Our crew cleans gutters in Fox Lake, IL, flushes every downspout, flow-tests the run, hauls the leaves and debris away, and sends you photos of every run before we leave. The price comes from your stories, your home's size and how much tree cover is over the roof, and the number we give you on the phone is the number on your invoice. Most of our customers book in spring and fall, and we work the calendar around those two windows. The goal is a clean gutter system that drains, not just one that looks empty.
Quoted from stories, size and tree cover, over the phone, with nothing added once the crew is on the roof.
The price for our gutter cleaning services depends on stories, square footage and what is sitting in the gutters. We quote it over the phone or by text from those three things, and the number we give is the number we charge. Some companies price by the linear foot, which lands in a similar place once the run count is added up.
On our jobs the things that move the price are consistent. A third story or a roof too steep to walk takes more time on the ladder. A walk-out basement puts the back run far up. Gutters nobody has opened in years are packed with compacted buildup, and guards we have to lift and reseat add time. Flushing, flow testing and debris removal are included and never billed as extras. If something changes the job, you hear about it before work starts, never on the invoice. The landscape matters too: a yard that slopes toward the foundation or a run tucked behind shrubs changes how long the job takes.
Here is what we have seen on Fox Lake jobs, and what homeowners should watch for. A home with a clog at one outlet, blocked at the elbow, looked like a small job until the crew opened the gutter and found a sag in the run behind it, with leaves and sediment holding water away from the outlet. That is a common pattern on our Fox Lake homes: the blockage is visible, the sag under it is not, and the estimate has to account for both. Once the run is clean, the crew photographs the drainage path and shows you before anything is changed. Where the gutter has been left so long that water flow stops at the outlet, the job takes longer, and we say so on the phone. Residential and commercial properties follow the same logic by building, and the estimate reflects the number of runs and the access.
| 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 book twice a year, once in late spring after the seed and pollen drop, and again in late fall after the last leaves come down. Plan on twice a year when you clean your gutters, and let the seasons set the dates. Our gutter cleaning service follows that rhythm for residential properties. In spring we open gutters full of seed casings and pollen paste that clog the elbows. In fall it is the wet leaf mat, and on houses that skipped that visit we find a rain gutter that has sagged or pulled loose by the time winter ends. A sag left that long can lead to fascia rot and structural damage.
Under heavy tree cover, cleanings run every three to four months, because needles, grit and the odd twig pack the gutters between visits and the rainwater backs up into the roofline. Regular gutter cleaning is what keeps that from happening. Homes with few or no trees do well once a year in late fall. Good gutter maintenance keeps rainwater moving away from your home. Where guards are installed, the schedule runs less often, but the surface still has to be cleared, since debris sits on top of the guard. Our crew checks for blockage at each visit and notes anything that would make a clean run less effective.
After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs. Contact us to get a written estimate for the schedule that fits your roof and will keep your gutters running.
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 Fox Lake and the surrounding areas, and we provide cleaning services in Fox Lake. Every gutter cleaning job starts with the same questions. To book, call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the front of the house. We will ask about stories, approximate square footage and how much tree cover shades the house, then give you a quote on the spot. Our gutter services run on a calendar that fills in two busy windows, late spring and late fall, so call early and we can get your gutters on the schedule.
We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for exterior work. The gutter cleaning process is simple: our crew works outside, leaves the yard clean, and sends you photos of every run before we leave. The crew hauls the debris off with them. A homeowner with a leak or a gutter that overflows in heavy rainfall should tell us that when they call. It helps us plan the visit and protect your home from water damage in the meantime.
The number comes from your stories and square footage, and we give it to you by phone or text. We do not name a figure without those details. The number we quote is the number on your invoice.
Most of our customers here book in late spring and again in late fall. Winter freezing is a real risk here, so fall cleaning matters: leaves left in the gutter hold water that becomes ice at the eave.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm the exact date when you call. If you are on a tight schedule, tell us when you call so we can check the calendar.
No. Our crew works outside, does not come into the house, 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, watch the water flow to the outlet, and check where the drain line goes. Underground drain lines are a separate job that we quote before touching them.
Yes. On our jobs leaves sit on top of the guard and needles and grit work through the mesh, so the job is cleaning and maintenance: we clean the surface and check the flow under it.
Send us a photo or short video in the rain. A clean gutter that still overflows usually has a slope or outlet-size problem, not a debris problem, and we will tell you what it is rather than sell a second cleaning.
It should not. Anything that changes the job is raised and agreed before work starts. Call (866) 435-6328 or ask for a written estimate if you want the number in writing first.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
