Gutter cleaning in St. Louis

What a proper cleaning includes

Whoever you hire for gutter cleaning in St. Louis, the visit should include:

• Every foot of gutter cleared by hand into a bucket — not blown into the flower beds or onto the neighbor's driveway
• Downspouts flushed from the top with a hose and checked for flow at the bottom
• Debris bagged and taken away
• A ladder check of corners, seams, hangers and fascia, with photos of anything that needs attention
• Splash blocks and extensions put back where the mower moved them

The flush matters more than the scoop. A downspout plugged with a season of maple helicopters and one tennis ball will back up a spotless gutter, and the first you'll know is water on the basement floor in April.

When to schedule it

Late May or June, after the silver maples drop their seeds and the sycamores shed their spring bark, and before the July storms. Late November into December once the oaks are finally bare — pin oaks hang onto leaves later than almost anything else, so a cleaning in early November under an oak is often a wasted trip. Homes under heavy sycamore may need a third visit in mid-October, because the leaves come down in a two-week rush. Guards can cut this to one visit. The fall leaf-season guide has the tree-by-tree calendar, and how often to clean gutters covers frequency.

The timing is the same across St. Louis County and beyond, from Kirkwood and Creve Coeur to St. Charles and Lake Saint Louis — what changes is the trees. Older streets under oaks need the December visit; newer subdivisions with young maples mostly need the spring one.

Signs the gutters need attention now

You don't always need to wait for the calendar. Book a visit sooner if you notice any of these:

• Plants or small seedlings growing along the gutter line — that means a layer of soil has built up inside.
• Water spilling over the front edge in a moderate rain, not just a downpour.
• A downspout that barely trickles while the gutter above it is full.
• Dark stripes on the siding or brick under the gutter, or a line of splashed mud along the foundation.
• A run that has started to dip, which can mean it is carrying a load of wet leaves.
• Birds or wasps moving in at the corners.

Any one of those means the system is not moving water. A cleaning is cheap compared with what that water does to the fascia and the basement.

Common cleaning mistakes

Cleaning too early. Under oaks, a cleaning in early November is often done before most of the leaves are down.

Skipping the downspouts. A clear gutter on top of a plugged downspout still overflows. The flush is the part that protects the basement.

Using a pressure washer from the ground. It sprays debris across the house and the roof and can force water up under the shingles.

Leaning the ladder on the gutter. Aluminum crushes. A ladder standoff spreads the weight onto the roof or wall instead.

Leaving the pile on the lawn. Wet leaves dumped in the beds smother plants and wash straight back toward the foundation.

Getting ready for the visit

Move cars out of the driveway, unlock any side gates, and put pets inside. Point out any spot where you've seen water coming over, or where the basement gets damp, so that part of the system gets a closer look. If you have guards, say what type when you book, because it changes the time needed.

Typical prices

St. Louis gutter cleaners usually price by the size of the house, not the hour. Single-story homes typically run $120–$200, two-story $180–$300, and three-story brick in Soulard, Lafayette Square and the Central West End is usually quoted after a look at the access. Ask whether downspout flushing and haul-away are included, and whether photos of any problems come with the visit. Gutter cleaning prices breaks the numbers down further.

When a cleaning turns up a repair

A ladder visit often finds something: a downspout elbow that's pulled apart, a corner weeping on the sunny side, spike hangers backed out on a long run, or soft fascia under a corner that has overflowed for years. Ask for a photo and a separate written price for each, and don't feel pressed to decide on the spot. Typical prices for each repair are on the gutter repair page.

What a cleaning won't do

A clean gutter that still overflows has lost its pitch or is undersized for the roof, and cleaning doesn't change either. And a clean gutter under a big pin oak on Argonne Drive will be full again by Christmas. If you're paying for two cleanings a year and the tree isn't going anywhere, gutter guards are worth pricing, because the arithmetic usually turns around in year six or seven.

Copper and half-round

Half-round gutters hold less than K-style and clog faster at the outlet, and copper scratches. They should be cleaned with plastic scoops and no metal tools, and the bracket straps checked, because those are what fail on a half-round system. See copper and half-round gutters.

Doing it yourself

Single-story ranch, a good ladder, someone holding it: go ahead. Gloves, a bucket hooked to the ladder, flush each downspout from the top. Stop if the ladder has to lean on the gutter (it'll crush it), if you'd reach more than an arm's length sideways, or if it's two stories. Cleaning gutters yourself safely covers the details. For everything else, gutter cleaning St. Louis contractors do is quick and cheap compared with a fall from a ladder. Requests from this site go to an independent local contractor partner.