Our own crew cleans gutters and downspouts in Highlands, flushes every downspout, tests the water flow, hauls the debris away and sends you 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. We have been doing this work across New York for many years, mostly booked in spring and fall.
Quoted from stories, size and tree cover, over the phone, with nothing added once the crew is on the roof.
The price for our gutter cleaning services depends on stories, square footage and what is in the gutters. We price 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 once the length is counted, but on our jobs the quote follows the house.
What moves it is what the crew finds on the ladder. A third story or a roof too steep to walk takes longer and more equipment. A walk-out basement or a sloped lot raises the effective height of the roofline, so the back run sits higher than it looks from the yard. Gutters nobody has opened in years hold compacted debris that has to be dug out by hand, and guards we have to lift and reseat add time. Downspout flushing, water flow testing and debris removal are included and are never billed as extras. The crew leaves the gutters clean, not just emptied. If anything changes the job, you hear it before work starts, never on the invoice.
Across the Highlands homes we have priced, the pattern is the same: stories and tree cover set the number, and the crew confirms it once the gutters are open. Most of the homes we clean here are two-story houses with a mix of open and guarded runs, and the estimate we give from a photo of the front of the house is usually close to the final figure. If you text us a photo of the front of the house, we can tell you which of those factors apply before you book.
Leaves and debris are where the clog starts. A blockage at one elbow in the gutter system backs water up the run until it sits against the rain gutter lip and runs over onto the landscape below. A leak at a seam does the same thing on a smaller scale. That buildup is the reason a price can rise when the crew finds it; it is also the reason we flush every downspout and check where it drains. Clogged downspouts send water right back toward the foundation, and water that is not carried away from your home is the start of the structural damage we see on houses that skipped a season.
Residential and commercial properties follow the same logic with a different schedule, and the building type and access set the number. Residential properties with a sag, a clog at the downspout or a drainage problem at the foundation are quoted on the same terms. Call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the roofline and we will give you a written estimate by the next business day.
| One story | Two stories | Three stories or steep | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 sq ft | from $150 | from $225 | from $295 |
| 1,500 to 2,500 sq ft | from $200 | from $260 | from $335 |
| Over 2,500 sq ft | from $235 | from $305 | from $395 |
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 Highlands NY book twice a year, once in spring after the seed and pollen drop, and once in fall after the last leaves come down. Those visits are the core of regular gutter cleaning here, and the spring and fall schedule is what keeps the rainwater moving. Twice a year is the simplest way to keep the gutters clean before they back up. Across New York, spring visits usually land in late May to June, and on our Highlands calendar fall visits run November to early December.
In spring we find seeds, seed casings and pollen packed into the elbows and the first few feet of each run. Now and then a twig wedges in the elbow and the whole run backs up. In fall it is the leaf load, and on our jobs the runs that were not cleaned in the fall are the ones that sag or pull loose by March. Heavy rainfall in Highlands tends to peak in June, August and October, which is when a clog shows up first. Where freeze risk is part of the picture, the first ice shows up at the eave, and an ice dam that forms behind a blockage is the most expensive problem a skipped fall visit leaves behind.
Under heavy tree cover, we see customers on a three to four month schedule, because needles and grit pack the downspouts faster than a spring and fall visit can keep up with. Near a busy road or active construction the grit load is similar and the same interval applies. With few or no trees, once a year in late fall is enough for most houses. Guarded gutters need less frequent cleaning, but the surface still has to be clean before the water can get in, because a gutter guard does not stop the paste that forms on top of it.
When we open a gutter here in May we often find the same story: the elbow is full, the run is sagging a little near the middle, and the water has been coming over the front edge for a few storms. That is a clog problem first and a structural problem second. Clean gutters carry the water away from the foundation and keep the fascia dry before rot sets in, which is the whole point of the visit.
Many of our customers ask us to write the next visit on the calendar before we leave. Most of our cleanings are booked ahead, so ask early. If you want to book a date for your gutter cleaning service, call (866) 435-6328 or ask for a written schedule, and we will set the spring or fall slot. After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, and that estimate is the one we stand behind.
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 covers gutters across Highlands from the nearest base and works through the neighborhoods where we have already cleaned gutters on the roofs we know. Highlands gutter cleaning starts with a quote by phone or text from stories, size and tree cover, and a photo of the house front if it is easy to send. We call before we come, and nobody needs to be home.
The calendar fills in two busy windows: late spring when the seeds and pollen drop, and late fall when the leaves finish coming down. If you call during one of those windows, a slot may take longer to come up, so it is worth asking for a date early. Lead times are confirmed on the phone, and we will not promise a same-day visit unless we have the slot open. We want every run clean when the truck pulls out, and the calendar is planned around that.
Highlands homeowners in the surrounding areas book the same way. Each homeowner gets the same written quote before a date is set. The crew carries the flushing tools and the photo kit for cleaning and maintenance visits, and it lifts gutter guards when a run needs it. The visit is planned around what we already know about the roof. For a house with a history of overflow, we ask when the gutters were last opened and kept clean, because that answer sets how much time the first run will take.
We want to help you keep your gutters clean between visits too. If you see water pouring over the edge in a storm, that is the signal to call us, and we can tell you whether it is a cleaning problem or a slope problem. Ask us about gutter maintenance and gutter services at the same time, and we will tell you what we can and cannot do on the job. Our goal is to protect your home from water damage by getting the water away from the foundation before the first heavy storm of the season.
The number comes from stories and size, and we give it by phone or text. Send us a photo of the front of the house and we will tell you what to expect before you book.
Most of our customers here book in late spring after the seed and pollen drop, and in late fall after the leaves are down. If you wait past the first hard freeze, we often find ice at the eave and runs that have started to sag.
Same-day depends on the calendar that week. Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm the date when you call.
No. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and sends photos of every run and downspout to your phone before the truck leaves. The yard is left clean when the crew packs up. Leave the side gate unlocked and keep pets inside while the ladders are up.
Yes, we flush every downspout and check that water is leaving at the outlet, and we keep at it until the water runs clean. Clearing a buried drain line is a separate job, and we quote it before anyone touches it.
Yes. On our jobs we find seeds, needles and leaves sitting on top of the guard, with paste forming underneath it. The surface still has to be clean, though the visits can be less frequent.
A gutter that is clean and still overflows in rain usually has a slope or downspout-size problem, not a debris problem. Send us a short video in the rain and we will tell you what it is, without selling a second cleaning.
It should not. Our gutter cleaning process settles the number before the ladder goes up. If the crew finds something that changes the job, you hear it and agree to it before work starts, never after. If you want to get your gutters checked by the crew that will be on the ladder, call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the roofline and ask for a written estimate. Our cleaning and maintenance visits cover the full gutter system from the roofline to the downspout outlet, and the frequently asked questions above are the ones we hear most often.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
