What to Ask Before You Hire a Gutter Company.

What to Ask Before You Hire a Gutter Company

Gutter cleaning looks like a simple service, which is exactly why the quotes you get can vary so much. Two companies can both say "gutter cleaning, $150" and do very different amounts of work for it. The difference usually doesn't show up until months later, when water is coming over the side of a gutter you just paid to have cleaned.

Here are the questions worth asking before you book anyone, including us.

Q: Are you licensed and insured?

A: Ask it first, and don't feel awkward about it. Someone is going up a ladder on your property. If they're hurt and they aren't insured, that can become your problem. If they damage your roof, siding, or landscaping, you want to know there's coverage behind the work. Any legitimate company will answer this without hesitating.

Q: Do you clean the roof, or only the gutters?

A: This is the question that separates a real cleaning from a quick one, and almost nobody thinks to ask it. Debris doesn't only sit in the gutter. It packs into the roof valleys and collects behind the chimney, and the first hard rain washes all of it right back down into the gutters you just paid to have cleared.

If a company only scoops the gutter, you may be clogged again within weeks. We start on the roof, clearing the valleys and the area behind the chimney, then work the gutters.

Q: Do you test every downspout?

A: A gutter can look spotless while the downspout below it is packed solid. If nobody checks, you won't find out until the next storm, when water backs up and pours over the corner.

We test each downspout to confirm it runs clear, and we flush the gutters rather than just blowing them out. If a downspout is blocked, we clear it. If the blockage is in an underground drain line, we'll tell you what we're seeing.

Q: What happens to the debris?

A: Ask whether it gets hauled away or left in a pile behind the garage. It matters more than it sounds like it should. Wet leaf debris dumped in a flower bed or at the edge of the yard often finds its way back toward the house, and a pile of it against the foundation holds moisture right where you don't want it. We clean up before we leave.

Q: Will you tell me if something needs repair?

A: You want a company that inspects while it cleans and tells you honestly what it finds — loose hangers, separated seams, gutters that have lost their slope, soft fascia boards. You also want one that will tell you when nothing needs doing.

Every job we do ends with a full rundown of your gutters' condition. If we find rotted fascia, we can replace it on the spot. If your gutters are fine, we'll say so.

Q: How is the quote priced, and is it firm?

A: Ask what the number includes and what would change it. A price based on the size and height of your home is normal. A price that climbs once the crew is already on the ladder is not. Get the scope in plain terms before work starts: roof debris, gutters, downspouts, cleanup.

Q: Are you local?

A: Local matters for two reasons. A company that works in Central Ohio year after year knows what our trees, our storms, and our freeze-thaw winters do to a gutter system. And if something isn't right after the job, you want people who are still around next month, not a crew passing through for the season.

We're family-owned and based right here in Columbus, and most of our work comes from neighbors telling neighbors.