Our own crew runs a gutter cleaning service in Ottawa, every gutter run flushed and flow-tested, the leaves and debris hauled away, and photos of every run before we leave. The price comes from the number of stories, the size of the house and how much tree cover hangs over the roof. The number we give on the phone is the number on your invoice. Most of our customers book in the spring and fall, and we have been running that schedule across Ottawa long enough to know where the water goes when it stops moving.
Quoted from stories, size and tree cover, over the phone, with nothing added once the crew is on the roof.
The price for gutter cleaning 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 quote is the number we charge. Other gutter cleaning services that price by the linear foot land in a similar place per foot, but on a real house the length alone rarely tells the story.
What moves the quote on our jobs is usually a third story or a pitch too steep to walk, a walk-out basement that puts the back run twenty-four feet up, gutters nobody has opened in years, and guards we have to lift and reseat. When a rain gutter is packed with compacted leaves and grit, the clog takes longer to break loose and the crew spends more time on each run. Clearing the pipes, checking the water flow and debris removal are included and are never billed as extras. If something changes the job, you hear it before the clean starts, never on the invoice.
On one of our jobs the quote rose because the back run had a sag and sat with water standing in it, so the crew had to work the leaves and grit out by hand before the flush could move anything. The front of the house was simple. Ottawa homes with older runs often find the same thing: the gutter looks clear from the driveway, and the blockage is further down, in the clogged downspouts that carry water away from your home. We check the drainage at the outlet and photograph it before we finish, so you can see it on your phone.
Our crew works the same way for residential and commercial properties, where the job is scheduled per building and the buildup on a flat roof is usually the bigger item. Gutters and downspouts on a commercial building are priced by the building, not by a rate card.
Text a photo of the front of the house, or call (866) 435-6328, and ask for a written estimate. We will tell you what we see from the picture before we ever come out.
| 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 spring after the seed and pollen drop, and once in late fall after the last leaves come down. When we open a gutter here in May we find seeds packed into the elbows and pollen paste that holds rainwater in place. In the fall it is the wet leaf mat, and on houses that skipped that visit we have seen runs sag under the weight of ice by March. A clog that goes unchecked does not stay in the gutter; it pushes water back under the shingles, and one heavy rainfall can turn that into a leak, rot on the fascia and structural damage.
Under heavy tree cover or a dense landscape of shrubs, we see the runs plug between visits because needles, the odd twig and grit collect faster than the leaves do. Those houses need regular gutter cleaning every three to four months, because a clean run in spring is not a clean run by fall. A lot with few or no trees is usually fine once a year in late fall. Gutter guards still need the top cleared, and we schedule those less often, with the surface checked at each visit.
After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, based on what the crew found in the runs and at the outlets. Want to clean your gutters on a set schedule? Call (866) 435-6328 to set the first date, or text a photo of the roofline and we will give you an estimate on the phone.
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.
The crew covers the surrounding areas from the nearest base, works the city as a whole, and handles residential properties and commercial buildings alike. The gutter cleaning process starts with a quote by phone or text, from the stories, the size of the house and how much tree cover is over the house. A photo of the house front helps if it is easy to send. We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for the visit.
Across Illinois, the spring window for gutter services runs late May to June. Our fall window is late October into November, so the earlier you call the better your choice of day. We keep the slots for each window open to a set number of homes, which is why the first call should come before the busy stretch starts. Booking a date now keeps the gutters on schedule and gives the next crew a clean run at the leaves before the rain does.
If you want to keep your gutters clear through the year, ask us about a recurring gutter maintenance plan for Ottawa gutter cleaning that bundles your cleanings. It takes the guesswork out of when the next visit falls, and it is the easiest way to protect your home from water damage before the next storm. To get your gutters on the schedule, call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the house front.
The number comes from the stories, the size of the house and what is in the gutters. We give it by phone or text, and the number we quote is the number we charge. Ask any of the cleaning services in Ottawa for the same written breakdown before you sign.
Our customers here book in late spring and late fall, the visits that match when seeds drop and when the leaves are down. If the fall visit is skipped, we see sagging runs by March on the houses that waited.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm the exact date when you call. Same-day depends on the crew's schedule that day, so we tell you honestly what is open.
No. A homeowner does not need to be there. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and sends photos of every run 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 flow-test it, and we check that water is leaving at the outlet. Clearing an underground drain line is a separate job, and we quote it before anyone touches it.
Yes, a guarded gutter system still needs a clean on top and the runs checked. On our jobs we find needles and grit sitting on the guard and the water never getting in, so we lift the panels and clear underneath, because guards do not end cleaning and maintenance.
If a clean gutter still sheets water over the edge in rain, the problem is usually slope or downspout size, not debris. Send us a short video in the rain and we 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 it and agree to it before work starts, so the invoice matches the quote.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
