How to read your before-and-after gutter photo report

A gutter photo report shows your eavestroughs before the crew started and after they finished, so you can verify the work without climbing a ladder. In the after shots, look for bare gutter floors, open downspout outlets and the same runs you saw in the befores. Keep the photos: they become a dated record of your roofline.

Why does photo proof exist at all?

Because nobody can see into their own gutters. From the ground, a half-cleared eavestrough looks exactly like a cleared one, and a gutter that was never touched looks the same as one that was. That is the oldest problem in this trade: paying for work you cannot check. Before and after photos of your actual gutters, emailed when the job is done, turn the job into something you can verify. How to choose a gutter company explains why proof of work is the sharpest filter when hiring.

What arrives, and when?

Payment is due at the job's halfway point, by e-Transfer or cash to the crew, and the before and after photos land in your inbox when the crew finishes. You do not need to be home for any of it. If there is a particular run or downspout you are worried about, say so when you book; the crew sees your notes.

What should you look for in the before photos?

• How full the trough was: a thin layer, packed to the lip, or plants growing, which tells you whether your timing is right.
• What it was full of: whole leaves, maple keys, needle felt or dark sand-like shingle grit. Reading granules.
• Where the debris piled up: usually at outlets and corners, which is where overflow starts.
• Anything unusual: standing water, a nest in an outlet, a bent lip or a gap behind the gutter.

What should you look for in the after photos?

• The same runs as the befores: corners, outlets and rooflines you recognise.
• Bare gutter floor, with the metal visible along the run, not just 'less debris'.
• Open outlets: the hole at each downspout clear, with nothing sitting over it.
• No debris left on the roof edge above the gutter, ready to wash straight back in.

What can photos not show?

A photo shows the trough, not the inside of a downspout. That is what the flush is for: every cleaning includes flushing each downspout and checking that water leaves it and heads away from the house. Photos also cannot show rot hidden behind the fascia or the state of an underground pipe. If the crew spots something needing repair, it is priced on site and you approve it before any work starts.

How do you use the photos over the years?

• Timing: if the befores are always packed, you may need a mid-fall touch-up; if they are always light, you may be cleaning too early.
• Roof health: more shingle grit each visit is an early sign the roof is ageing.
• Insurance: dated photos show the house was maintained. Insurance and gutters.
• Selling: a folder of maintenance photos answers a buyer's questions about the roofline.
• Renting: photos show landlord and tenant alike that the work was done. Who cleans the gutters in a rental.

What do Burlington photo reports tend to show?

Burlington's befores show two different clogs depending on where you live. Near the lake in Roseland, the old oaks and maples leave dense leaf mats and acorns packed at the outlets. Up toward Tyandaga and the Escarpment, the oak and pine mix adds needle felt, a layer that looks almost clean from the ground but holds water like a sponge. Both come out by hand, and the afters show the bare metal.

Gutter cleaning in Burlington runs $299 to $499 before HST in 2026, depending on home type and storeys, with every downspout flushed, the debris hauled away and your photos in your inbox. If anything in the photos raises a question, reply to the email and ask.