Our own crew cleans gutters in Charleston, every downspout flushed and flow-tested, debris hauled off, and photos of every run on your phone before we leave. The price comes from stories, size and tree cover, and the number we give on the phone is the number on the invoice. Most of our Charleston customers book in spring and fall, and we have been running that schedule on the houses here long enough to know what a season of seed, pollen and leaves does to a gutter.
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 how much is sitting in the gutters we clean. Homeowners get the quote over the phone or by text from those three things, and the number we give is the number we charge. Companies that price by linear foot land in a similar place per foot, but the stories and the access are what actually move the number on a gutter cleaning service call.
On our jobs the quote moves for a few reasons. A third story, or a roof too steep to walk, means the crew works from a boom or scissor lift instead of a ladder. A walk-out basement or sloped lot raises the effective height of the back roofline. Gutters nobody has opened in years come down packed with a buildup of compacted leaves, which takes longer to clean. And guards we have to lift and reseat add time on either end of the job. Flushing and flow testing of the gutters and downspouts, plus haul-off of what comes out, are included and never billed as extras. Anything that changes the job is raised before work starts, never on the invoice.
Charleston homes vary, and so does what the crew finds in each rain gutter. On one recent job the lot had no tree cover and two stories, and the gutters held only light dust and a few seeds. Another house a few blocks away had heavy shade, and the crew found a leaves and debris mat two inches deep at the low corner, with water running behind the fascia where the gutter had sagged. The second job took longer and the quote reflected that before the first rung went up. Our crew does not hide that difference; we explain it on the phone.
Gutter cleaning services are quoted per building for residential properties and commercial properties alike, and the number is the same whether a homeowner or a property manager books it. For commercial properties with several buildings we walk the site first and give one figure per structure. Once a gutter is clear, the water flow is what tells you the job is done, and we check every downspout to make sure water away from your home is actually leaving through the drainage line. Clogged downspouts and a blocked run are the usual cause of structural damage we see from the ground up, so that check is part of the visit, not an add-on.
Call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the front of the house and we will give you a written estimate from what we see.
| 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 Charleston customers book twice a year. Across Illinois the spring visit falls in late May to June, after the seed and pollen drop, and the fall visit in late October to November, after the last leaves. When we open a gutter here in May we find seed casings and pollen paste packed into the elbows. In November it is the wet leaf mat, and on houses that skipped the fall visit we have seen runs sag by March under the weight of ice. Those sagging runs are the first sign of a gutter clog turning into a bigger problem.
Under heavy tree cover, the rule is simple: clean your gutters every three to four months to keep the rainwater moving, because needles and grit pack the downspout between visits and the roofline stays under pressure. Charleston IL gets about 43.8 inches of precipitation a year, with April, May and June the wettest months, and about 19 inches of snow, mostly from December through March. Across Illinois, summer derechos and severe thunderstorms bring heavy rainfall. A house with few or no trees usually does fine with one visit a year in late fall, and each visit includes debris removal. Guards change the schedule a little, and we still clean the surface even on guarded systems, but less often. A blockage that starts in the downspout is easier to catch on a regular gutter cleaning schedule than after the first hard freeze.
After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs. Gutter maintenance on a commercial site or a larger lot follows the same rule: we walk it, we photograph it, and we give you the interval that fits the building. Whether you are booking a residential and commercial mix or a single house, the cleaning and maintenance call is the same. Ask for an estimate and we will set the calendar from there.
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 will clean gutters across Charleston IL and the surrounding areas from the nearest base, and we cover the city as a whole. Booking works the way it sounds: call or text, give us the stories, the rough size and whether trees hang over the roof, and send a photo of the house front if that is easy. Most homeowners get a quote before the end of the same call. Lead time depends on the calendar at the time you ask, and the two busy stretches are late spring and late fall, when most of the houses in town are ready for their visits at once. Our gutter services are booked the same way whether you need one house or several.
We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for exterior work. If your gutters have been overflowing, or a leak has shown up on a wall or ceiling, tell us when you call so we can plan the first visit around it. Keep your gutters on a set calendar and the cleanings stay small, which is the point of putting the job on a schedule. A regular schedule helps protect your home from water damage, and that matters more than any one visit. Get your gutters on the calendar before the first heavy storm, and call (866) 435-6328 when you are ready to book.
The number comes from stories and size, and we give it to you by phone or text. We do not quote a figure from here on the page because every house is different. Once you give us the stories and the size we can tell you the number before we book the date.
Across Illinois the spring visit falls in late May to June, after the seed and pollen drop, and the fall visit falls in late October to November, after the last leaves. Most of our customers book both, and if a house with trees skips the fall visit, we usually find the runs sagging by March once ice has been on them.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm the date when you call. We do not promise same-day service, because the calendar fills in the busy windows and cleaning services in charleston book up first. Dates are confirmed on the phone, not on the day.
No, you do not need to be home. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and needs no access to the house to clean the gutters. Photos of every run and downspout go to your phone before the truck leaves. Leave the side gate unlocked and keep pets inside while the ladders are up.
Yes, we flush every downspout and check that water is leaving at the outlet. If a downspout feeds an underground drain line, we check the outlet and tell you if water is not leaving. Clearing a buried line is a separate job and is quoted before we touch it.
Yes, guarded gutters still need the surface cleared. Guards keep leaves out, but a twig, a seed casing or a layer of grit can settle on top of the guard, and that mat can keep water from reaching the trough at all. Water that runs over the edge is what starts rot in the fascia. Anything we lift off the guard is bagged, so nothing ends up on the landscape.
If the gutter system is clean and still sheets water over the edge in rain, the problem is usually slope or downspout size, not the leaves. Send us a photo or a 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 the crew finds something that changes the job. In that case you hear about it and agree before work starts, never after. The gutter cleaning process is the same on every house: the number we quote 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.
