Roofing & Exterior
Empty Gutters Are the Whole Point of Having Them
We clear the fir needles, moss, and roof grit that turn Northwest gutters into planter boxes — then flush the downspouts to prove the water actually leaves.
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Signs to watch
Is this you?
Water sheets over the front edge in a downpour
A gutter packed with needles has nowhere to send the water but over the lip — usually right onto the walkway or against the foundation.
Little gardens growing in the gutter
Moss, maple seedlings, and grass in your gutters mean a solid mat of decomposed debris underneath. That mat holds water against your fascia year-round.
Downspouts that gurgle or run dry in the rain
A downspout doing nothing during a storm is clogged at the elbow or the outlet. The water is backing up somewhere you can't see.
Fir and cedar canopy over the roof
Evergreens shed needles all year, not just in fall. A gutter under heavy conifer cover can pack solid in a single wet season.
Your options
Cleared by hand, flushed, and checked — not just scooped
We hand-clear the debris (needles and moss don't rinse out — they have to come out), bag it, then flush every run and downspout with water so we know it actually drains. While we're up there we spot the things that cause the next clog: sagging sections that pond, loose hangers, seams starting to weep, and downspouts dumping at the foundation. You get a heads-up on those, not a surprise. Under heavy canopy we'll talk honestly about whether a seasonal cadence or micro-mesh guards would cost you less than the climbing does.
The method
How we do it
- 01
Clear and bag
Hand removal of needles, moss, and grit from every run — hauled off, not blown into your beds.
- 02
Flush and test
Water run through gutters and downspouts to confirm full flow and find any hidden clog before we leave.
- 03
Flag what we found
Sagging, loose hangers, weeping seams, or bad downspout discharge — noted so a $200 clean doesn't become a fascia repair.
Straight numbers
What a cleaning runs
Most single-family cleanings run a couple hundred dollars, driven by home height, roof pitch, gutter footage, and how packed they are. Two-story and steep-access homes cost more because the ladder work is real. Under heavy fir cover you'll likely want it twice a year — we'll tell you if guards would beat paying for that climb again and again.
Where we do this work
Gutter Cleaning: straight answers
How often should I clean my gutters in the Northwest?
Open-sky homes usually get by with once a year, late fall after the leaves drop. Under fir, cedar, or maple canopy, twice a year — early summer and late fall — because evergreens shed year-round. If your gutters pack solid before the rains even start, that's the sign you're due for a second visit.
Why does a clogged gutter actually matter?
Overflow doesn't just make a mess. Water sheeting behind the gutter rots the fascia board it's bolted to, and water dumping at the base of the house is the leading cause of wet crawlspaces and cracked foundations here. The gutter's entire job is moving water away from those two things — clogged, it does the opposite.
Can't I just blow them out from the roof?
Needles and wet moss compact into a mat that a blower rides right over — it clears the loose top layer and leaves the plug. And the clog you can't see from the roof is usually down inside the downspout elbow. Hand-clearing plus a flush test is the only way to know the water actually moves.
Do you clean up the debris or leave it in my yard?
We bag it and haul it off. Blowing gutter muck into your flowerbeds and calling it done isn't cleaning — it's relocating. Your beds and walkways get left the way we found them.
Get the gutter cleaning conversation started.
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