Gutter cleaning and moss removal in Portland

What a cleaning includes

• Hand-clearing of every run into a bucket — nothing gets blown into your beds or onto the neighbor's car
• Moss stripped out of the trough, off the back edge and away from the outlets, where it forms the plug that backs up the whole run
• Each downspout flushed and watched at the bottom until it runs clear, including buried rain drains where they exist
• Everything bagged and hauled off
• A look at seams, corners, hangers and fascia from the ladder, with photos of anything worth your attention
• Extensions and splash blocks put back where they belong

Moss removal

Moss is the reason Portland gutters need cleaning more than gutters in drier cities. It roots into the sediment at the bottom of the trough, holds water like a sponge, and sends a mat over the outlet. On the roof, it grows along the bottom course of shingles and the north side of every ridge, lifting granules and holding water under the edge.

We remove moss from the gutters by hand and can brush the roof edge and treat it with a zinc or potassium-salt moss treatment that slows regrowth for a year or two. We do not pressure-wash composition or cedar shake roofs — it strips the surface and voids most roofing warranties. Moss removal for gutters in Portland is part of every cleaning; roof-edge treatment is a small extra line.

When to clean gutters in Portland

Late October to early December, after the bigleaf maples, sweetgums and oaks have dropped. Late spring, after the cherry and plum blossoms, the cottonwood fluff and the spring needle drop. Homes directly under Douglas fir usually need a third visit in late summer, because fir needles fall all year and mat after every windstorm. If you have good guards, once a year is usually enough.

Why we clean by hand

A leaf blower on the roof throws needles into the beds, leaves the wet sludge in the bottom of the trough, and does nothing about moss. A pressure washer forces water behind the gutter and into the fascia. Hand-clearing into a bucket is slower and it is the only method that gets the sediment layer out — the layer that moss roots into and that adds weight to a run already pulling on old hangers. It also means we touch every foot of the gutter and feel the soft spots.

What we look for while we are up there

• Runs holding water after the flush, which means lost pitch
• Outlets punched at 2 inches feeding a 2x3 downspout
• Spike hangers backed out a quarter inch or more
• Fascia that gives under a screwdriver behind the outlet
• Shingles or shakes that stop short of the gutter and let water run behind it
• Downspouts that end at the foundation, a crawl-space vent or a basement window well

Pricing

We charge by the house, not the hour: $130–$220 for a single story, $190–$320 for two, and a custom number for the big steep places in the West Hills and Lake Oswego once we have seen them. Roof-edge moss treatment adds $80–$200. Find a repair during the cleaning and the cleaning fee is credited against it.

Cleaning that turns into a repair

Roughly one in four Portland cleanings turns up something: a run that has lost its pitch and holds water, an outlet that is too small, a downspout that separated at the elbow, or fascia that gives under a screwdriver. You get a photo and a written number before we leave, and it holds for 30 days if you want to think about it. Gutter cleaning Portland-style — by hand, twice a year — is the visit that tells you whether you need gutter repair — and if you do not, we say so.