Our own crew cleans gutters in Capital IL, flushes every run and flow-tests it, hauls the mess away, and sends photos of each run before we leave. The price comes from your stories, the size of the house and how much tree cover is over the roof, and the number we give you on the phone is the number on the invoice.
We have been on ladders across Illinois for years, and most homeowners book our gutter cleaning services in the spring and fall visit windows, because that is when the buildup is worst. A clean run keeps heavy rainfall moving to the outlet instead of over the edge, which is how we protect your home from water damage.
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 in the gutters. The homeowner gets a quote by phone or text from those three things, and the number we quote is the number we charge. Companies that price by the linear foot land in a similar place per foot, but on a real house the stories and the roof pitch matter more than the length of the run, which is why our cleaning services in Capital are priced by the house.
What moves the quote on our jobs is what the crew finds once it is up the ladder. A third story or a roof too steep to walk takes longer and needs a boom or scissor lift. A walk-out basement or sloped lot raises the effective height of the back roofline. Gutters nobody has opened in years come out packed solid with old buildup, and a clog, a blockage or a twig wedged in the elbow can add more hours than a gutter cleaned every visit. Guards we have to lift and reseat add time too. We flush every downspout and check the water flow on it, and debris removal is included and never billed as an extra. Anything that changes the job is raised with you before work starts, never on the invoice.
On our jobs the quote tracks the house more than the street. On a two-story house with a heavy leaf load on the back run, the crew may need to flush the elbows twice, and we tell you that before we go up. If the crew spots a leak at a seam, we photograph it and quote the fix separately, because it is not part of the cleaning. Where water is not draining at the outlet, we check the drainage before we call the run done. The gutter cleaning process is the same on every house; what changes is how long each run takes to come out clean. Our cleanings are priced by the house, so if you want to know where yours falls, call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the front of the house and we will give you the number.
| One story | Two stories | Three stories or steep | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 sq ft | from $150 | from $195 | from $255 |
| 1,500 to 2,500 sq ft | from $170 | from $225 | from $295 |
| Over 2,500 sq ft | from $200 | from $265 | from $345 |
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 across Capital book two cleanings a year, once in late spring after the seed and pollen drop, and once in late fall after the last leaves. In spring we find seeds, seed casings and pollen paste packed into the elbows, enough at times to form a clog at the bottom of the outlet. In fall it is the wet leaves and debris, and where the house skipped the fall visit, the runs that were full in November sag or pull loose by March under the weight of the ice, which is where structural damage starts.
Under heavy tree cover on a landscape with mature trees, every three to four months is the schedule that works, because needles, grit and the odd twig pack the outlets between visits. With few or no trees, once a year in late fall is enough for most houses, so keep your gutters on that schedule. A rain gutter with gutter guards changes the work but does not end gutter maintenance; the surface still needs clearing, and we do that less often than an open gutter.
When we open a gutter in May and it has been a year since the last visit, we find the rot starting at the joints. The gutter system holds up better when it is kept clean across the whole season, and a regular gutter cleaning schedule keeps water away from the foundation. Rainwater that sits in a full trough is what starts the rot, so after the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, and you can decide whether to clean your gutters on that schedule or more often.
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.
We cover Capital and the surrounding areas from the nearest base, and the crew knows the streets from years of gutter services on residential and commercial buildings across the area. Booking starts with a quote by phone or text from your stories, the size of the house and your tree cover, and a photo of the front of the house if that is easy. Typical lead time is in the booking note on the page, and we confirm a date when you call.
Our calendar fills in the two busy windows of the year, spring and fall, so book early if you want the slot you prefer. We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for exterior work. We handle gutters and downspouts on residential properties and commercial properties alike, so get your gutters on the calendar before the leaves start. Call (866) 435-6328 to get on the schedule.
The gutter cleaning service we run is the same whether the house is a bungalow or a larger two-story, and capital homes get a clean flush and flow check on every run. Cleaning and maintenance visits are priced the same way, from the stories and the tree cover. If you have a question about your roofline before you book, text a photo and we will tell you what we see.
Your estimate comes from stories and size, and we give it to you by phone or text. We do not quote a figure on the page because two houses on the same street can take very different hours once the crew is up. The number we quote is the number we charge.
Our customers book in late spring and again in late fall, and that is when you should clean your gutters. If the fall visit is skipped, we find sagging runs and ice-damaged joints by March on Illinois houses that get real freeze. Keep your gutters on that schedule and they stay clear through the season.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm the date when you call. Same-day depends on the calendar that week, so ask when you book.
No, you do not need to be home. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and sends photos of every run and outlet to your phone before the truck leaves. Everything goes in bags and is carried away from your home. Leave the side gate unlocked and keep pets in while the ladders are up.
Yes, every run is flushed and we check that water is leaving at the outlet. Clogged downspouts that clear from the top are included in the price. If a run drains into an underground line that will not clear from the top, we tell you and quote that work separately, with no surprise on the invoice.
Yes. Under guards we find needles, seed casings and grit packed on the surface and between the mesh, and once that mat is wet the water runs off the front edge. We clean the surface and check the flow, which is a shorter job than an open gutter.
A gutter that is clean and still lets rainwater spill over the edge has a slope, capacity or outlet-size 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.
It should not. If the crew finds something that changes the job, you hear about it and agree to it before they start, never after. The number on the phone is the number on the invoice.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
