Gutter Length
The length of all gutters attached to the home, measured in linear feet, will play the largest role in determining the gutter cleaning costs.
The typical home gutter installation will involve 125 to 200 linear feet of gutters. Larger homes will probably have more than 200 linear feet of gutters.
Rather than measuring the length of the gutters, some gutter cleaning contractors will base the estimate for the gutter cleaning costs on the square footage of the home. The contractor may use about $0.40 per square foot to estimate the first floor and about $0.80 per square foot on the second floor.
If you have an oddly shaped home or multiple areas that don’t have gutters, you may want to insist on having the cleaning company actually measure the length of the gutters for the greatest accuracy in the measurement and in the charges.
Gutter Conditions
If you are not cleaning your gutters regularly, the contractor may charge an increased gutter cleaning price per foot of 10% to 50% for the extra time required for cleaning, depending on the level of debris. Clogged gutters may need some cleaning by hand, which increases the amount of time required, necessitating the premium charge.
The contractor should alert you of this premium charge while giving you a cost estimate, not after starting the job. The cost to repair or replace gutters will be an additional charge, with the national average range falling between $600 to $1,700.
Some gutter cleaning contractors will charge a premium if you have seamed gutters. Seamed gutters have more areas where debris could catch and pile up than a seamless gutter installation. More debris leads to a longer cleaning process. The premium charge for seamed gutters will range from 10% to 25%.
In locations where the majority of homeowners have older seamed gutters, you may receive a discount on your cleaning bill when you have newer seamless gutters installed. This discount could be 10% to 25% for seamless gutters. Again, the contractor should make any premium charges or discounts obvious when generating the estimate for the job.
Downspout Cleaning
In a typical gutter cleaning, the contractor will not specifically clean the downspouts and extenders, unless you request to have these areas cleaned. Cleaning the downspouts and extenders separately often will cost an extra $50 to $100.
As the cleaning contractor washes the debris out of the gutters, the water and debris should naturally go through the downspouts. However, if your downspouts have significant clogging that blocks the water, the cleaning service may need to clean the downspouts separately.
If you choose not to have downspout cleaning included as part of the initial estimate, but the company ends up needing to clean the downspouts, this charge may occur in excess of the estimate.
Cleaning Wider Gutters
Some cleaning services may charge a slight premium of 5% to 10% if you have wider-than-average gutters. Standard gutters for a home will be 5 inches in width. However, extra-large gutters may measure 6 or 7 inches in width, which means they may accumulate more debris than a narrower gutter.