Our own crew cleans gutters in Royal Oak, every downspout flushed and flow-tested, debris hauled away, the yard left clean, and photos of every run before we leave. The price comes from your stories, the size of the house and how much tree cover is over the roof, and the number we give on the phone is the number on your invoice. We have been doing this work across Royal Oak for years, and Royal Oak homeowners get the same crew on the ladder every time.
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 size and what is sitting in the gutters. We give you an estimate over the phone or by text from those three things, and the number we quote is the number we charge. Gutter cleaning services are priced per house, so a homeowner sees one figure before the crew arrives. Some companies price by the linear foot, which lands in a similar place per run, but we would rather give you one figure for the whole house.
On our jobs the quote moves for a few reasons. A third story or a roof too steep to walk takes more time and more equipment. A walk-out basement or a sloped lot raises the effective height of the roofline. Gutters nobody has opened in years come out packed with compacted debris, and a run that has begun to sag or has poor drainage at the outlet adds time, and so do guards we have to lift and reseat. We flush every downspout and run a flow test, and debris removal is included and never billed as an extra. Cleaning and maintenance on a house like that is quoted before anyone climbs, and a clean run with good drainage takes less time. Anything that changes the job gets raised before work starts, never on the invoice.
Most of our Royal Oak homes are on regular cleanings, and the crew sees the difference right away. A gutter kept clean on a steady rhythm rarely arrives full of compacted gutter clog, while the runs that skip a season often need the extra hour. Our own experience is that homes where you keep your gutters on a regular schedule hold a steadier water flow through the spring rains and show less buildup at the outlets. Clean your gutters on a schedule and the quote tends to stay where it started. Call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the front of the house and we will give you the number.
| 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 Royal Oak customers book twice a year. Across Michigan, the spring visit falls in late May to June, after the seed and pollen drop. The fall visit falls in late October to November, after the last leaves are down. That is the rhythm we see on our jobs in Royal Oak, MI.
In spring the downspout elbows are packed with seeds and pollen paste, and a clog at the downspout shows up as water running over the front edge in the first heavy rainfall. A gutter kept clean through spring is far easier than one we have to open in April. In fall it is the wet mat of leaves and debris, and on houses that skipped the fall visit we have opened runs by March that had begun to sag under the weight of ice. A full rain gutter is a rainwater problem waiting to happen, and an unchecked blockage tends to start a leak at the roofline, which can end in structural damage.
Under heavy tree cover, every three to four months is what we see working, because needles, grit and the odd twig pack the outlets between visits. Near a busy road or construction, the same schedule applies, and the landscape beds along the house need a look too. With few or no trees, once a year in late fall is enough. Gutter guards, if you have them, mean less frequent visits, but the surface still needs a clean. Routine gutter maintenance keeps water away from your home and keeps the whole gutter system moving, so the gutters and downspouts drain at the outlet. Done right, this is how we help protect your home from water damage without a crisis. After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, and how to keep your gutters clean between visits.
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 Royal Oak and surrounding areas from the nearest base, and the booking is the same across Royal Oak. To get your gutters on the schedule, call us or text a photo of the house front, and we give you a phone quote from your stories, the size of the house and how much tree cover is over the roof. The first call is where the job gets scoped, so we know what the visit involves before a date is set.
Our calendar fills in two busy windows, the weeks after the spring seed drop and the weeks after the last leaves come down. If you want a slot in one of those, book early. We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for the visit. A clean path to the downspout makes the visit faster. The quote, the booking and the call before arrival are the same whether the house is a bungalow or a larger two-story, so Royal Oak homeowners always know the next step. A clean gutter on the first visit makes every later visit quicker. Our gutter services are built for residential properties, and we take residential and commercial inquiries. For commercial properties we tell you on the phone whether the job fits the crew. Ask about the Royal Oak gutter cleaning process on the call and we will walk you through it.
The number comes from stories and size, and it includes debris removal and downspout flushing. We give it by phone or text. We do not guess from the street.
Most of our customers book late May or June and again in late October or November. If you wait past the fall visit, the first freeze can lock the leaves and debris into the runs.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm a date when you call. Our cleaning services in Royal Oak are booked on that same phone line.
No. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and sends photos of every run and downspout to your phone before the truck leaves. We leave the yard as clean as we found it.
Yes, we flush every downspout and check that water is leaving at the outlet, because a clogged downspout backs water up into the gutter until it spills over the edge. Clearing a buried line is a separate job and is quoted before anyone touches it.
Yes. On our jobs guards keep out the leaves, but needles, seed casings and grit still get through, so the surface still needs a clean.
A rain gutter that is clean and still sheets water over the edge has a slope or downspout problem, not a debris problem, and left alone that water can rot the fascia and turn into structural damage. The fix is about getting water away from the house, not scooping more debris out of the trough. Send us a photo or short video in heavy rainfall and we will tell you what it is. We do not sell a second cleaning for a slope problem.
Only if something changes the job, and you hear about it and agree before work starts. Call (866) 435-6328 and we will get your gutters priced before you commit.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
