Gutter cleaning is not a regulated trade, and the gap between the cheapest quote and a proper job is bigger than most people realise. Here is what the work should actually involve, so you can tell which one you are being offered.

The full process

1. Walk the property first

Before anything comes off the truck: where are the downspouts, where is the worst buildup, what is the access like, what needs protecting. Planning the ladder moves in advance is most of the difference between a fast job and a slow one.

2. Tarps down before the first scoop

Under the work area, every time. This is the single habit that separates a company that respects your property from one that does not. It also makes cleanup roughly ten times faster.

3. Clear by hand, not just by blower

Dry leaves can be blown. Wet, packed needle mat and shingle grit cannot — it has to come out by hand into a bucket. Any quote that only involves a blower is not a clean, it is a tidy of the top layer.

4. Work toward the downspout

Debris moves in the direction you want it, not away from it, and nothing gets pushed into the downspout opening.

5. Flush the whole run and every downspout — and watch

This is the step most often skipped. Water goes in the top, and someone physically watches it come out the bottom of every downspout. Not assumed. Watched. A downspout nobody verified is the callback you get in November.

6. Inspect while you are up there

Running water is exactly when leaks show themselves. Joints, end caps, hangers, slope, the gap behind the gutter, the state of the fascia. Anything found gets photographed and reported — not quietly fixed and added to the bill, and not ignored.

7. Bag the debris and take it away

A pile of wet gutter muck beside the garage is not a finished job. It goes in contractor bags and leaves on the truck.

8. Clean the site properly

Driveway, walk and deck blown clean. Splatter rinsed off siding and windows. A full walk of the perimeter looking for anything dropped. If the only evidence you were there is that the gutters now work, it was done right.

9. Before and after photos

From the same angles, sent to you. You should be able to see what you paid for whether or not you were home.

Questions worth asking any company

  • "Do you take the debris away?" If not, you are cleaning up after them.
  • "Do you flush the downspouts and check they run?" If not, half the job is unverified.
  • "Do you send photos?" If not, you are taking their word for it.
  • "What happens if you find damage?" The right answer is a photo and a conversation, not unapproved work.
  • "Is the price confirmed before you start?" The right answer is yes, on site, before any work.
  • "Do you lay tarps?" A small question that tells you a lot.

Why the cheapest quote usually is not

A $79 gutter clean exists by cutting the steps you cannot see from the ground — no tarp, no hand clearing, no downspout verification, no haul-away, no photos, no inspection. It looks identical from the driveway on the day. The difference shows up in March, when water comes over the front edge and nobody checked the downspout that was blocked all along.

What we charge and why

Single-storey from $139, two-storey from $169, three-storey or difficult access from $229. That is deliberately a fraction below typical local pricing but not a bargain-bin number, because the process above takes the time it takes. Downspout clearing is $49 as an add-on, and heavy debris is $40, both quoted up front rather than sprung on you.