Our own crew cleans gutters in Salem, and the whole gutter system is checked before we leave, with every downspout flushed and flow-tested. The debris is hauled off, and you get photos of every run. The price comes from stories, size and tree cover, and the number we give you on the phone is the number on the invoice. Across Virginia, most of our customers book in the spring and fall, after the seed drop and again after the last leaves.
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. Companies that price by the linear foot land in a similar place, but the stories and the state of the gutter matter more than the length of the run.
On our jobs, a third story or a roof too steep to walk takes longer and needs a boom or scissor lift. A walk-out basement or a sloped lot raises the effective height of the roofline. A rain gutter nobody has opened in years comes out packed with compacted debris, and the crew has to clean it out by hand. Guards we have to lift and reseat add time as well. Flushing the gutter system and the drop pipes, flow testing and debris haul-off are included in the quote and never billed as extras. If anything changes the job, you hear about it before work starts, never on the invoice.
Our gutter cleaning services cover salem homes and commercial properties, and the same rule applies to both. Leaves and debris come out of the trough, and we check that the drainage is moving water away from the house and across the landscape at each outlet. A clog that is left in place is how water runs behind the fascia and into the wall, which is where structural damage and rot begin. Clogged downspouts are the most common reason a run overflows during heavy rainfall, so we flush every downspout and watch the water until it runs clear at the bottom.
Every quote starts with a short call to (866) 435-6328 or a text, and Salem homeowners get a firm number from it. Send a photo of the front of the house if it is easy, tell us how many stories it has, and tell us whether trees hang over the roof. From there we set the date. If your gutter has a sag, a buildup of grit or a spot where water flow is weak, we say so in the estimate and show you the photos afterward. Our crew is focused on keeping water away from the foundation, and the price reflects the time it takes to do a clean job properly.
| 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 in Salem VA book twice a year, which means two cleanings a year on most lots, once in spring and again in fall. Across Virginia the spring visit usually lands in mid to late May, after the seed and pollen drop, and the fall visit runs November to early December, after the last leaves. When we open a gutter in May we find seed casings and pollen paste packed into the elbow of the downspout, and the first clog of the season usually starts there. In November it is the wet leaf mat that matters, and on houses that skipped the fall visit we have seen runs sag under the weight of ice by March.
Under heavy tree cover, every three to four months is the schedule we see work. Needles, a twig or two, and grit pack the drop pipes between visits, and a roofline that is shaded all year does not dry out enough to clear itself. Rainwater sits in the blockage at the outlet and backs up. Salem gets about 46.9 inches of precipitation a year, and May, June and September are the wettest months, so heavy rainfall tests a gutter hardest then. With few or no trees, once a year in late fall is enough for most lots. Gutter guards can stretch the interval, but the surface still needs a clean, and we check under the guard on every visit. Across Virginia the same pattern holds, with the fall visit often doing the most work.
The question we hear most is when to clean your gutters, and the answer is the calendar above. Most customers here find the twice-a-year schedule covers the house, and that is what we plan around when we book the calendar. After the first visit we tell you which tier your lot actually needs, and we explain what we saw in the gutter so you can judge it yourself. The estimate for the next visit is written up on the same invoice so you can plan it. Regular gutter cleaning on that schedule keeps the calendar predictable. Residential properties and commercial sites both follow this rhythm, which is why we run residential and commercial work on the same calendar. Debris removal is part of every visit, and we keep a record of each lot so the next visit starts where the last one stopped.
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.
Salem gutter cleaning is done by our own crew across Salem and the surrounding areas, and the work covers the older neighborhoods with mature trees as well as the newer subdivisions with open lots. Most slots come up within the week. To book, call (866) 435-6328 or text, and we give you a quote from stories, size and tree cover before we set a date. Nobody has to be home for the clean, and we call before we come.
The two busy windows on our calendar are mid to late May, when the seed drop arrives across Virginia, and November, when the leaf fall arrives. If you want to get your gutters on the calendar in those months, book early. Outside those windows the calendar opens up, and we can often start the same week on gutter services.
A homeowner who wants to protect your home from water damage does well with two cleanings a year. The crew treats the gutter system as one job, checking gutters and downspouts together, so we flush every downspout on every visit. If we find a hanger that has pulled loose or a leak at a seam, the crew photographs it and puts it in the report for you to decide on. You can keep your gutters clean and working through the year with a regular schedule, and that is the service we are here to give.
The number comes from stories and size, and we give it to you by phone or text before we book. The quote is the price you pay for cleaning services in Salem, with downspout flushing and debris haul-off included.
Most of our customers here book in spring and again in fall, which is the gutter maintenance rhythm we plan around. For cleaning and maintenance in Salem, the fall visit matters most, because if you wait past it, we have found sagging runs by March on houses that skipped it, and the ice makes the cleanup harder.
Most slots come up within the week, and we confirm a date when you call. Same-day is only possible when the calendar has an open slot, and we say so on the phone.
No. Our crew works outside, does not come inside, and sends 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, we flush every downspout and watch the water until it runs clear. Where a downspout feeds an underground drain line, we check that water is leaving at the outlet and tell you if it is not. Clearing a buried line is quoted separately before we touch it. Where a downspout runs out onto the landscape, we check that the water moves away from your home so it does not sit and cause rot.
Yes. Guards stop leaves, but needles, seed casings and grit still get through, and the gutter system still needs its surface cleared. On our jobs we lift the panels, clean the surface underneath and reseat them, and the visit is shorter than an open gutter.
If a clean gutter still sheets water over the edge during heavy rainfall, the problem is usually slope or downspout size, not a cleaning problem. Send us a photo or a short video of it in the rain and we will tell you what it is. We do not sell a second cleaning for a slope problem.
It should not. The gutter cleaning process is built around one number, the price you get on the phone, and that is the price on the invoice. If the crew finds something that changes the job, you hear about it and agree to it before they start.
Stories, size and a photo of the front by text. That is a real number, not an appointment.
