Our own crew cleans gutters here, every downspout flushed and flow-tested, the leaves hauled away, and photos of every run before we leave. The price comes from stories, size and tree cover, and the number we give on the phone is the number on the invoice. Most of our customers book in the spring and fall, and we have been up on these houses long enough to know what the seasons leave behind.
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, and we quote it over the phone or by text from those three things. The number we quote is the number we charge. Some companies price by the linear foot, which lands in a similar place once the length is counted.
On our jobs the quote moves for a few reasons. A third story or a roof too steep to walk takes more time on the ladder and the boom or scissor lift. A walk-out basement or sloped lot raises the effective height of the back of the house. Gutters nobody has opened in years come out packed with compacted leaves, and a gutter with a sag or a run that has lost its slope needs more hands to clear. Guards we have to lift and reseat add time. Once the trough is clean, the crew checks each seam for a leak before the downspout gets flushed. Downspout flushing, flow testing and haul-off are included and never billed as extras. Anything that changes the job is raised before work starts, never on the invoice.
Our crew has cleaned a clog-heavy run where the trough was full of wet leaves and seed casings, and the downspout had a blockage at the elbow that took a flush from the top to clear. We found the drainage was fine once the gutter was emptied, and the owner had the flow confirmed before we came down. Work like that is why we flow-test every run instead of stopping at the trough. It is also why we tell you about a sag before we start, so the buildup and the water flow are both sorted out in the quote. A clean trough with a blocked downspout still overflows, so the crew clears both before the visit ends. Rainwater that cannot leave the trough ends up behind the fascia, and the whole gutter system gets checked from the trough to the outlet.
Most of our Brainerd homes come to us for regular gutter cleaning, and the residential properties we work on in the area tend to need the same three checks: the trough, the downspout and the water flow at the outlet. Debris removal is part of the visit, not a surcharge added at the end. If you want to clean your gutters on a schedule, tell us when you call and we will set the calendar around the spring and fall visits. Our gutter cleaning services are priced one house at a time. Residential and commercial jobs are quoted the same way, by what the crew finds on the house, and commercial properties get the same photo record as a house. Call (866) 435-6328, text us a photo, or book a date and we will confirm the number before the crew comes out.
| 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: across Minnesota the spring visit lands in mid to late June, after the seed and pollen drop, and the fall visit falls in late September to October, after the last leaves. When we open a gutter here in June we find seeds, seed casings and pollen paste packed into the elbows. In October it is the leaf mat, and on houses that skipped the fall visit we see runs that have pulled loose or sagged by March. Freeze-belt houses carry the fall load into the ice season, and the trapped water becomes an ice dam at the eave. Brainerd averages about 48.2 inches of snow a year, with snow from January through April and again in November and December, so the fall visit has to finish before the snow load arrives. Keeping the trough clear through a freeze is how you protect your home from water damage, since a gutter that holds water ends up with rot in the fascia and soffit.
The tiers we see on our jobs are simple. Twice a year covers most houses. Under heavy tree cover, every three to four months, because needles and grit pack the trough between visits. Near a busy road or construction, the same tighter schedule. Few or no trees, once a year in late fall is enough. Guards cut the schedule back, but the surface still needs clearing, and a clog can form on top of a guard just as easily as in an open trough. Severe storms and straight-line winds across Minnesota drop twigs and needles into the trough, so a yard near a line of trees needs a look after the big blows. A clogged downspout shows up fast in May, June and July, the wettest months here.
A gutter that is clean but still spilling in the rain usually has a slope or capacity problem, not a buildup problem, and we say so at the visit. The estimate for the next visit comes from what we find on the house. After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, so the schedule fits the house instead of a generic calendar. Keep the runs clean between visits, and a clog rarely has time to set. We check the gutters and downspouts together, because a blocked downspout still overflows a trough that looks fine. Homes in the surrounding areas follow the same tiers, and the landscape around each house decides how fast it fills. Brainerd MN lots vary, so the tier is set on the roofline, and the goal is simple: keep your gutters running from June through October.
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 cover the whole area from our crew's base in the region, and the crew works across Brainerd rather than one part of it. Our cleaning services in Brainerd start with a quote by phone or text from stories, size and tree cover, and a photo of the front of the house is a quick way to speed it up. Lead time changes with the season, and we confirm the date when you call. Our calendar fills in the two busy windows of the year, late spring and fall, so calling early in those months gets you a slot sooner. A Brainerd gutter cleaning booking goes faster when the photo comes with it. We also take commercial properties and the surrounding areas, quoted the same way.
We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home for the visit. The crew works outside, and the cleaning and maintenance of the runs is done from the ladder and the boom or scissor lift. Heavy rainfall is the usual reason a homeowner calls us on short notice, and when it is a real overflow we put it near the front of the list. Homeowners here with a full trough after a storm should call before the next rain. Regular gutter maintenance costs less than a fascia repair. Two cleanings a year is the schedule most houses here start with. A twig wedged in a downspout elbow can hold back a run that looks clear from the ladder, so the crew checks the outlet even when the trough is empty. If your home has gutter guards, the crew still clears the surface and checks the water flow, and the guards go back where they were. Each visit ends with the trough clear and the water running free. The leaves go away from your home on the truck before the crew packs up. If you are a homeowner planning a spring visit, text the photo now and we will get your gutters on the calendar. Call (866) 435-6328 to book a date, and the crew confirms the window.
The number comes from stories and size, and we give it to you by phone or text. We do not quote a range here, because the stories, the square footage and what is in the gutters are what set it. The number we give is the number on the invoice. Commercial properties are quoted the same way, one property at a time.
Across Minnesota the spring visit lands in mid to late June, and our customers here book the fall visit in late September to October. If the fall visit waits until after the first hard freeze, we find the leaf mat already frozen into the trough, and on houses that skipped it the runs sag by March. Water held in a sagged run is how rot and structural damage start at the fascia.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm a date when you call. We do not promise same-day unless we can actually get the crew there. Gutter services fill first in late spring and fall, so call early in those months.
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. Debris removal is part of the visit, so nothing is left on the lawn.
Yes, we flush every downspout and check the water flow at the outlet. Clearing a buried drain line is a separate job, and we quote it before anyone touches it. Clogged downspouts are one reason water sits at the outlet, and the goal of the check is water away from the foundation.
Yes, on our jobs guarded gutters still collect needles, seed casings and grit on top of the guard, and the water can run over the front edge. The job is shorter, but the surface still gets cleared. Guards keep leaves and debris off the trough, but they do not keep the surface clean, and the job still gets done.
A clean gutter that still spills in rain has a slope or capacity problem, not a buildup problem. Send us a photo or a short video in the rain and we tell you what it is. We do not sell a second cleaning for a slope problem. A rain gutter that still overflows after a cleaning needs a different fix, and we tell you which one.
Only if the job changes in a way you have not agreed to. If the crew finds something that alters the work, you hear it and agree to it before they start, never after. That rule is part of our gutter cleaning process, so you agree to any change before the crew starts.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
