Our crew handles gutter cleaning services in Ames IA, clears every run, hauls away the debris, and leaves each one clean before the truck pulls off. 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 you by phone is what you pay. Most customers here book the fall visit for October to early November, once the last leaves are down. Call (866) 435-6328 for a quote.
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 sitting in the gutters. We quote gutter cleaning services for residential properties by phone or text from those three things, and the number we quote is the number we charge. Commercial properties are quoted from the same three inputs. Other companies price by the linear foot, which lands in a similar place per run, but a quote built that way can drift once the crew is on the ladder. Ours does not.
On our jobs, four things move the number. A third story, or a roof too steep to walk, means the crew works from a boom or scissor lift, which takes longer to set. A walk-out basement or a sloped lot raises the effective height of the roofline, so the back run sits farther up than the front. A gutter system nobody has opened in years comes out packed with compacted leaves and grit, and that buildup takes more hours than a routine clean. Guards we have to lift and reseat add time on every run, and clogged downspouts add more.
Gutters and downspouts are checked for water flow, debris removal is included, and every run is left clean. If the crew finds something that changes the job, you hear it and agree to it before work starts, never on the invoice.
Our Ames homes that have been on a schedule since their first visit are the easiest to quote, because the crew already knows the runs. For the first visit, the photo of the front of the house sent by text tells us most of what we need. Every gutter that has been left to fill with leaves and debris costs more to clear than one that is cleaned on schedule, and the clog that forms at a downspout elbow is usually where the water starts to go the wrong way. A rain gutter that has been left too long can start to sag or leak at the seams, and once water sits in the trough it finds its way into the fascia board and starts structural damage that no cleaning will undo.
Where a run is connected to an underground line, we check that water reaches the outlet and tell you what we see. Clearing a buried line is a separate job and is quoted before anyone touches it. Our crew's aim on every house is good drainage: get the water away from the foundation and keep it moving. The quote is built so you can see every line before the work begins.
| 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, one visit each in spring and fall. Across Iowa the spring visit falls in late May to June, after the seed drop, and the fall visit runs October to early November, after the last leaves. When we open a gutter here in May, we find seeds and pollen packed into the elbows, which is the first clog of the season. In November it is the wet leaf mat, and on houses that skipped the fall visit we have seen runs sag under the first ice by March. The schedule works the same for residential and commercial buildings. Ask for an estimate when you book, and we give you the visit date with it.
Heavy rainfall peaks in May, June and July, with about 38.5 inches of precipitation a year, so a clogged run overflows first when the storms come. Winter brings snow from November through March, about 27 inches a year, and the freeze that follows is why the fall visit matters. Water left behind a blockage in the trough freezes at the eave and can push under the first course of shingles, which is the ice dam problem we see most often in late winter. A clean gutter in late fall gives the melt somewhere to go, and rainwater drains off the roofline instead of backing up.
Under heavy tree cover, with big trees over the roof, plan to keep your gutters on a shorter schedule than the twice-a-year plan, because needles and grit pack each downspout between visits. Where there are few or no trees, once a year in late fall is enough to clean your gutters. Guards cut the frequency, but the surface still needs regular gutter cleaning. Debris removal is part of every visit. After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot needs for gutter maintenance, and cleaning and maintenance on that schedule is what keeps a fascia board from rotting.
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.
Ames gutter cleaning runs across the whole city on one schedule, and the crew covers the surrounding areas too. We clean gutters for homeowners the same way, and our gutter cleaning process is short: a quote by phone or text, using stories, size and tree cover, plus a photo of the front of the house if it is easy to send. Lead time is set by the calendar, and we will tell you when the next open date is when you call. Across Iowa, spring visits fall in late May to June and fall visits in October to early November, so if you want a specific week, book early.
We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home. Each homeowner gets the same call before the crew pulls up, with a note on the ladder setup. Keep the side gate unlocked, and let us know about any dog in the yard. The crew will flush every downspout, because one twig lodged in an elbow is enough to back water up the run. If your house has gutter guards, say so when you book, since guards change the job. Our gutter services run on a calendar full of repeat customers, and our cleaning services in Ames fill fast in those two windows, so the spring and fall cleanings go first. The point is to move water away from your home and protect your home from water damage. Booking with us is simple, and we confirm the date in writing once it is set. To get your gutters on the calendar, call (866) 435-6328 or send a text with the stories and square footage.
The number comes from stories and size, and we give it to you by phone or text before we book. The quote covers downspout flushing and haul-off, so nothing is added on the day.
Most of our customers here book in late spring and again in late fall. If you wait past the fall visit, we often find sagging runs, ice-damaged edges and wood that has started to rot by March, which is the cost of skipping the season.
Same-day depends on our calendar across Ames that week, so we confirm a date when you call. We will tell you the first open day we have.
No. The crew works outside, stays out of the house, and sends before-and-after pictures of each downspout to your phone before the truck leaves. Tell us about any landscape you want kept clear when you call, and the ladder setup is planned around it.
Yes. We flush every downspout and check that water leaves at the outlet. Clearing a buried line is a separate job, and we quote it before anyone touches it.
Yes, though less often. On our jobs we find seed casings, pollen and grit sitting on top of the guard, and water that never reaches the trough. We clear the surface and check that the water is getting in.
A gutter that is clean and still spills water over the edge usually has a pitch or outlet-size issue, not a buildup issue. Text us a clip taken during a storm and we will tell you what it is, and we will not charge a second cleaning to treat it.
It should not. If the crew finds something that changes the job, we stop, tell you what we found, and agree on the change before we continue. A gutter system packed harder than expected is one example, and the figure we quote is the figure you pay.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
