Two things stack up. The canopy is evergreen and constantly shedding seed pods, flower drop and fronds, and the Koolau Mountains pull rain down onto Kaneohe rooflines on days when the leeward side stays dry. Debris keeps arriving and rain keeps packing it tighter into the low end of the run.

October is the month that matters most here, because it puts the system clear before the wet stretch that runs through winter. A second visit around March clears whatever the storms drove in. If you only ever book once, book it before winter rather than after.

There is no single number, and any figure quoted before someone has seen the roof is a starting point rather than a price. Cost follows the length of the run, how many stories, roof pitch and access, whether the downspouts are packed or just the troughs, and what is overhead. We price after looking at the roofline.

Guards help most on homes under heavy canopy, where they cut the number of full clean-outs a year. They do not eliminate service, and on the windward side that matters more than usual, because fine organic grit still washes through the mesh and settles in the run. Think of a guard as reducing visits, not ending them.

That staining is usually a mix of asphalt shingle runoff and the mildew that grows readily in this humidity, drawn down the face of the gutter by water spilling over the front edge. It is a sign the trough is overflowing rather than draining. Clearing the run and correcting the pitch usually stops new streaking, and the existing stain can be washed off separately.