How much should I charge to clean gutters?
This is a cost-plus quote for this house, using numbers you already know: your wage, your overhead, and how long clearing these gutters takes. It is not a national “average house” price — we do not publish those, and Iowa’s farm custom-rate survey does not list gutter cleaning.
The formula
hours = minutes ÷ 60
price = (hours × wage) × (1 + overhead% ÷ 100) + materials
Same arithmetic as lawn care pricing. The difference is the time source: you must supply minutes for thishouse (or linear feet × a min/ft rate you measured yourself).
Example. You timed this property at 90 minutes. Labor is $22 per hour — that is the 2025 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey medianwage for “other operations” operating farm machinery (97 responses), used here only to show the arithmetic, not as a gutter-cleaning wage in any state. You enter 50% overhead. Materials $0.
Hours = 90 ÷ 60 = 1.5. Labor = 1.5 × $22 = $33. Price = $33 × 1.50 =$49.50 for that visit. Your implied billed hourly is $49.50 ÷ 1.5 = $33. Change the wage and overhead to yours; the 90 minutes must be your stopwatch, not a table from this page.
Iowa’s 2025 A3-10 survey lists custom rates for mowing lawns, farm machinery, and many other services. It has no gutter cleaning row. Do not invent an Iowa median for this job.
Safety before you quote
CPSC’s older-adult hazards report estimates an annual average of about 36,280 emergency-department-treated fall injuries associated with ladders among adults 65 and older (2017–2021). OSHA’s walking-working surfaces rules for ladders (29 CFR 1910.23) and the Safe Use of Extension Ladders booklet cover stable footing, facing the ladder when climbing, and not loading beyond the intended load. The home guide restates the practical 4-to-1 setup rule and the point where a two-story roof, soft ground, or working alone means you stop and hire.
How-to, frequency, and downspout discharge distance (DOE building science: more than 5 feet to sloping grade, or more than 10 feet to a separate underground catchment) live on gutter cleaning — not here.
What this calculator does not price
It does not invent a flat “per house” marketplace fee. It does not embed minutes per foot from thin air. It does not treat Iowa farm custom rates as gutter prices. Gutter guards, fascia repair, and roof work are separate jobs — time and cost them separately if you take them on at all.
Questions people actually ask
How much should I charge to clean gutters?
Price this house from your costs: hours you timed on this property times your labor rate, marked up by the overhead percentage you actually need, plus materials. There is no public extension median for “gutter cleaning per house.” The 2025 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey (A3-10) does not list gutter cleaning. Do not copy a marketplace “typical” flat fee.
Can I estimate time from linear feet of gutter?
Only if you enter a minutes-per-foot rate you measured yourself on similar houses. This calculator does not embed a published min/ft table — NALP production rates are sold, not free to republish, and we do not invent one. Timed minutes for this property are the honest default.
Why doesn’t this page show a typical $150 house?
Those figures are lead-gen marketplace averages, not extension research. This site does not publish them. Cost-plus from your wage, overhead, and timed minutes is the same approach as the lawn care pricing calculator — without inventing a job-type rate Iowa never surveyed.
When should I stop and call a pro instead of pricing the job?
The gutter is not the danger; the ladder is. Match the home guide: hand the job off if the roofline is above single-story height, the ground is soft or sloped, you would work alone, you would need to step onto the roof, or the gutters are pulling away from the fascia. OSHA’s extension-ladder rules exist because bases sliding out injure people. Pricing a job you should not climb for is the wrong tool.
Where do I find how-to and safety detail?
The gutter cleaning guide covers frequency, downspout discharge distance, the 4-to-1 ladder rule, and when to hire. This page only builds a cost-plus quote from numbers you already know.
Sources
- Iowa State University Extension — 2025 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey (Ag Decision Maker File A3-10, revised March 2025): includes “mowing lawns / hour” and farm labor “other operations” (median $22/hour, 97 responses) among many custom rates. No gutter cleaning service row — cited here to document that absence and to source the arithmetic wage example only.
- Upkeep Plan — Lawn care pricing calculator: shared cost-plus formula (hours × wage × (1 + overhead%) + materials).
- Upkeep Plan — Gutter cleaning guide: frequency (UGA Extension baseline), DOE downspout discharge distances, OSHA ladder setup, and when to stop and hire.
- OSHA — Safe Use of Extension Ladders (OSHA 3660): 4-to-1 placement, 3-foot extension above a roof edge, three points of contact.
- OSHA — 29 CFR 1910.23 Ladders (Walking-Working Surfaces): portable ladders on stable and level surfaces unless secured; inspect before each shift; face the ladder when climbing.
- U.S. CPSC — Consumer Product-Related Injuries and Deaths Among Adults 65 Years of Age and Older (2022 report): estimated annual average of 36,280 ED-treated fall injuries associated with ladders among adults 65+ (2017–2021).
- University of Georgia Extension — Leaky Gutters and Downspouts: annual inspection baseline; more often with trees; damage to woodwork, siding, and foundations.
- U.S. Department of Energy — Building Science Education: Foundation Drain, Gutters and Downspouts: discharge more than 5 feet to grade, or more than 10 feet to an underground catchment kept off the foundation drain.
General information for building a cost-plus quote, not advice for your specific house. Work at height carries real risk of serious injury.