Request a Free Gutter Estimate
A gutter can only carry water when there's room inside it. Between oak leaves in the fall, pine and redwood needles year round and the fine grit that washes off older shingle roofs, most Sonoma County gutters fill up faster than people expect. Once the trough is packed, rain sits on top of the debris and pours over the front edge, or backs up and soaks into the fascia. In the vineyards and oak hills around Healdsburg, homes surrounded by trees can go from clean to clogged in a single season. A cleaning clears the gutters, flushes the downspouts and gives the whole system a fresh start before the heavy rain arrives. It's also the cheapest gutter work you can buy, and it prevents most of the repairs we get called out for.
Here's what clogged gutters look like, what typically ends up in them, what our cleaning includes and how often your house likely needs one. Tired of cleaning twice a year? Our gutter guards page explains which guards hold up under Sonoma County trees. Most cleanings take an hour or two, a little longer on two-story homes. We clean homes and commercial buildings, and every visit starts with a free estimate.
Clogged Gutters: What to Look For
The clearest sign is plants. If you can see grass, weeds or a small seedling growing out of your gutter, there's enough soil in there to hold water for weeks. During a rainstorm, look for water sheeting over the outer lip in one spot while the downspout below barely trickles. After the storm, check for gutters that look like they're bowing in the middle from the weight, birds or wasps nesting along the roof edge, and streaks of dirty water down the siding. Indoors, a damp smell or a water stain near the top of an exterior wall can mean an overflowing gutter is soaking into the wall. Any of these is reason enough to schedule a cleaning before the next big rain.
Leaves, Needles, Grit and Ash: What's Actually in There
Not all gutter debris behaves the same. Broad oak and maple leaves pile up and form mats that block outlets, but they're easy to scoop out. Pine and redwood needles are thinner and pack tight, knitting together into a mat that lets water through slowly until it doesn't. Asphalt shingles shed granules as they age, and that sandy grit settles in the bottom of the trough and adds weight. After fire season, ash and burned leaf bits can coat the gutters too, and they turn into a gray sludge once the rain hits. Mix all of that with a few months of moisture and you get a dense, heavy layer that can pull a gutter off its hangers. That's why we clear the gutters by hand instead of just blowing the top layer off.
What Our Cleaning Includes
We clear every gutter by hand, bag the debris and haul it away, so nothing ends up in your flower beds. Every downspout gets a hose run through it, and if the water backs up, we work the clog loose at the elbow until it drains freely. While we're up there, we look at the hangers, the joints, the slope and the fascia, and we take photos of anything that needs attention so you can see it for yourself. Small fixes like a loose strap or a dripping end cap can often be handled on the spot. We also clean gutters on small commercial buildings, offices, and multi-unit properties, where we can work around tenants and business hours.
How Often Your Gutters Need It
For most homes, the bare minimum is one cleaning a year, timed after the oaks have dropped most of their leaves and before the wettest months. Homes beneath tall redwoods, pines or oaks often need another round around March, since needles and catkins keep coming after the first storms. Houses out toward Cloverdale and in the hills, where trees crowd right up to the roof, may need three. If you live in a fire hazard area, add a check in early summer to clear out dry leaves before fire season. A house with no trees nearby and newer gutters can sometimes go two years between cleanings. We'll tell you honestly what your house needs.
If a cleaning turns up water pooling at the foundation, see how we reroute it on our downspouts and drainage page.
Common Questions
HomeAdvisor's Santa Rosa data puts a typical cleaning between about $150 and $300, with an average around $220. A single-story house with easy access sits at the low end. Two stories, steep roofs, heavy tree cover or gutters left alone for years push it higher. Adding guards later changes the math, since guarded gutters need less work. We quote a firm price up front, and that's the price on the bill.
In most of Sonoma County, yes. Dry leaves and needles packed into a gutter are fuel sitting along the eaves, which is exactly where blowing embers tend to land during a fire. Fire safety groups recommend clearing gutters before summer as part of basic home hardening, along with clearing the roof and the area right around the house. If your home is close to wildland or under big trees, an early summer cleaning is a small cost for that peace of mind.
Yes. We clean gutters on small commercial buildings, offices, apartment buildings and other multi-unit properties around the county. Commercial gutters are often longer and deeper, with bigger downspouts, and some buildings need a lift instead of ladders. We schedule around business hours or tenants when needed and send photos and notes afterward, so property managers know what was done and whether anything needs repair. We can also set up a regular cleaning schedule.