You see what we see
Before and after photos every visit. If the roof is fine, we tell you it is fine and leave. That happens more often than people expect.
2
Most expensive repairs a gutter prevents
Northern Virginia / The honest version
Why Gutters Matter more than anyone tells you
A gutter is a cheap part protecting the two most expensive things in your house. Here is exactly what goes wrong, what the industry sells you that does not work, and what we would tell a neighbour.
Foundation damage
Roof backup
Fascia rot
Gutter guards
Metal gauge
15 min
A typical cleaning takes this long
4.9
Across 1,100+ Google reviews
Free
Inspections, no pressure
The short answer
Nobody wakes up thinking about gutters. The reason they matter is that a clogged one does not fail politely in one place, it quietly attacks the foundation and the roof structure at the same time, and those are the two things in a house you least want to pay to fix.
We are a family owned roofing and gutter company, and we both sell and perform the work ourselves, which is not how most of this trade operates. A good share of what we do is repairing what somebody else left behind. So the page below is not a sales pitch, it is the stuff we end up explaining on driveways every week.
Interactive
Where A Failing Gutter Does Its Damage
Click any point on the house. None of this is hypothetical, it is what we find when somebody calls us about a stain on a ceiling or a gutter hanging off the fascia. Underneath, work out how often yours actually need clearing.
What the industry sells you
Three Things We Will Talk You Out Of
We could sell all three of these tomorrow. We do not, and here is the reasoning, so you can judge it yourself.
- Cleaning with a hose or a pressure washerAll that water shoves the gunk back into the wood behind your gutters, and it sits there in the dark and rots. It looks spotless on the day and costs you a fascia replacement later. We clear by hand and with air.
- Most gutter guardsA gutter’s whole job is to catch water. Bolt a cover over the top and you have blocked most of where the water is meant to get in, so in a hard rain it runs over the edge. The screw down kind put holes in your shingles, which is a roof leak you paid for.
- The thin aluminum nobody mentionsThere is a thicker gauge that is supposed to be standard, and plenty of installers quietly use the cheap stuff. Identical on day one, sagging years earlier. Make them write the gauge on the quote.
- Copper against aluminumIf you are going to copper gutters, the flashing metal has to match. The two metals react and eat the joint from the inside, and the pinhole leaks that follow are miserable to trace.
Why we look while we are up there
The Oil Change Of Your House
Gutter cleaning is how most people meet us, and it is deliberately the cheapest thing we do. The clearing itself takes about fifteen minutes. The value is that somebody competent is on your roof looking at it, and you get the photos either way.
Small things stay small
A split pipe boot, a lifted shingle, a bit of loose flashing. Caught on a routine visit these are cheap. Found because a ceiling stained, they are not.
Ask about insurance
If someone three stories up on your property is uninsured and falls, that can land on your homeowner’s policy. Most people never think to ask a cheap cleaner.
Related
Go Deeper
The specifics on each of these live on their own pages.
Questions
Everything People Ask Us About Gutters
Why do gutters actually matter?
Two of the most expensive things in a house to repair are the foundation and the roof structure, and a clogged gutter attacks both at once. It dumps water in one spot against the foundation, and it backs water up under the shingle edge into the decking. A gutter is a cheap part protecting two very expensive ones.
How often should gutters be cleaned in Northern Virginia?
Once a year on an open lot, twice a year with real tree cover, and three times if you have pines. Pine needles are the worst because they mat together and hold water. Put it on a schedule rather than waiting for a problem, the same way you would with an oil change.
Is it bad to clean gutters with a hose or pressure washer?
Yes, and it is the most common mistake we find. All that water shoves the gunk back into the wood behind your gutters, and it sits there in the dark and rots. You do not see it until the gutter starts pulling away from the house. We clean by hand and with air, never a hose.
Are gutter guards worth it?
Usually not, and we will tell you that even though we could sell them. A gutter’s whole job is to catch water. You bolt a cover over the top and you have blocked off most of where the water is supposed to get in, so in a hard rain it runs straight over the edge. The kind that screw into your shingles are worse, because those literally put holes in your roof.
What thickness should aluminum gutters be?
There is a thicker, stronger aluminum that is supposed to be the standard, and a lot of installers quietly slip in the thin cheap stuff instead. It looks identical on the day and it bends and sags years earlier. Make whoever quotes you put the gauge in writing on the quote.
What does a gutter cleaning visit actually include?
The clearing takes about fifteen minutes. The part that matters is that we are already up there, so we look at the roof while we are on it and you get before and after photos either way. That is not an upsell, it is the mechanic checking your brakes during an oil change.
What is kick out flashing and why does it matter?
Where a roof edge runs into a wall, a small piece of flashing kicks the water out into the gutter instead of behind the siding. It is the most missed detail on the entire roof. When it is absent you get wall rot and stucco failure, and the cause is invisible from the ground.
Can gutters cause a leak inside my house?
Yes. When a gutter clogs the water has nowhere to go but up and over, and some of it goes back under the shingle edge. That is how you end up with a stain on a bedroom ceiling from a gutter problem rather than a roof problem.
Why do my gutters pull away from the house?
Usually rotted fascia behind them. The gutter is only as solid as the wood it is screwed into, and once that wood is soft nothing holds. Standing water freezing in a clogged run will also bend or rip a whole section off in a single winter.
Do copper gutters need different flashing?
Yes, and getting it wrong is expensive. Never run copper against aluminum anywhere on the system. The two metals react and eat the joint from the inside, and you end up with pinhole leaks that are very hard to trace.
How long does a gutter cleaning take?
About fifteen minutes for a typical home. If someone is on your roof for two hours, they are either doing something else or they are not being efficient about it.
Is the person cleaning my gutters insured?
Ask, and ask to see it. If someone three stories up on your property is uninsured and falls, that can land on your homeowner’s policy rather than theirs. It is the single question most homeowners never think to ask a cheap cleaner.
How do I know if a storm damaged my gutters?
Look for black granules collecting by the downspouts, pieces of shingle in the grass, dents in the gutters and soft metal, and dark spots on ceilings. Photograph everything the same day, because with hail you have roughly a year to get a claim filed.
Do you sell the work and subcontract it out?
No. We both sell and perform the work ourselves, which is unusual in this trade. Most competitors sell the job and hand it to a sub. A good part of what we do is fixing what other contractors left behind.
Reviews
What Virginia Homeowners Say
Have Someone Competent Look
We will clear them by hand, photograph the roof while we are up there, and tell you honestly what we find. No charge for the inspection and no pressure afterward.