Our own crew cleans gutters here, every downspout flushed and flow-tested, leaves hauled off, and photos of every 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. Most homeowners here book in spring and fall, and we keep the same crew on the same schedule so the work looks the same visit to visit.
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. We quote it over the phone or by text from those three things, for residential properties and commercial properties alike, and the number we give is the number we charge. Companies that sell gutter cleaning services by the linear foot land in a similar place per foot, so it is worth asking any company how its number was built and what a clean job includes.
On our jobs, a few things move the number. A third story or a steep pitch takes longer and more ladder setup. A walk-out basement or sloped lot raises the effective height of the back run. Gutters nobody has opened in years come down packed, which is slower than a normal clean. Guards we have to lift and reseat add time. Downspout flushing, flow testing and haul-off are included and never billed as extras. If a gutter system has begun to sag or a seam has started to leak, that is a repair, and it gets raised before work starts, not on the invoice.
Here is what a clog usually looks like in Des Plaines homes. The leaves and debris pack into the elbows of the clogged downspouts, the water flow stalls at the lower run, and the drainage backs up until the water has nowhere to go. The crew clears the blockage, flushes the line and leaves a clean run that drains, and checks that the water away from the foundation is moving. That is the kind of job where the price goes up a little, and we tell you why before we start. Our rain gutter work on homes here tends to look like this: the structural damage is usually the buildup we find after a season has been skipped, not a failed system.
Need a number for your house? Text a photo of the front of the house, or call (866) 435-6328, and we will come back with a quote and a date.
| 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.
Across Illinois, the spring visit usually 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. Most homeowners book both. When we open a gutter in May we find seeds and pollen paste packed into the downspout elbows. Even a clean gutter from the spring visit can catch a twig or a pile of leaves by fall. In November it is the wet leaf mat, and on houses that skipped the fall visit we see runs sagging by March under the weight of ice.
Under heavy tree cover, every three to four months is the schedule that holds, because needles and grit pack the drain elbows between visits and the clog builds faster than a twice-a-year visit can clear. Near a busy road or a construction site the same tier applies. The wettest months here are May, June and August, so heavy rainfall lands right after the spring visit. With few or no trees, once a year in late fall is enough for most houses around here. Guarded gutters get fewer cleanings, but gutter maintenance still means a visit that clears the surface.
After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs. Our crew books a gutter cleaning service on a regular gutter cleaning schedule, and we set the rainwater blockage check against the roofline you actually have, not a generic chart. Plan on a visit before the rain season and another before the freeze, and call (866) 435-6328 to set the dates. The same calendar works for residential and commercial buildings. Each visit includes debris removal, and we will tell you what we find when we clean your gutters.
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 Des Plaines and the surrounding areas from the nearest base, and we keep a regular route through town so every homeowner gets the same crew, and the same clean job, on each visit. If you are looking for Des Plaines gutter cleaning or cleaning services in Des Plaines, booking starts with a call or text about your stories, your square footage and how much tree cover is over the roof, plus a photo of the house front if that is easy to send. Call (866) 435-6328 for an estimate, and we confirm the date while you are on the line. Our calendar fills in the late spring and late fall windows, so book early if you want those slots.
Nobody needs to be inside for the work, and the gutters and downspouts get done with the crew outside, so most people plan their day around the crew rather than the other way around, and the yard stays clean. Our gutter services are built to protect your home from water damage before the next storm, and we flush every downspout so the water runs away from your home the whole way down. Runoff from the landscape goes straight to the foundation when a gutter overflows. Keep your gutters clean between visits, and call to get your gutters on the schedule when you see overflow.
The number comes from stories and size, and we give it to you by phone or text as a clean number. We do not guess on the call; if the roof is steep or the gutters have not been opened in years, we say so before we name a price.
Most of our customers here book in late May or June and again in late October or November. If you wait past the fall visit, we usually find sagging runs and ice-damaged gutters by March.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm a date when you call. Same-day depends on the route that day, so ask when you book.
No. Our gutter cleaning process is the same every time: the 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 every downspout and watch the water until it runs clean at the bottom. Where a downspout feeds an underground line, we check the outlet; clearing a buried line is a separate job and we quote it before anyone touches it.
Yes. Gutter guards stop leaves, but needles, seed casings and grit sit on top and turn into a paste that stops the water. Guards do not end the cleaning and maintenance, so we lift the panels, clear underneath, flush each downspout and reseat the guards. A clean gutter under a guard is the point of the visit.
A clean gutter that still overflows has a slope or downspout-size problem, not a debris problem. Send us a photo or a short video of it in the rain and we tell you what it is; we do not sell a second cleaning for a slope problem. Left alone, that overflow can rot the fascia board under the gutter.
It should not. If the crew finds something that changes the job, you hear it and agree to it before they start, never after. Text a photo of the roofline before the visit and we can tell you whether anything is likely to change the number.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
