Gutter cleaning Los Altos

Leaves, battery blowers and protected oaks on Los Altos roofs

Los Altos leaves most of what hangs over a gutter to the homeowner. Since 2003 the adjacent owner has looked after the roughly 12,000 trees lining its streets, gas-powered leaf blowers are prohibited everywhere in the city, and its flood-prevention tips ask for roof gutters and downspouts to be cleaned twice a year, with the water sent away from the foundation and never onto a neighbor's lot.

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  • Rules on this page checked against 12 public sources, October 2026

Get quotes for gutter cleaning work in Los Altos

Two short steps. A local pro who takes this work calls or texts you back.

To send a request, call or text (415) 449-8213.

Free to request, and you agree the scope and price with the person you hire before work starts. In California, a job over $1,000 in labor and materials, or one that needs a building permit, must be done by a contractor licensed by the CSLB in the right class. Ask for the license number and check it at cslb.ca.gov.

Before you hire

Questions for whoever cleans a Los Altos roof

  1. Ask what blower they bring; only electric or battery models are legal here, and the citation goes to the property owner.
  2. If the street tree hangs over the roof, ask whether they trim to ANSI A300 standards, since that tree is yours to maintain.
  3. Under a protected oak, ask how much foliage they plan to take; more than a third in 12 months counts as removal.
  4. Ask where each downspout will discharge, and confirm none of it will end up on the neighbor's side of the fence.
Street trees
About 12,000, kept by the adjacent owner since August 2003
Protected tree
12 inches across 4 feet up, or 10 inches for a native species
Significant pruning
Over 33% of living foliage in 12 months counts as removal
Leaf blowers
Electric or battery only; city asks 65 dB or less at 50 feet
The Los Altos History Museum
The Los Altos History Museum. Photo: GualdimG, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The houses here

Low houses on 10,000-square-foot lots

Los Altos, incorporated in 1952, writes its lot sizes into the R1-10 district, its main single-family zone: a minimum site of 10,000 square feet, rising to 11,000 on a corner and 15,000 on a flag lot. At least half of the required front yard has to be pervious ground and planting. For gutters that means long eave lines on houses spread across wide lots, flag-lot houses tucked behind a neighbor at the end of a drive, and a planted front yard that can take a downspout's water instead of the driveway. Exterior changes in the R1 district go through design review, so a new gutter profile on a visible facade is worth raising with the Planning Division.

Free, no obligation. Next, add your details in the request form.

The work

Los Altos clean-outs, from the eave to the organics cart

  1. Twice a year, with a look at flat roofs

    The city's flood tips put a number on gutter care: clean the gutters and drainage downspouts attached to the roof twice a year so the system keeps flowing, and inspect them for leaks or damage that could cause a flat roof to flood. They also ask that downspout flows be pointed away from the foundation without discharging onto adjacent properties. On a lot this size there is usually room to send that water into the planted front yard instead of along the side fence.

  2. Filling the green organics cart first

    Mission Trail Waste Systems empties the green organics cart weekly. The standard size is 96 gallons, and it takes leaves, flowers and small branches under 6 inches in diameter, but no dirt, rock or plastic bags. Before a storm, the city asks owners to fill the yard waste container first and keep the leftover leaves on the lawn until collection day is near, never piled in the street gutter. If one cart is never enough in leaf season, Mission Trail will deliver another on request.

  3. The street tree over the roof is yours to trim

    Because the street tree in front of a Los Altos house is the frontage owner's to maintain, cutting it back off the roof needs no city permit when it stands in the front or side yard on the city right-of-way, but the cuts must follow ANSI A300 pruning standards, and city staff respond to complaints about improper trimming. Limbs over the street must clear 13 feet for trucks, and growth that blocks stormwater along the curb should be cut back before the rains.

  4. Leaving oak leaf litter where it falls

    The city's oak-care tips, provided by its Environmental Commission, ask owners to leave fallen leaf litter in place under oaks as mulch, to keep extra soil off the root protection zone, which is half the area between trunk and drip line, and not to compact it. A crew working under a big oak can clear the roof and bag what lands on paving without raking the ground beneath the canopy bare.

Permits and local rules

What the Los Altos code and city pages say

  • Chapter 11.08: protected trees and significant pruning

    Rewritten by Ordinance 2024-506 in February 2024, the chapter makes it unlawful to damage or kill a protected tree, or to remove one without a tree removal permit, and it counts significant pruning as removal: cutting away more than 33 percent of a tree's living foliage, branches included, in any 12-month period in a way that damages the tree. Protected trees begin at 12 inches in diameter measured 4 feet above grade, or 10 inches for a native species, and the chapter binds anyone who removes a tree, in the tree business or not.

    City of Los Altos Municipal Code, Chapter 11.08 (opens in a new tab)

  • Gas-powered leaf blowers are not allowed

    Under Municipal Code sections 6.16.070(B)15 and 11.15.030, only electric or battery-operated leaf blowers may be used in Los Altos. When a report comes in, the city sends a courtesy notice to the address, and if a Code Enforcement Officer confirms the violation on a follow-up visit, the property owner may receive an administrative citation, whoever ran the blower. The city asks that electric models be rated at 65 decibels or less at 50 feet.

    Source: City of Los Altos Code Enforcement (losaltosca.gov)

  • Nothing but rain in the drainage system

    Storm drains in Los Altos run directly to local creeks and San Francisco Bay without treatment, and the city's flood tips state plainly that it is against the law to dump or allow any material to enter the drainage system, because it causes blockages. Los Altos shares its stormwater permit through the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program, an association of thirteen cities and towns with Santa Clara County and Valley Water, whose Watershed Watch campaign handles public outreach.

    Source: City of Los Altos Maintenance and Services (losaltosca.gov)

State license for this work: C-43 Sheet Metal, C-39 Roofing, D-49 Tree Service. Look up a contractor's license on the CSLB website (cslb.ca.gov).

Free, no obligation. Next, add your details in the request form.

Questions

What Los Altos homeowners ask before the gutters are done

Who trims the street tree that drops leaves into our Los Altos gutters?

Usually you do. An ordinance approved in August 2003 made adjacent property owners responsible for residential street trees, because pruning roughly 12,000 of them and hauling the debris had become unmanageable for city crews. The city still keeps trees in medians, in the right-of-way beside rear yards and in commercial areas, and it clears the street when a tree or limb falls, leaving the rest of the debris to the resident.

Our landscaper still uses a gas blower on the roof. Who gets cited?

The property owner may. Los Altos prohibits gas-powered leaf blowers anywhere in the city, and after a report the city first sends a courtesy notice to the address, then cites the owner if an officer confirms the violation on a later visit. The city's suggestion is practical: if you own an electric or battery blower, offer it to your landscaper, or keep spare battery packs on hand.

Is the oak over our roof protected, and how much can be cut?

Any tree 12 inches in diameter at 4 feet above grade is protected in Los Altos, and a native species from 10 inches. Removing one takes a tree removal permit, and so does significant pruning, defined as cutting more than 33 percent of the living foliage, branches included, within 12 months in a way that damages the tree. Smaller cuts still must not harm it, since the chapter makes damaging a protected tree unlawful.

The green cart is full. Can the rest of the leaves wait in the street?

No. The city's storm-preparation advice is to fill the yard waste container first and leave the remaining leaves on the lawn until collection day is closer, because leaves piled in the gutter before a storm clog drains and raise the chance of flooding. Mission Trail will also deliver a second organics cart if one is not enough through the fall.

Should the leaves under our oak be raked up as well?

Not necessarily. The city's oak-care tips say to leave fallen leaf litter in place as mulch, not to water near mature oaks in summer, and not to pile soil on or compact the root protection zone. What needs clearing is the roof, the gutters and any paving where leaves can wash toward a street drain.

Where these facts come from

Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules and programs change: confirm permit requirements with the city before work starts, and a contractor's license on the CSLB website.

Gutter cleaning work in Los Altos? Tell us what you see.

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