Our own crew cleans gutters in West Des Moines, every downspout flushed and flow-tested, debris hauled away, and photos of every run before we leave. A homeowner who calls us gets a price built from stories, house size and tree cover, and that number is the one on the invoice. A clean gutter system keeps roof drainage moving and rainwater away from the foundation. Across Iowa, most of our customers book the late spring and late fall visits, and we keep the same crew on the ladder from the first call to the last photo. Call (866) 435-6328 to get on the calendar.
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, and the number we quote is the number we charge. A gutter cleaning service that prices by length lands in a similar place per linear foot, but on our jobs the stories and the debris load do most of the work. A roofline too steep to walk is a different job from one a person can stand on, and a clean quote says so before we book.
What moves the quote on our jobs is usually a third story or a roof too steep to walk, a walk-out basement that puts the back run far up the wall, gutters nobody has opened in years, and guards we have to lift and reseat. Downspout flushing, flow testing and debris removal are included and are never billed as extras. Leaves and debris go in the truck, not on your lawn. Anything that changes the job is raised before work starts, never on the invoice, including a downspout that needs an extension to carry water away from your home.
On a heavy tree lot in West Des Moines, the usual picture is a rain gutter packed with leaves and grit, a clog at the elbow, several clogged downspouts that need flushing from the top, and a run that has started to sag. The crew clears the run, flushes every downspout until water runs clear, and leaves the trough clean. Buildup like that takes one visit to clear, and waiting only lets the drainage fail and water rot the fascia behind it. A clear trough and a downspout that runs free keep the water flow steady in a heavy storm. Commercial properties get the same flush and photo process, priced per building. Residential properties are quoted from stories and tree cover before we arrive, and the west des moines homeowners we serve get the same photos of every run. Gutter cleaning services of this kind keep rainwater moving and protect the structure, and skipping them shows up later as structural damage that costs far more to fix.
| 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 in west des moines ia book a spring and fall visit. Across Iowa, the spring visit falls in late May to June, after seed and pollen drop, and the fall visit in late October to November, after the last leaves come down. In a West Des Moines spring we open the gutter and find seeds, 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 under ice by March. Snow here falls from January through April and again in November and December, and a clean gutter before the first hard freeze is what keeps ice dams from forming at the eave.
Under heavy tree cover the gutter system needs a visit more often than once a year, because needles and grit pack each downspout between visits. West Des Moines gets about 37.4 inches of precipitation a year, and May, June and July are the wettest months, so heavy rainfall in early summer shows every weak spot in a rain gutter. A clean gutter before that stretch matters. Near a busy road or active construction we see the same pattern. With few or no trees over the roof, a single late fall visit is usually enough. A twig or two on the roof after a windstorm is normal; a pile of them in the elbow is not. Gutter guards still need the surface cleared, and we check that less often but never skip it. Every gutter clog and blockage we find on a visit is photographed, so you can see how fast it built up.
Our gutter maintenance schedule gets set after the first visit, when we tell you which tier your lot actually needs. Both residential and commercial buildings follow that logic, and the photos from each visit show how fast the gutter filled. If you want us to clean your gutters on a regular schedule, ask for a written estimate and we will set the dates with you.
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 runs west des moines gutter cleaning jobs from one base, and we keep a record of the neighborhoods where we have worked, so when you call we can tell you whether we have been on your street before. We clean across west des moines and surrounding areas, and the same crew handles every call. Booking is simple: call (866) 435-6328 and we give you a quote from your stories, the size of the house and the tree cover. A photo of the house front helps if it is easy to send. Lead time depends on the calendar, and we confirm a date when you call. Our calendar fills during the late spring and late fall windows, so booking early keeps your slot.
We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for the visit. Our crew works outside and does not come inside. Each homeowner gets the same work: we flush every downspout, clean the gutters and downspouts, and check the seams for any leak before the next storm. The point is to protect your home from water damage in heavy rainfall, and to keep runoff moving away from your home. We serve residential and commercial buildings alike, and we keep your gutters working through the season. Every one of our cleanings starts with a quote from stories, house size and tree cover, so the number is settled before the ladder goes up.
Our gutter services are built around the calendar of the city and the way water moves off these roofs. Whether you are on the north side or in surrounding areas, the same crew handles the job from the first flush to the last photo. A clean run is only half the job, though. The landscape around each downspout decides whether the drainage carries water off the lot or pools it against the foundation, and we note that in the photos. Whatever the house, the same crew does the same check.
Q: What does gutter cleaning cost for a two-story house in West Des Moines? A: The number comes from the stories and the size of the house, and we give it to you by phone or text. We do not quote a figure before we know those two things.
Q: When should I clean my gutters in west des moines ia? A: Most of our customers book a spring and fall visit. Across Iowa the spring visit falls in late May to June, and heavy rainfall in May through July is what finds the weak spots, so a clean run before then matters. If you wait past the first hard freeze, we often find ice dams and runs that have started to pull loose. Water that sits in a trough through winter can start to rot the fascia behind it.
Q: Do you offer same-day gutter cleaning in West Des Moines? A: Same-day slots are not something we promise. Our cleaning services in west des moines run on booked dates, and most open slots come up within the week. To get your gutters on the schedule, call (866) 435-6328 and we confirm a date on that call.
Q: Do I need to be home? A: No. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and sends photos of every run and downspout to your phone before the truck leaves.
Q: Do you flush each downspout and check where it drains, including underground lines? A: Yes, we flush every downspout and check where it drains, and a clean outlet is what tells us the job worked. Clearing a buried underground drain line is a separate job and is quoted before anyone touches it.
Q: If my gutters have guards, do they still need cleaning? A: Yes. Guards stop leaves but not needles, seeds or grit, so gutter maintenance still means clearing the surface and checking that the water is getting in. A clean gutter under the guard drains properly.
Q: What happens if the gutters still overflow after you leave? A: Send us a photo or short video of it in the rain. A gutter that is clean and still overflowing has a slope or downspout problem, and we tell you what it is rather than selling a second cleaning.
Q: Will the price change once the crew is on the roof? A: Only if we find something that changes the job, and you hear about it and agree before work starts. Our gutter cleaning process does not change the price on the invoice. Cleaning and maintenance are priced the same way: 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.
