“How often does it need doing?”
Twice a year on a wooded lot, once if there is not much overhead. Fall is the one nobody should skip — whatever is sitting in there when the cold comes is what freezes.
A gutter has one job: catch what comes off the roof and move it to the downspout. Pack the trough with leaves and it stops doing that. The water goes over the edge instead, straight down the wall and into the ground at the foundation — which is the one place a house does not want it.
In Wisconsin it gets worse in winter. Water sitting in a blocked trough freezes, and the ice builds back up under the shingles. That is an ice dam, and by the time you see it from inside it has already been going on a while.
Four steps, and the last one is the one most people skip.
Where the trees are, where the debris collects, and whether anything has already started growing in there.
The whole length of it, not just the reachable stretches. What comes out gets bagged rather than dropped in the beds.
Water down every spout, and watched to make sure it comes out the bottom. A clean trough feeding a blocked spout has not fixed anything.
Loose spikes, a sagging run, a seam letting go — things you cannot see from the ground and would rather hear about now.
Same spot, same framing. Drag to see what came out.
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Twice a year on a wooded lot, once if there is not much overhead. Fall is the one nobody should skip — whatever is sitting in there when the cold comes is what freezes.
Plenty of people do. Two things usually go wrong: the debris ends up in the beds and on the siding, and the downspouts never get checked. Most blockages are in the spout, not the trough.
You get told. Loose spikes, a run that has started to sag, a seam letting go. We do not repair gutters, so there is nothing in it for us either way — you just get to hear about it while it is still small.
Brad did an awesome job on my old, very dirty, moldy, mossy retaining wall. He even took extra care to protect my plants and bushes. Courteous, efficient, prompt, an excellent communicator.
He laid out all the options and services available to me, but I never felt like there was a heavy hand directing me to the most expensive route. The quality was exactly what I was hoping for.
Very professional and thorough. Attention to detail was very evident and I would absolutely recommend Pristine.
Leaves travel. A roof with nothing overhanging it still collects what blows in from the neighbors, and it all ends up in the same trough.
Older roofs shed granules constantly. That grit settles under the leaves into a heavy sludge that water will not move on its own.
Wet debris plus a bit of sun is enough. Seedlings and moss take hold in the trough, and roots make what is already there harder to shift.
Standing water in a blocked run freezes and expands all winter, which pulls at the spikes and opens up the seams.
Twice a year on a wooded lot, once if there is not much hanging over the roof. Fall is the one that matters most in Wisconsin — whatever is sitting in the trough when the cold arrives is what freezes and backs up under the shingles.
Yes, every time, and we watch for water coming out the bottom. Most blockages are in the spout rather than the trough, so clearing the top and leaving it there does not fix the problem. It is the step that gets skipped most often.
It gets bagged and taken away. Blowing it off the roof puts it in the beds, on the siding and back in the gutter next time it rains, which is why it does not get done that way here.
No, we clean them. But you will hear what we found — loose spikes, a run starting to sag, a seam letting go. There is nothing in it for us either way, which is rather the point. Better to know while it is small.
Every job is looked at in person before a number is given. No phone quotes. What changes a price is the length of the run, the height, and how much is in there.
Send this over and Brad will get back to you, usually within a few hours. Every job is looked at in person before a price is given — no phone quotes.
Monday–Friday 8:00–5:00Saturday 9:00–4:00 · Closed Sunday and holidays