Gutter cleaning in Pittsburgh

What a gutter cleaning company in Pittsburgh should include

• Every foot of gutter cleared by hand into a bucket — not blown into the flower beds or onto the neighbor's roof
• Downspouts flushed with a hose and checked for flow at the bottom, including any that go into a drain pipe at grade
• Debris bagged and taken away
• A ladder check of seams, corners, hangers and fascia, with photos of anything that needs attention
• Splash blocks and extensions reset where they've been kicked out of place

The flush matters more than the scoop. A downspout plugged with a season of maple seeds and a tennis ball backs up a perfectly clean gutter, and in December that backed-up water becomes an ice plug that splits the elbow.

When to schedule gutter cleaning

Pittsburgh's trees set the calendar. Late June, after the maple and elm seeds have finished dropping. Mid to late November, after the oaks and sycamores have let go — pin oaks hang on longer than anything else, so if you have them, the later the better. The November clean is the one that matters: a gutter that goes into winter full of wet leaves freezes solid, and that's the ice that pulls hangers and bends the lip. Homes under hemlocks or spruce need a third visit in late summer. With good guards, one visit a year usually does it.

Pricing

Gutter cleaning in Pittsburgh, PA is usually priced by the size of the house rather than the hour. Single-story homes typically run $120–$200, two-story $180–$300, and three-story rowhouses or homes on a hillside with a long drop on one side are quoted after a look. Ask whether photos of any problems are included and whether downspout flushing is part of the price or extra. These are typical ranges, not a quote.

When a cleaning turns up a repair

A ladder at every foot of gutter is the best inspection a house gets all year, and it's common for it to turn something up. The usual finds: a downspout elbow that's come apart at the bottom, a corner weeping on the south side of the house where the sun works the sealant hardest, spike hangers backed out on a long run, and soft fascia below a corner that's overflowed for years. Everything on that list is on the gutter repair page with typical prices. A failing box gutter lining is a different conversation, covered on the box gutter page.

What a cleaning won't fix

A clean gutter that still overflows is undersized or pitched wrong; cleaning doesn't change that. And a clean gutter under a big silver maple on a Dormont street will have seedlings growing in it by July. If the same gutters need cleaning two or three times a year, look at gutter guards — the arithmetic starts to favor them around year six.

Doing it yourself

Single-story homes with a good ladder and someone holding it: go ahead. Gloves, a bucket hooked on the ladder, and flush each downspout from the top. Stop if the ladder has to lean on the gutter itself, if you'd be reaching more than an arm's length sideways, or if the ground on the downhill side of the house is more than a story below the eave — which describes a great many Pittsburgh houses. Doing the front and hiring out the back is a perfectly reasonable split, though half a house often costs about the same as a whole one.

What happens during a proper cleaning

1. The ladder goes on firm ground with a standoff, so it never leans on the gutter itself.
2. Debris is scooped by hand, run by run, starting at the downspout end so the outlet clears first.
3. Each downspout is flushed from the top until water runs freely at the bottom.
4. Corners, seams and hangers get a close look, and any problem is photographed.
5. Debris is bagged, the roof edge and walks are swept, and splash blocks go back in place.

On an average two-story house, that's usually a couple of hours of work.

Signs it's time for a cleaning

• Water spilling over the front lip in an ordinary rain, not just a downpour
• Plants or seedlings growing out of the trough
• A run that sags or pulls away from the fascia under the weight of wet debris
• Downspouts that stay dry while it rains
• Stains or peeling paint on the fascia and siding below a run
• Birds or wasps nesting in the trough

Questions to ask when you book

• Is debris taken away or left on the property?
• Are downspouts flushed and checked at the bottom, and is that included?
• Will you get photos of problems you can't see from the ground?
• How are hillside or three-story sides reached, and is that priced separately?
• If there are guards, are they removed and replaced, or cleaned from the top?

Ladder safety

Ladder falls are a real risk on a job like this. Set the ladder on firm, level ground, extend it at least three feet above the roof edge if you need to step off, and keep your hips between the rails. Don't work alone, in wind, or on wet leaves, and never stand on the top two rungs. If any of that sounds hard on your lot, hire it out.

Getting a price

Calls and requests from this site go to an independent local contractor partner. Mention the number of stories, whether the lot slopes, and whether there are guards on the gutters; those three things set the price more than anything else.