Our own crew cleans gutters on Decatur homes, every downspout flushed and flow-tested, leaves hauled away, and photos of every run before we leave. Clean gutters help you protect your home from water damage. The price comes from the number of stories, the size of the house and how much tree cover is over the roof, and the number we give on the phone is the number on your invoice. Most of our Decatur customers book spring and fall, and we have been doing it that way for a long time across the Illinois jobs we keep returning to. Call (866) 435-6328 to get your gutters on the calendar.
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 gutter system. Our gutter cleaning process starts with those three things, and we quote it over the phone or by text. The number we quote is the number we charge. The same questions decide the price on residential properties and commercial properties. Companies that price by the linear foot land in a similar place per foot of run, but a number per foot does not tell you what your house will cost, so we quote the whole job.
On our jobs, a few things move the quote more than anything else. A third story or a roof too steep to walk takes more time and more care on the ladder. A walk-out basement or a sloped lot raises the effective height of the roofline, so the back run sits farther up than it looks from the yard. Gutters nobody has opened in years come down with compacted muck and a lot of wet weight in them. A clog at a downspout elbow adds time, and so does poor water flow and drainage at the outlet. Guards we have to lift and reseat add their own time. Downspout flushing, flow testing and haul-off are included and never billed as extras. Anything that changes the job gets raised before work starts, never on the invoice.
Here is what we have seen on a few Decatur jobs. On one job on the east side, the gutters had been left for a long stretch and the leaves and debris had packed into the back run, which took the crew longer to clear than the front. The downspout was clogged at the elbow and needed flushing from the top before water would run clear at the bottom. That is the kind of thing that changes the number, and we tell you about it on the phone before we come out, not after. On houses under heavy tree cover, the clogged downspouts and the leaves and muck are the main reason a job takes longer, and it is why we ask about trees on the phone. When gutters are left alone, the first thing we usually find is the roofline and the fascia taking water and starting to rot, which is structural damage waiting to happen. Water away from your home is the whole point, and we price for getting it there.
Send us a clean photo of the front of the house by text if it is easy to take. It helps us see the stories, the roofline and the trees before we give you a number. The estimate comes back fast, and there is nothing to sign until you have seen it.
| 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 Decatur customers book two cleanings a year, once in spring after the seed and pollen drop, and once in fall after the last leaves come down. Across Illinois the spring visit is usually late May to June, and the fall visit is late October to November. When we open a gutter here in May we find seeds and pollen paste packed into the elbows. In November it is the wet leaf mat, and in a freeze-belt city like this one, the first ice on the eave and the ice dams that come with it. On houses that skipped the fall visit we see runs that sag or pull loose after a snowy winter, which is exactly the kind of gutter clog and rainwater problem that is cheaper to avoid than to repair. Regular gutter cleaning keeps that from starting, and the same schedule works for residential and commercial buildings. Each visit includes debris removal, so the bags leave with the truck. Our advice is simple: clean your gutters in spring and again in fall.
Under heavy tree cover, every three to four months is what we see working, because needles, grit and the odd twig pack into each downspout between visits and the blockage builds up faster than a twice-a-year schedule can catch. Near a busy road or a construction site the buildup is faster too. With few or no trees, once a year in late fall is enough for most houses. Gutter guards need less frequent cleaning, but the surface still has to be cleared before heavy rainfall, because a mat of wet muck on top of the guard will shed the water right over the edge. A clean gutter at the start of the season buys you a longer gap before the next visit.
If you are asking about a gutter cleaning service for a single visit, that works, but the rhythm matters more than the single date. Think of it as gutter maintenance, and each visit leaves the runs clean. After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, and we put that in writing on the invoice so you can plan the next one.
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 works across Decatur from the nearest base, and we have cleaned gutters across the city on houses large and small. Booking with us is simple. You call (866) 435-6328 or text us, and we ask about stories, size and tree cover. If it is easy we ask for a photo of the house front. We will give you a quote by phone or text, and that quote holds. Lead times depend on the season, and the two busiest windows of the year are late spring and late fall, when our calendar fills fastest, so it is worth booking early. Keep a clean path to the side gate and the landscape beds by the downspouts, and the crew can start on time. We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for the visit. A homeowner can keep the day clear and check the photos afterward. On the visit we flush every downspout and watch the water run out the bottom. A leak at a seam is the first thing to report, so tell us about any drips when you call, and the crew checks the surrounding areas for water as well.
Anyone looking for Decatur gutter cleaning who will show up as scheduled and send photos afterward can book with us. We do residential gutter cleaning, and we clean the gutters and downspouts on the house, which is the whole job. The gutter cleaning services we offer are built around one thing: a clean run that sends water away from your home before it causes damage. Our gutter services stay simple: one visit, one photo set, one number. If you want to keep your gutters working through the next heavy rain, text us a photo and we will come back with a number.
The number comes from the stories, the size of the house and what is in the gutters, and we quote it by phone or text. We do not give a figure in advance, because two-story houses vary a lot once the trees and the roofline are considered.
Our customers here book late May or June after the seed drop, and late October or November after the leaves are down. If you wait past the first hard freeze, the ice can damage runs that were already sagging, so the fall visit is worth making on time.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm the date when you call (866) 435-6328. We do not promise same-day unless we have an opening that day.
No. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and keeps every ladder away from your home and off the landscape beds. Photos of every run and downspout reach your phone before the truck leaves. Leave the side gate unlocked and keep pets inside while the ladders are up.
Yes. Every downspout is flushed and watched until it runs clear at the bottom, and we check that water leaves the outlet. Clearing a buried drain line is a separate job, and we quote it before anyone touches it.
On our jobs, yes, usually less often. Guards hold the leaves out, but needles, seed casings and grit sit on top of them and turn into a paste that stops the water from getting in. We clear the surface, flush each downspout and reseat the guards. Once the guards are reseated, the trough is clean and the water has somewhere to go, which is part of our cleaning and maintenance visit.
If a clean gutter still sheets water over the edge in rain, the problem is usually slope, capacity or downspout size rather than the buildup in the trough. Send us a photo or a short video of the rain gutter overflowing 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 work starts, never on the invoice. The number we quote on the phone is the number on the invoice, and a clean match is the whole point.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
