Gutter and downspout cleaning in Bergen County, NJ.
We clean gutters and downspouts as a service of its own, in late spring and late fall, and check the run while we are up there: the hangers, the joints, the pitch and where the water ends up. You hear about a loose hanger or a leaking joint before it turns into a repair.
The gutter, the downspout, and a look at both.
A cleaning that stops at the gutter trough leaves half the system blocked. This is what each visit covers.
Every run cleared by hand
Leaves, seed, needles and the silt that settles under them, taken out along the full length of each gutter, including the corners where two runs meet and debris packs tightest.
Downspouts run with water
Each downspout is flushed once the gutter above it is clear, so a blocked elbow or outlet shows itself and gets cleared. A clean gutter over a blocked downspout overflows just the same.
Hangers and pitch
A gutter full of wet leaves is heavy. We look for hangers that have pulled loose and for stretches where water stands instead of running toward the outlet.
Joints and end caps
Corners, seams and end caps are where a run drips. A drip that lands on the same patch of fascia or trim every rain rots it, so we tell you where they are.
The fascia behind the gutter
Water that overtops the back edge of a gutter runs down the fascia and into the soffit. Soft or stained wood behind a run is worth knowing about before it spreads.
Where the water lands
The point of a gutter is to put the water somewhere other than beside your foundation. We check that each downspout discharges onto a splash block or an extension, not into the bed against the wall.
Two debris seasons, and the fall one comes late.
Bergen County gutters fill twice a year. In late spring it is maple seed, oak catkins and blossom, fine material that mats into a dam at the outlet. In fall it is the leaves, and the timing matters more than people expect: oaks are usually the last trees to drop, and a cleaning booked while they are still full can leave the gutters loaded again within a few weeks. The useful fall visit is the one after the trees over your roof are bare.
Twice a year is the floor under a heavy canopy, and much of the county has one. Franklin Lakes is heavily wooded, with a large nature preserve. In Ho-Ho-Kus a mature canopy covers most residential streets. Upper Saddle River and Saddle River are wooded, low-density towns of large lots, Wyckoff is a Tree City USA community, and Ridgewood’s older neighborhoods sit on tree-lined streets. Pines over a roof drop needles most of the year, and some houses need a third visit.
If you only remember one thing: a gutter that overflows in a heavy rain a few weeks after it was cleaned needs either more frequent cleaning or a different gutter, and the second is worth ruling out first.
What a blocked gutter does to the house.
Water at the foundation
A blocked gutter spills over its front edge along the whole run, straight onto the ground beside the wall, which is exactly where the gutter was put up to keep it away from. Wet basements often start here.
Rot at the roof edge
When water backs up, some of it overtops the back of the gutter and runs behind it, into the fascia board, the soffit and the ends of the rafters.
Weight on the hangers
Wet leaves weigh far more than dry ones, and a packed gutter sags, pulls its hangers out of the fascia and loses its pitch, which makes it hold more water next time.
Winter, briefly
A clogged gutter does not cause an ice dam; that starts with heat escaping through the roof higher up. But a gutter packed with frozen debris cannot drain melt water, and the ice adds weight. Our ice dam guide covers the roof side.
Cleaning fixes a full gutter. It does not fix a wrong one.
Guarded gutters are cleaned the way the installed product calls for. A good guard reduces how much reaches the gutter, but no guard eliminates cleaning: seed and fine debris sit on top of most of them or work through, and the gutter underneath still needs looking at. Our article on gutter guards under a heavy tree canopy goes through which kinds hold up here.
Gutters that overflow when they are clean have a different problem. The usual causes are a gutter too small for the roof area and pitch above it, too few downspouts, a run pitched the wrong way, or a valley pouring a whole slope into one short stretch. Our guide to gutters overflowing after cleaning helps you note where the water spills, and our gutter installation page explains how a run is sized to the roof that drains into it.
When a run is past saving, we replace it in seamless aluminum or copper. Some of the towns we work in have a page of their own: gutters in Franklin Lakes, Ho-Ho-Kus, Wyckoff, Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Allendale, Upper Saddle River and Edgewater.
How often should gutters be cleaned in Bergen County?
At least twice a year on most houses here: once in late spring, after the seeds and catkins come down, and once in late fall, after the leaves. Under a heavy canopy, or with pines over the roof, some gutters need a third visit. A gutter that overflows in a heavy rain a few weeks after it was cleaned is telling you it needs either more frequent cleaning or a different gutter.
When is the best time for a fall gutter cleaning?
After the trees over your house are bare, not when the first leaves turn. Oaks are usually the last to drop, and a cleaning done while they are still full can leave the gutters loaded again within a few weeks. If you want one fall visit, book it for the end of the leaf drop.
Do you clean gutters as a standalone service?
Yes. We clean gutters and downspouts on their own, usually in late spring and late fall, with no repair or replacement attached. While we are up there we check the gutters and downspouts, so you hear about a loose hanger or a leaking joint before it turns into a repair.
Do you clean gutters that have guards on them?
Yes. Guarded gutters are cleaned the way the installed product calls for. No guard eliminates cleaning: fine debris and seed sit on top of most guards or work through them, and the gutter under a guard still needs to be checked.
Do you clear the downspouts too?
Yes. A clean gutter feeding a blocked downspout still overflows, so each downspout is run with water after the gutter is cleared, and a blocked elbow or outlet is cleared. We also look at where each one discharges at the ground.
My gutters overflow even right after they are cleaned. Why?
Then cleaning is not the problem. The usual causes are a gutter too small for the roof area and pitch draining into it, too few downspouts, a run pitched the wrong way, or a valley that concentrates a whole slope into one short stretch. Those are fixed by changing the gutter, not by cleaning it more often.
Where to go next.
Gutters & drainage
Seamless aluminum and copper, sized to the roof that drains into them.
Details →Gutter guards
Which guards hold up under oak and maple, and which only move the problem.
Read →Still overflowing?
Map where the water spills before deciding on a repair or a bigger gutter.
Read →Roof repair
If the water is coming in above the gutter line, the roof is the place to look.
Details →Book the cleaning after the leaves are down.
Tell us the town and roughly what is over the roof, and we will fit the visit to the end of the leaf drop on your street.