Our own crew cleans gutters in Stanford, every downspout flushed and flow-tested, material hauled away, and photos of every run on your phone before we leave. The price comes from the number of stories, the size of the house and how much tree cover hangs over the house, and the number we give on the phone is the number on the invoice. Spring and fall are the windows that fill first, so the calendar moves quickly in those two seasons.
Quoted from stories, size and tree cover, over the phone, with nothing added once the crew is on the roof.
The price depends on stories, square footage and what is sitting in the gutters. We are one of the cleaning services in Stanford that prices from those three things, by phone or text, and the number we give is the number we charge. Some companies price by the linear foot, and that gets to a similar place, but the estimate still has to account for height and access. We would rather give a homeowner one clean number on the phone than a formula to work out alone.
On our jobs the things that move the price are consistent. A third story or a steep roof we cannot walk means a boom or scissor lift and more time on the ladder. A walk-out basement or sloped lot raises the effective height of the back run. Gutters that have not been opened in years come down packed with compacted material and years of buildup, and that takes longer than a light clean. A blockage at a downspout elbow, usually a twig or a wad of seed casings, adds time too, and so do gutter guards we have to lift and reseat. Downspout flushing, flow testing and debris removal are included and are never billed as extras. Everything that comes out of the gutters is hauled away from your home, and anything that changes the job is raised with you before work starts, not on the invoice.
Picture a two-story house with a heavy canopy over the back run and a gutter that has gone unopened for several seasons. The crew clears the packed material, flushes every downspout and sends the photos before the truck leaves, and the number holds because the back run was priced for its height from the phone call. The call is where the number comes from, and it does not change up top unless something we could not see from the ground shows up. A cleaning and maintenance visit done on that schedule keeps the job from getting bigger each time. Regular cleanings and gutter maintenance keep water away from the fascia, and a clean run costs less to keep up than one that has been left alone.
Gutter cleaning process questions come up often from homeowners here, and the short answer is that we do the same steps on every house so the number and the work match. Get your gutters and downspouts on a schedule that suits the trees and the rain, and you will spend less on each visit than you would on one large catch-up job after neglect. Heavy rainfall is when rainwater backs up in a clogged system and shows its problems first, and a clean system usually shows none. Across California atmospheric rivers deliver most of the year's rain in a handful of days, so the quote that matters is the one you get before the wettest stretch, when a clog or a leak is most likely to show up at the eave.
| 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.
Most of our customers here book twice a year, once in spring after the seed and pollen drop, and once in fall after the last leaves and needles come down. Across California the spring visit lands in mid to late June, and the fall visit runs December to early January here, though the timing shifts with the weather each year. Our gutter cleaning services follow the same pattern across Stanford.
In spring we find seeds, seed casings and a pollen paste packed into the downspout elbows, and a clog that starts there is the one that backs up first. In fall it is the leaves and debris off the trees, and where freezing is a risk we also find the first ice forming at the eave and the ice dams that build when the water has nowhere to go. On houses that skipped the fall visit we see runs that sag or pull loose by the next spring, and by then the fascia has started to rot, because the weight of the wet material and the ice did the damage over the winter. Where freezing is not a factor, the wet leaf mat that washes off the landscape beds and the eaves before the rainy season is what we clean out, because a rain gutter left full is where structural damage usually starts.
Tiers, as we see them on our jobs. Two cleanings a year covers most houses. Under heavy tree cover, or near a busy road or construction where grit collects, the gutter system wants cleaning every three to four months, because needles and grit end up in clogged downspouts between visits. A house with few or no trees is fine once a year in late fall. Gutter guards need less frequent cleaning, but the surface still has to be cleared, because grit settles on top of the guard and the water never gets in. Keep the guard surface clean between visits, and you can clean your gutters yourself where you can reach them safely. Commercial properties with long gutter runs fall into the same tiers.
Picture two houses on the same schedule question. One with no trees overhead stays on a once-a-year schedule in late fall and never has a run back up. A second house under trees books every three to four months, and every downspout still needs a flush at each visit, even when the gutters look clean.
After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs.
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 gutter cleaning services run across Stanford, CA and the surrounding areas, and most Stanford homes book in spring or fall. Booking starts with a quote by phone at (866) 435-6328 or by text, from the number of stories, the size of the house and whether trees hang over the eaves. A photo of the front of the house by text helps us see access before we arrive, and it takes less time than a site visit to estimate.
Lead time depends on the calendar that week. Our busy windows are spring and fall, when most homes here book at the same time, so the earlier you call the more choice you have on the date. We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for exterior work. Booking a gutter cleaning service is a short phone call, and the number you get is the one we will charge when the clean is done. Ask about regular gutter cleaning when you call, and the first clean goes on the calendar with the date. Our crew also checks drainage at every downspout before it leaves.
For residential and commercial properties alike, the order is the same: the estimate, then a date, then a call the day before. Our crew handles residential properties and commercial buildings on the same schedule basis, so the timing you see is the timing you get.
The number comes from stories and size, and we give you an estimate by phone at (866) 435-6328 or by text. We will not put a figure here, because the same two-story house can land in different places depending on its roofline and what is in the gutters.
Across California the spring visit lands in mid to late June, and our fall visit runs December to early January. Freezing is a risk here, so the fall visit matters most, because runs that skipped it are the ones we see sagging by the next spring.
Sometimes, but it depends on what the calendar looks like that week, so we confirm the date when you call. Our gutter services run on one calendar for every booking, and the fastest way to get on it is to call early.
No, you do not need to be home. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and sends photos of every run and downspout, clean or not, to your phone before the truck leaves. Leave the side gate unlocked and keep pets in while the ladders are up.
Yes, we flush every downspout and check the drainage at the outlet to confirm water is leaving. Clearing a buried drain line is a separate job, and we quote it before anyone touches it.
Yes. Guards keep leaves out, but needles, seed casings and grit settle on top and mat into a paste. We clear the surface, flush every downspout and check the water flow under the guard. Guards cut the work, but they do not let you skip a visit if you want to keep your gutters flowing.
A gutter that is clean and still spills over in the rain has a slope or downspout-size problem, not a debris problem. Send us a photo or a short video in the rain and we will tell you what it is; we will not sell a second cleaning for it.
It should not. The number you get on the phone is the number on the invoice. If the crew finds something that changes the job, you hear about it and agree before work starts, never after. That is how we protect your home from water damage: the price is set before anyone climbs the ladder.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
