Our crew cleans gutters in Ithaca, and we flush every downspout and flow-test it before we leave. Everything we pull out gets hauled off the property, and you get photos of every run before we pack the ladders. The price comes from your stories, your roof size and how much tree cover sits over the house, and the number we give you on the phone is the number on your invoice. Most of our customers book in the spring and fall, when seed, pollen and leaves have built up enough to matter.
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, how much roof there is to run gutter along, and what is sitting in the gutters when we open them. Ithaca homes vary a lot in height, which is why the stories count comes first. We quote it over the phone or by text from those three things, and the number we quote is the number we charge. Some gutter cleaning services price by the linear foot, and that lands in a similar place once the stories and the mess are counted in.
On our jobs, a third story or a roofline too steep to walk changes the crew and the equipment, so it changes the quote. A walk-out basement or a sloped lot can put the back run much higher off the ground than it looks from the driveway. Gutters nobody has opened in years come out packed with compacted leaf mat that takes longer to clear, and guards we have to lift and reseat add time. Downspout flushing, flow testing and haul-off are included and never billed as extras. Anything that changes the job gets raised with you before work starts, never on the invoice.
At our Ithaca jobs we have seen the same few things drive a quote up: a tall back run on a sloped lot, a stretch of clogged downspout that needed flushing from the bottom up, and a gutter system packed with a season of leaves and debris. One clog at a back elbow can hold up a whole run. On one recent visit, the crew found heavy buildup in the valley and had to clean it out before the flow test would run clean. Call (866) 435-6328 for the number, and the price you hear on the phone is the price you pay. Send a photo of the front of the house by text when you call and we can tell you a lot before anyone climbs.
| 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 Ithaca NY book twice a year, once in late spring after the seeds and pollen drop, and again in late fall after the last leaves come down. When we open a gutter here in May we find seed casings and pollen paste packed into the elbows and at the outlet, and we clean them out before the flow check. When we open one in the fall we find a wet leaf mat, a blockage that holds water against the gutter line, and on houses that skipped the fall visit, runs that sag or pull loose by the time the snow sets in. That is the winter damage that turns into a leak in the ceiling and a bill for structural damage.
Under heavy tree cover, we see the gutter clog faster, because needles and grit pack the gutters between visits, and heavy rainfall in June, July and September, the wettest months here, washes more of it in, and rainwater that cannot get past the mat runs over the edge. Our customers under big trees are on a schedule of every three to four months, because good drainage carries the water away from your home. With few or no trees over the house, once a year in late fall is usually enough. A rain gutter near a busy road or active construction picks up grit fast, and those houses tend to sit on the shorter schedule too. Guards cut the work down, but they still need the surface cleared and each downspout checked, so they stay on a shorter schedule than an open system.
After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, and we put the photos on your phone so you can see the blockage for yourself. If you want to clean your gutters on a set schedule, we book the next visit from those photos. Regular gutter cleaning and maintenance includes debris removal and a flow check on every downspout. Residential properties and commercial properties in the area get the same check, scheduled to the building.
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 Ithaca, and our cleaning services in Ithaca reach the surrounding areas from our nearest base. Booking starts with an estimate by phone or text, using your stories, your roof size and how much tree cover sits over the house, plus a photo of the front if that is easy to send. Our gutter services calendar fills in the spring and in the fall, which are the two busy windows of the year, so calling early gets you a slot that suits you. Calling early is how you get your gutters on the calendar for an Ithaca gutter cleaning visit. We call before we come, and the homeowner gets a text with the arrival window before the crew is on the way. Between cleanings, you can keep your gutters clear by letting us know when storms or heavy rain leave a mess behind, and we will come back and flush the gutters and downspouts again. Our gutter cleaning service starts with a phone call, and keeping the gutters clear is how you protect your home from water damage. Call (866) 435-6328 or text a photo of the front to book a date.
The number comes from how many stories the house has and how much gutter run there is. Homeowners get it by phone at (866) 435-6328 or by text, and that quote is what you pay. Downspout flushing and haul-off are in it.
Most of our customers book a spring visit, which across New York falls in late May to June after the seed drop, and a fall visit from October to early November after the last leaves. If you wait past the fall visit, a wet leaf mat and any ice that forms over the winter can make a run sag, pull loose, or rot the fascia by March. Snow falls here from November through April, so the fall visit comes before the snow sets in.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm the date when you call. Same-day is not something we promise, so ask us what is open when you call to get your gutters on the schedule.
No. The gutter cleaning process happens outside only: our crew works outside and does not come inside, and the ground is left clean. We send photos of every run and downspout to your phone before the truck leaves. Leave the side gate unlocked and keep pets inside while the ladders are up.
Yes, every downspout in the gutter system gets flushed and flow-tested, and we check that water is leaving at the outlet and running away from your home, not back across the landscape toward the foundation. Clearing a buried drain line is a separate job, and we quote it before anyone starts on it.
Yes. Gutter guards stop most leaves, but a stray twig, seed casings and grit still settle on top of the panel, and once that wet mat builds up, the water stops getting in. The guard shortens the job, but the surface still needs clearing and each downspout still needs checking, which is part of gutter maintenance.
A gutter that is clean and still sheets water over the edge in rain usually has a slope or downspout-size problem, not a buildup problem. Send us a photo or a short video taken during 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. If we find something that changes the job, you hear about it and agree to it before the crew starts, never after. The number we quote 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.
