Our own crew runs this gutter cleaning service in Wood River, and we flush every downspout, check that it flows, haul it all away, and send photos of every run before we leave so you can see the clean result. The price comes from your stories, your home's size and how much tree cover hangs over the roof, and the number we give you on the phone is the number on your invoice. Across Illinois, most of our customers book spring and fall, after the seed drop and again after the last leaves come down.
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 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 price by the linear foot and land in a similar place, but on our jobs the stories and the roofline set the effort more than the footage does. Not every residential and commercial building is priced like a house, so tell us what the building is when you call.
Here is what moves the quote when our crew shows up. A third story, or a roof too steep to walk, means a boom or scissor lift and more time on the job. A walk-out basement or a sloped lot raises the effective height of the back run. Gutters nobody has opened in years come out packed with leaves and debris, and guards we have to lift and reseat add time. Flushing, debris removal and a check of the water flow at each outlet are part of the drainage work. They are included in the price, never billed as extras, and the crew leaves the ground clean. If anything we find changes the job, you hear about it before work starts, not on the invoice.
Wood River homes see this in their own numbers. A two-story house on an older block with heavy leaves and clogged downspouts costs more to clean than the same footprint on a newer lot with an open yard, because the crew spent more time clearing the buildup and flushing the run. Most residential properties we see have one or two of these factors, and that is why we quote by phone rather than from a rate card. Ask for the estimate, and we will walk through what drives it for your house.
| 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 Wood River customers book twice a year. Across Illinois, the spring visit runs late May to June, after the spring seeds and pollen drop, and the fall visit runs November to early December, after the last leaves have come down. 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 or pull loose by late winter under the weight of ice, which is how rot and structural damage start at the eave.
Regular gutter cleaning under heavy tree cover means every three to four months, because needles and grit pack the runs between visits. A home with few or no trees does well with one visit a year in November. Homes with guards are on a less frequent schedule, but the surface still needs clearing, since pollen and grit sit on top of the guard and water stops getting in. Along a busy road or near active construction, plan on the shorter interval too, since a clean gutter fills faster there. If you are asking how often to clean your gutters, the answer depends on the trees. A single twig or clog at an elbow can back the whole run up, and the gutter's whole job is to carry water away.
After the first visit, once the gutters are clean, we tell you how many cleanings your lot actually needs, based on what the crew finds in your gutters and downspouts, not on a guess from the street. That is how we keep your gutters working between visits. Call (866) 435-6328 and we will set the spring or fall visit.
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 gutter services run across Wood River and surrounding areas from the nearest base, and we keep the schedule tight enough to reach most homes within the typical lead time, which we confirm when you call. Booking is simple: give us your stories, your approximate size and whether trees hang over the roof, and send a photo of the front of the house by text if it is easy. We quote that day, and once you say yes we set the date. Every caller gets the same steps, with the quote in hand before the crew is booked.
Our calendar fills up in two busy windows: the spring window when the seeds drop, and the fall window when the leaves come down. If you want a slot in those windows, call early to get your gutters on the schedule. We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for the visit. The crew works from the outside and leaves the landscape as it was found, and the photos of every run reach your phone before the truck leaves. If the crew sees a leak at a seam, it shows up in those photos, and you hear about it before anyone quotes a repair. This page is about homes, so if you have commercial properties to clean, ask us on the call whether the crew takes that job.
If you are weighing gutter cleaning against waiting for a storm to force the issue, remember that a clean gutter helps protect your home from water damage at the foundation and the eave, moving rainwater away from your home. Call (866) 435-6328 to get on the schedule, or text a photo of the roofline and we will tell you what we see.
Cleaning services in Wood River are priced from how many stories the house has, its size and what is in the gutters, so we quote it by phone or text rather than give a range here. Tell us those three things and we will give you the same number we charge.
Most of our customers book in the spring and again in the fall. Across Illinois, the spring visit runs late May to June, and the fall visit runs November to early December. If you wait past the leaf drop, we find the wet mat and a clog at an elbow that can lead to sagging runs by late winter on the houses that skipped the fall visit.
Wood River gutter cleaning slots mostly come up within the week, and we confirm the exact date when you call. If you need something sooner, ask, and we will tell you what the calendar allows.
No. 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. Flushing and flow-testing every run is part of our gutter cleaning process, and we check that water leaves at the outlet. If a line runs underground and needs clearing, we tell you and quote it separately before anyone starts that work.
Yes. Pollen and grit sit on top of the guard and water stops getting in, so the surface still needs clearing and the guards still need checking. Gutter maintenance on a guarded system is less frequent than on an open one, but it does not stop.
A clean rain gutter system that still sheets water over the edge during heavy rainfall has a slope or downspout-size problem, not a blockage problem. 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.
It should not. If the crew finds something that changes the job, you hear it and agree to it before they start, never after. The number 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.
