Gutter Cleaning in Fort Collins
A blocked gutter is not about the gutter. It is about where the water goes instead, which is usually down the wall, into the foundation, or into an ice dam that pushes water back under the shingles.
Nobody enjoys thinking about gutters, which is exactly why they cause expensive problems.
The problem is not the gutter
A gutter full of debris is not itself a disaster. The disaster is where the water goes when the gutter cannot take it:
Down the wall and into the foundation. Water pooling at the base of a wall is the beginning of the most expensive category of house problem there is.
Into ice dams. This is the Colorado-specific one. Snow melts on a warm roof, runs down to a cold blocked gutter, refreezes, and the growing dam pushes meltwater back up under the shingles and into the house. A clear gutter with a working downspout will not stop every ice dam, but a blocked one reliably makes it worse.
Behind the fascia. Water sitting in a gutter that cannot drain works backwards into the timber behind it.
Twice a year, and one matters more
Late spring, after the cottonwood is done. Fort Collins gets a genuinely impressive volume of fluff and seed, and it packs into gutters in a way leaves do not.
Late autumn, after the leaves are down. This is the one that matters most, because it is the one standing between you and a winter of ice dams.
What gets checked as well as cleared
Clearing the debris is the easy half. The half that gets skipped:
- Every downspout flushed and confirmed running clear, because a blocked downspout with clean gutters is extremely common and is often the actual cause of an overflow
- The fall checked, so water runs to the outlet rather than standing in the middle of a run
- Hangers checked and re-secured, since a sagging gutter holds water permanently
- Where the downspouts discharge. There is no point clearing a gutter perfectly if it then delivers all of it against the foundation
Single storey only
I work from a standard ladder and I do not walk roofs. Two storey houses and anything only reachable from the roof go to a roofing or gutter contractor. That is a safety limit and it is on the list of things I do not do.
For a single storey house this pairs naturally with a dryer vent clean or a twice-yearly maintenance visit, which is the sensible way to stop it being forgotten for three years.
What is included
- Clearing the full run of gutter by hand rather than blowing the debris around.
- Flushing every downspout and confirming it actually runs clear.
- Bagging the debris and taking it away rather than leaving it in a border.
- Checking gutter hangers and re-securing any that have pulled loose.
- Checking the fall so water actually runs to the downspout rather than sitting.
- Looking at where the downspouts discharge and flagging it if water is being delivered against the foundation.
- Rinsing the gutter face so the front looks clean too.
What it costs
| Job | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single storey, standard house | $150 | Cleared, flushed, debris taken |
| Larger single storey or complex roofline | $190 to $260 | More runs, more corners |
| Re-secure loose hangers, each | $15 | Done during the clean |
| Downspout extension added | $45 | Gets water away from the foundation |
| Two storey | not offered | Roofing or gutter contractor |
Full rates, block pricing and the minimum call-out are on the pricing page.
Single storey only. I work from a standard ladder and I do not walk roofs, so anything above single storey, or a gutter that can only be reached from the roof, goes to a roofing or gutter contractor. That is a limit on what is safe rather than a preference.
What I do not do here
- Anything above single storey, or a roof I cannot reach safely from a standard ladder.
- Roof repair beyond about 100 square feet, and no roofing work at all in practice.
- Walking on a roof to reach a gutter.
- Gutter replacement or re-hanging a full run.
- Gutter guard supply and installation as a large job.
- Ice dam removal from a roof in winter.
Who to call instead: a roofing contractor for roof work, gutter replacement and ice dam removal, and a gutter specialist for full re-hangs and guards.
The full list is on what I do not do.
How it works
- Send a photo. Text or email a picture. Most jobs get priced without a site visit.
- Get a flat price. Written and fixed before I start.
- I show up and finish. On the day I said, parts in the truck, swept up after.
Why a solo operator
The same person quotes the job, does the job and cleans up after it. There is no call centre, no dispatcher and no rotating crew who have not seen your house. The price you were given is the price, because the person who quoted it is the person holding the tools.
Related work
Gutter cleaning questions
How often should gutters be done here?
Twice a year for most Fort Collins houses: once in late spring after the cottonwood fluff and seed drop, and once in late autumn after the leaves are down. If you have mature trees close to the house, autumn is the one that really matters.
Why does it matter if they overflow?
Because of where the water goes instead. Overflowing gutters put water down the wall and against the foundation, which is the expensive kind of problem. In winter a blocked gutter also contributes to ice dams, where meltwater backs up under the shingles and gets into the house.
Do you do two storey houses?
No. I work from a standard ladder and I do not walk roofs. Anything above single storey goes to a roofing or gutter contractor. That is a safety limit rather than a preference, and I would rather turn the work down than take it on badly.
Are gutter guards worth it?
They reduce how often you need this doing, they do not eliminate it, and cheap ones can make the job harder by trapping debris on top where it is more awkward to clear. I will fit a downspout extension or re-secure hangers as part of a clean, but full guard systems are a specialist supply-and-fit job.
What if the downspout is blocked rather than the gutter?
That gets found during the job, because every downspout gets flushed and checked for flow rather than assumed clear. A blocked downspout with clean gutters is very common and it is the reason a gutter that looks fine still overflows.