Do you use a vacuum for gutters?

No. We clean by hand — a scoop for the packed, wet mat, a bucket on the ladder, and a hose down every downspout until it runs clear. A vacuum can't tell you whether the downspout flows, and the downspout is where the real problem lives. Hand cleaning is slower, and it's also the only way we can hand you a photo of water coming out the bottom.

Will the ladder dent my gutters?

Not the way we set it. Every ladder goes up with a standoff — a wide bracket that rests the ladder on the roof or the wall, so the gutter never carries the weight — and levelers on the feet so it sits plumb on a slope. Most gutter damage in this trade is ladder damage, and the standoff is the whole fix. If a gutter is already pulling away from the fascia we'll show you before we touch it.

Can you do a three-story house?

Two stories, yes, on any Madison house. Three stories depends on the house: what the ladder can reach safely with a standoff, what the ground under it looks like, and whether the gutter will hold. We look first and tell you honestly. What we won't do is stretch a ladder past what it's rated for or reach out over a gutter to save a trip down.

Do you haul the debris away?

Yes. Everything that comes out of the gutter goes into a bucket on the ladder, then into bags, and leaves with us. The blower clears what fell onto the roof edge, the walks and the drive. The only thing left behind is the photo of the pile — so you can see what was up there without going up yourself.

What are the black stripes on the outside of my gutters?

Tiger striping: road film and airborne pollutants bonded to the gutter's oxidized finish where rainwater runs over the lip and down the face, year after year. A gutter cleanout doesn't touch them — they're on the outside. If you want them gone, a house-wash mix of sodium hypochlorite and surfactant lifts most of it, and Gutter Butter, a mild acid, handles what's left as a separate step. We'll quote it as its own line so it's your call.

How often should gutters be cleaned in Madison?

Twice a year for most houses: once in spring after the seeds and helicopters drop, and once in late fall after the leaves are down. Houses under oaks or maples may need a mid-fall visit too. The fall one matters most here — a gutter full of wet leaves freezes solid in December, and a frozen gutter is where ice dams start backing water under the shingles.

What if a downspout still overflows after cleaning?

Then the blockage is past the point we can reach with a hose — usually an underground drain line the downspout feeds into, packed with years of silt and roots. We flush to the point where the spout enters the ground and photograph what happens. If water backs up there, we tell you and show you: that's a drain line job, not a gutter job, and we'd rather say so than pretend the flush fixed it.

How we do it

How we clean gutters — and why every downspout gets flushed on camera

Name: The Total Wash Co.
Address: 7610 Welton Dr, Madison, WI, 53719, US
Telephone: (608) 360-5818
Price range: $

Shot on a Dane County job: a gloved hand lifting packed leaf mat out of the gutter run, then the downspout flushed clear.

A gloved hand pulling packed leaf debris out of a gutter run — The Total Wash Co., Madison WI

How do you clean gutters?

The Total Wash Co. cleans gutters from an extension ladder fitted with a standoff and leveler, scooping the packed leaf mat by hand, clearing the rest toward the downspout, then flushing every downspout with a hose until water runs out the bottom. We photograph the flowing downspout and the debris pile so you can see the proof.

A gutter isn't clean because the trough looks empty from the ground. It's clean when water goes in the top and comes out the bottom of every downspout. That's the photo we take on every job, and it's the reason we clean by hand: a plugged downspout is where the real problem lives, and you can't fix it from a distance.

Get your gutter priceLast verified: 2026-09-16

Step by step, the way we actually do it

1
Look before we climb
From the ground we check for gutters pulling away from the fascia, soft or rotted wood behind them, and how many stories we're dealing with. Anything that changes the plan — a gutter that won't hold a ladder's weight, a third story — gets talked through with you before a foot leaves the ground.
2
Set the ladder right
The extension ladder goes up with a standoff, so it rests on the roof or the wall — never on the gutter — and reaches about three feet above the gutter line. On a slope or a garden bed, levelers on the feet make it plumb. It gets moved as often as it needs to; nobody reaches.
Gear: Extension ladders with standoffs and levelers
3
Scoop the wet mat by hand
The packed, wet layer at the bottom is what actually blocks a gutter, and it comes out by hand and scoop, working from the far end toward the downspout so nothing gets pushed into the outlet. It goes into a bucket on the ladder, not onto your beds.
Gear: Gutter scoop and blower Gear: PPE — respirator, glasses, gloves, ear protection
4
Clear the light debris
Once the mat is out, the loose leaves, seeds and shingle grit get cleared toward the downspout and lifted out. The roof edge above the gutter gets checked too — that's where the next clog is sitting.
Gear: Gutter scoop and blower
5
Flush every downspout
A hose runs into the top of each downspout until water comes out the bottom clear. If it doesn't, the clog is in the spout or an elbow, and it gets worked loose from the bottom elbow or the top until it runs. What never goes down a downspout is a pressure washer — it blows joints apart and packs the clog tighter.
Gear: Plant hose, tarps and HVAC covers
6
Bag it and clean up
The debris gets bagged and hauled with us, and the blower clears what we knocked onto the roof edge, the walks and the drive. Your yard looks the way it did when we pulled up, minus the gutter mess.
Gear: Gutter scoop and blower
7
Photograph the proof
Two photos on every job: the downspout running clear at the bottom, and the pile we took out. They go on your job record so you can see that the work happened and what came out — without climbing up to check.
8
Tiger stripes, if you want them gone
The black vertical streaks on the outside of the gutter are road film and pollutants bonded to the oxidized finish where water runs over the lip. A house-wash mix of sodium hypochlorite and surfactant lifts most of it; what's left gets Gutter Butter, a mild acid, as its own step with its own rinse — never in the same pass as SH.
Gear: 8 GPM pressure-washing rig Gear: Super Suds Sucker stainless downstream injectorChemistry: Sodium hypochlorite house-wash mixChemistry: Elemonator surfactantChemistry: Gutter Butter (separate step)

What we never do

Never a pressure washer in a downspout.
Never a ladder resting on a gutter — standoff on, every time.
Never overreach — we move the ladder.
Never claim a vacuum system we don't run — it's a scoop, a hand and a flush.
Never leave without every downspout flowing.

The gear this takes

Extension ladders with standoffs and levelersThe standoff is what keeps a ladder from crushing or bending your gutter, and it holds the tech a comfortable arm's length from the work instead of pressed against the wall.Gutter scoop and blowerPacked, wet leaf mat comes out by hand and scoop — that's the only thing that actually moves it.PPE — respirator, glasses, gloves, ear protectionIt protects the person spraying chemistry at your house — which also tells you something about the chemistry.Plant hose, tarps and HVAC coversThis is the kit that answers the first question we get: "What about my plants?" Every plant and bed within about 15 feet of a wall gets soaked with plain water before the first spray, re-wet during the dwell, and flooded after the wall is rinsed.

What we spray, and how we keep it off your plants

None for a standard cleanout — it's hands, a scoop and water
Sodium hypochlorite house-wash mix with Elemonator, for tiger stripes only
Gutter Butter (mild acid) for stripes SH won't lift — its own step, never with SH

Safety on your property

Standoff on every ladder set; the ladder never rests on the gutter.
Levelers on slopes and beds; the ladder moves instead of the tech reaching.
Gloves and Z87.1 glasses — a gutter is full of shingle grit and whatever the squirrels left.
Three stories, or a gutter that won't hold weight, gets a conversation, not a guess.
No pressure washer in a downspout, ever.
Debris bagged and hauled; walks and roof edge cleared before we leave.

Before and after, same spot

After — How we clean gutters — and why every downspout gets flushed on camera

Before — How we clean gutters — and why every downspout gets flushed on camera

Want this done on your place?

Every price is built from your actual property. Most estimates come back within a few hours.

Get your gutter price Call (608) 360-5818

Questions homeowners ask

Gutter cleaning service Gutter cleaning in Madison, WI Glossary: tiger striping Glossary: ice dam Glossary: ladder stabilizer How we work safely Our insurance

How we clean gutters — and why every downspout gets flushed on camera

Step by step, the way we actually do it

Look before we climb

Set the ladder right

Scoop the wet mat by hand

Clear the light debris

Flush every downspout

Bag it and clean up

Photograph the proof

Tiger stripes, if you want them gone