Our own crew cleans gutters in Traverse City, every downspout flushed and flow-tested, leaves hauled off, 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 is over the roof, and the number we give on the phone is the number on the invoice. Across Michigan the spring visit falls in late May to June, and the fall visit runs late October to November. Call (866) 435-6328 to book your visit across Traverse City MI.
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 it over the phone or by text from those three things, and the number we quote is the number we charge. Some companies price by the linear foot, which lands in a similar place per foot once the job is measured, but we would rather give you one number for the whole house.
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 above the ground, gutters nobody has opened in years and packed with compacted leaf mat, and guards we have to lift and reseat before we can clean underneath. Downspout flushing, flow testing and haul-off are included and are never billed as extras. The drainage at the outlet gets checked too, so the whole gutter system is looked at, not just the part you can see. If something changes the job once we see it, you hear about it before work starts, never on the invoice.
On Traverse City homes the quote changes most under heavy tree canopy, where leaves fill the gutters and a single clog can leave clogged downspouts that need the full flush. A rain gutter packed with leaves and debris cannot keep up with heavy rainfall, so the overflow runs down the side of the house, and that is why the crew checks for structural damage before it leaves. Residential and commercial jobs are quoted the same way, and commercial properties follow the same rule: stories, roof type and what is in the gutters decide the number. Water away from the foundation is the point of the whole visit, so the crew will clean the runs that drain toward the house first, and the price is set around that.
| 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.
Across Michigan the spring visit falls in late May to June, after the seed and pollen drop, and the fall visit runs late October to November, after the last leaves. In May the downspout elbows are packed with seeds and pollen paste. In November it is the wet leaf mat, and on houses that skipped the fall visit we find runs that sag or pull loose by March, after the first freezes.
Under heavy tree cover a clog forms faster, so those houses need cleanings more often than twice a year, because needles, twig and grit pack the gutter runs between visits. Lots with few or no trees do fine with one visit in late fall. Near a busy road or a construction site the grit causes buildup the same way, so those get the shorter schedule too. Guards need less frequent visits, but the surface still has to be cleared, because a mat on top of the guard stops rainwater from getting in. Regular gutter cleaning on that schedule keeps the blockage from building up, and it is a lot easier than trying to clean your gutters after a run has pulled loose.
After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, based on what we found in the gutters and the roofline, not on a guess. For residential properties, the estimate on that first visit covers debris removal, so the visit has no surprise haul-off charge. Call (866) 435-6328 or text us a photo of the roofline and we will book your clean for the spring and fall windows.
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.
We clean gutters across Traverse City and the surrounding areas, working out of our crew base and running the schedule by the week. Every homeowner who calls or texts a photo of the front of the house gets a quote from stories, size and tree cover. Call (866) 435-6328 and we call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for the visit.
Our calendar fills in the two busy windows of the year, the late spring run and the late fall run, so the sooner you call, the sooner we can get your slot. Traverse City homeowners get the same process as everyone else, whatever the size of the house. Lead time is listed on the booking page and confirmed when you call. Once you book, we get your gutters and downspouts cleaned, flush every downspout and give you photos of the work before we leave, so you can see the result for yourself.
If you have a home from water damage, the gutters are often the first place to look. A leak at a seam or a run that pulls loose can send water into the wall, so we clean the gutters first, then check for anything that could leak. We keep your gutters working to protect your home and move the water away from your home. Our gutter services are scheduled around the rain, not the other way round, and Traverse City gutter cleaning services are one part of regular gutter maintenance.
The number comes from stories and size, and we give it to you by phone or text. Our gutter cleaning services in Traverse City are priced from the house itself, so a two-story with a walk-out basement and heavy leaf load is a different job from a two-story with an open yard. The number we quote is the number on the invoice.
Late May or June is the spring window across Michigan, and late October or November is the fall window in Traverse City. If you wait past the first hard freeze, the leaves are pressed into a wet mat and the runs can pull loose before spring. Late spring and late fall are the windows where a blockage forms most often.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm a date when you call. Same-day depends on the crew route that day, so we tell you honestly what is open rather than promise a slot we cannot keep.
No, you do not need to be home. Our crew works outside and does not come inside. Each run comes out clean, and photos of every run and downspout go 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 with water and watch it run clear at the bottom. Where a downspout feeds an underground line, we check that water leaves at the outlet and runs off across the landscape, and tell you if it does not. Clearing a buried line is a separate job and is quoted before anyone touches it.
Yes. Guards stop leaves, but they do not stop needles, seed casings and grit from sitting on top and turning into a mat. On our jobs guarded gutters still need the surface cleared and the downspout flushed, which is the cleaning and maintenance a guard does not replace, just on a longer schedule.
A clean gutter that still spills during heavy rainfall has a slope or capacity problem, not a debris problem. Send us a photo or a short video in the rain and we will tell you what it actually is. We do not sell a second cleaning for a slope problem.
It should not. The gutter cleaning process is the same from start to finish. If we find something that changes the job, you hear about it and agree to it before the crew starts, not after. A leak or a run that has pulled loose is reported, not added to the bill on the spot. The price we quote on the phone is the price on the invoice.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
