground, gutters nobody has opened in years, and guards we have to lift and reseat before we can clear the trough. Heavy buildup is the most common surprise: a run that has packed with compacted leaf mat takes longer than a run with a light leaf mat. Flushing, flow testing and debris removal are included and never billed as extras. If anything changes the job, you hear it and agree to it before work starts, not on the invoice.
On the Novato homes we clean, we see the same few patterns. Houses with a clog at the lower elbow often show a leak at the corner first, with water running behind the gutter. A single twig lodged in that elbow is enough to start it, and a sag in the run usually means the hangers have pulled loose under the weight of old buildup, with wood rot starting at the fascia behind it. Where leaves and debris have sat for a full season, the rain gutter stays full long after the storm passes. Clogged downspouts slow the water flow and push water toward the foundation instead of keeping the water away from your home, and the structural damage that follows costs far more than the cleaning. Ask us about a quote by phone or text, and we can tell you from the photo which of these your house is most likely to need, and what its drainage looks like.
| One story | Two stories | Three stories or steep | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 sq ft | from $150 | from $225 | from $295 |
| 1,500 to 2,500 sq ft | from $200 | from $260 | from $335 |
| Over 2,500 sq ft | from $235 | from $305 | from $395 |
For context, nationally: Angi 2026, US average $168, most $119 to $234, $0.95 to $2.25 per linear foot.
Downspouts flushed and flow-tested, debris hauled, photos of every run. The quote already has all of it in.
Our crew clears every gutter run by hand, not just the stretch you can see from the driveway. Roof valleys and the area above the gutter line are blown clear first, so the next rain does not refill what was just emptied. Every downspout is flushed with water and watched until it runs clear at the bottom; one that will not clear is worked from the top where it can be reached. Where a downspout feeds an underground drain line, the crew checks that water is leaving at the outlet and tells you if it is not; clearing a buried line is a separate job and is quoted before anyone touches it.
Debris goes into bags and leaves with the truck. It is not blown onto the lawn, the deck or next door. The ground is left as it was found.
Before the crew leaves you get photos of every run and every downspout, before and after, on your phone, whether or not you were home. Anything the crew sees that is not a cleaning problem, a hanger pulled loose, a seam dripping, a run sitting flat, is photographed and reported, not repaired and not sold on the spot.
What can change the number, and you hear it before work starts, never on the invoice: a third story or a roof too steep to walk; gutters that have not been touched in years; guards that have to come off and go back on.
Twice a year for most houses: once after the spring seed and pollen drop, once after the last leaves fall.
On our gutter cleaning jobs in Novato CA, most customers book spring and fall, one visit in each, after the seed and pollen drop and again after the last leaves come down. Spring is the seed casings and pollen paste packed into the elbows. Fall is the wet leaf mat that sits in the trough, and if the house skipped the fall visit, we often find runs that have started to sag by late winter.
Houses under heavy tree cover, or with a dense landscape against the walls, are on a shorter schedule, every three to four months, because needles and grit pack the drains between visits. Houses with few or no trees near the roof can usually keep a clean gutter with one visit a year in late fall. Gutter guards mean less frequent gutter maintenance, but the surface still needs clearing, so we treat them as a longer interval than an open gutter, not as no maintenance at all. A clog in the trough is what stops rainwater from leaving the house through the downspout, and that blockage is what you are paying us to prevent.
After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, and the estimate follows from what we find in the trough and the drains rather than a general rule. A regular gutter cleaning schedule is how you keep your gutters clear, and the first visit is where we set the cleaning and maintenance interval. The wettest months here are January, February and December, and heavy rainfall in those months is usually when a blocked run shows first. The interval is set the same way for residential and commercial buildings: by what we find in the trough and the drains. We want a clean read on your lot, not a guess.
Water over the edge rots the board behind the gutter first. Everything after that is slow, and slow is what a policy excludes.
The three signs. Water pouring over the front edge in rain instead of out of the downspout. A run that sags, sits low or has pulled away from the fascia. Plants growing out of the trough. Any one of them means the gutter is full.
What happens next. Water that cannot drain sits in the trough and spills behind it. The fascia board rots, then the soffit. Water backs up under the first course of shingles and shows up as a ceiling stain. Siding stains and swells. Below, the overflow cuts a channel at the foundation and finds the basement. The wet debris itself weighs enough to pull the gutter off the house. Standing water breeds mosquitoes; dry debris houses wasps. Where winters freeze, the trapped water becomes an ice dam at the eave and lifts the shingles from underneath.
Why your policy will not pay. Homeowners insurance generally does not cover water damage traced to clogged gutters. Carriers class gutter cleaning as routine maintenance, and damage from skipped maintenance as preventable neglect, which a standard policy excludes. A limb that tears a gutter off in a storm is sudden and accidental and is usually covered; a fascia board that rotted over two years is not. This is general information, not insurance advice; read your policy or ask your agent.
Guards stop leaves. They do not stop needles, seeds, grit or the paste they turn into. The job gets shorter, not gone.
Yes, guarded gutters still need cleaning, less often, and it is a different job: clearing what sits on top of the guard and checking that water is actually getting in, rather than scooping out the trough. Mesh and screen guards hold whole leaves off. Pine needles thread through, seed casings and pollen mat on top, roof grit settles underneath, and once that mat is wet, rain runs over it and off the front edge. The gutter is empty and the water never went in.
Guards earn their keep under big leafy trees and on roofs too high to want to climb. They do not end maintenance, whatever the installer said. Our crew lifts the panels, clears underneath, flushes the downspouts and reseats the guards; tell us what is on the house when you get the quote and it is priced as a guarded system, which usually runs shorter than an open one.
Under an hour on most houses. Nobody has to be there, and the photos arrive either way.
The crew calls the day before with an arrival window and again when they are on the way. This Old House puts a professional gutter cleaning at 30 minutes to an hour on a typical home; bigger houses, steep roofs and gutters left for years run longer. Nobody needs to be home for exterior work; the crew does not come inside. Before they arrive: side gate unlocked, cars off the driveway if runs face it, pets inside while ladders are up. Ladder stand-offs keep the ladder off the gutter lip and the siding. After: photos of every run and downspout before the truck leaves, and an invoice that matches the quote.
Send us a photo or a short video in the rain. You hear what it is before anyone talks about money.
Still overflowing. A gutter that is clean and still sheets water over the edge in rain has a slope, capacity or downspout-size problem, not a debris problem. If that happens after a cleaning, send us a photo or a short video of it in the rain and we tell you what it actually is; we do not sell a second cleaning for a slope problem.
The number. The price quoted on the phone is the price on the invoice. If the crew finds something that changes the job, you hear it and agree to it before they start, never after.
Your house. Stand-offs on every ladder so nothing rests on the gutter lip, and screens and downspout extensions go back where they were.
Payment. The balance is charged when the job is finished and the photos are on your phone. Some dates take a small booking fee to hold the slot, and you hear about it before you book.
The whole city and the towns around it, booked by phone or text from the nearest crew.
Our crew provides cleaning services in Novato, covering homes from a base in the area and reaching the surrounding areas on the same routes. When you call about Novato gutter cleaning, we ask for your stories, the approximate size of the house and whether trees overhang the house, and a photo of the front of the house by text helps us quote faster. The quote is given by phone or text, and we confirm a date when you book. Homeowners get the same quote process on every call, and every homeowner gets photos before the truck leaves. If your site has commercial properties or a residential and commercial mix, ask us by phone before you book, because this page covers residential properties here.
Our gutter cleaning process starts with the phone call and ends with photos on your phone. Our calendar fills in the two busy windows of the year, the spring and fall runs, so booking early keeps the slot you want. We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for exterior work. Our crew checks the roofline from the ground before any ladder goes up. A clean run is what helps protect your home from water damage, and it is the same job whether the gutters are small or long.
We also keep your gutter services and cleanings on the same schedule once we know your house, so the next visit is planned before the season turns. Call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the house, and we will give you a date to get your gutters cleaned.
Our gutter cleaning service quotes from the number of stories, the size of the house and how full the gutters are. We give the number by phone at (866) 435-6328 or by text, and it includes flushing and haul-off. The quote is the number on the invoice.
Most of our customers here book in the spring after seed and pollen drop, and again in the fall after the leaves are down. Twice a year is the schedule most people set to clean your gutters. If the fall visit is skipped, we often find sagging runs by the late winter rains. Heavy tree cover means a shorter schedule.
We serve homes across Novato, and most slots come up within the week. We confirm the date when you call. We do not promise same-day service, because the calendar depends on the route and the season.
No. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and sends photos of every run and downspout to your phone before the truck leaves. Leave the side gate unlocked and keep pets inside while the ladders are up.
Yes, we flush the runs and watch the water come out the bottom. Flushing keeps the water moving so it cannot sit in the trough and rot the fascia behind it. Where a run feeds an underground line, we check that water is leaving at the outlet. Clearing a buried line is a separate job and is quoted before we touch it.
Yes. Trees and the landscape around the house drop needles and seed casings that settle on top of the guard, and roof grit builds up underneath. Once that mat gets wet, water runs off the front edge. We lift the panels, clear underneath and reseat them.
A clean gutter that still spills in rain usually has a slope or drainage problem, not a cleaning problem. Send us a photo or short video in the rain and we will tell you what it is. We do not sell a second cleaning for a slope problem.
Only if something changes the job, and you hear about it and agree before work starts. Otherwise the number we quoted is the number on the invoice.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
