Gutter Guards for Sebastopol Homes Under Protected Trees
Sebastopol’s tree ordinance protects big native oaks, bays and redwoods, and the city has turned down requests to remove native oaks over leaf litter. So the leaves keep coming, and we keep them out of the gutters with guards matched to the trees and the roof.
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Sebastopol, CA
Who installs gutter guards in Sebastopol?
Nor-Cal Maintenance does, from our main office on Banyan Street in Santa Rosa, about 8 road miles from Sebastopol City Hall on Bodega Avenue. Sebastopol is on our Santa Rosa Google profile’s service area. We carry 27 types of gutter covers and choose one by the debris your trees drop and the pitch of your roof.
Sebastopol’s housing is older than Santa Rosa’s. Census estimates put the median construction year at 1975, with 63% of homes built before 1980, nearly 14% before 1940, and no new units counted since 2020. The town began as Pine Grove, became known for the Gravenstein apple, and lost most of its early buildings in the 1906 earthquake. An urban growth boundary has held its edges since the 1990s, so the houses and the trees around them have had decades to grow up together. Gutter guards are how many owners here keep up.
Housing: U.S. Census ACS 5-year estimates. Rainfall: NOAA 1991–2020 normals for the nearest station. Distance is approximate road miles.
About Sebastopol
Why do Sebastopol gutters fill up so fast?
Because the trees overhead are protected. Sebastopol’s Tree Protection Ordinance covers native oaks, California bay, coast redwood, madrone, Douglas fir and more once a trunk reaches 20 inches across on a single-family lot, and the city has refused to let owners remove native oaks over leaf litter. The leaves stay, so the gutters need help.
Rain runs heavier here than in Santa Rosa. Sebastopol has no current NOAA normals station, but the Graton co-op station, about 3 miles northwest of City Hall, averages 39.94 inches a year for 1991-2020. Much of the town drains toward the Laguna de Santa Rosa, which floods often enough to close Highway 12, and the USGS gauge near Sebastopol reached its highest stage of its 2000-2024 record, 73.90 feet, on February 28, 2019 (USGS peak data).
According to the city’s storm water program, most storm drains discharge into the Laguna along the eastern city limit, and a small western area drains to Atascadero Creek. The city’s power-washing guidelines say wash water can’t go into a storm drain without a written variance, so plan where roof-cleaning and washing water will go before the work starts.
No part of Sebastopol’s city limits falls in a CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone on the 2024-25 maps. Homes just outside town, in unincorporated Sonoma County, come under the county’s fire safety ordinance, Chapter 13A, whose inspection form lists leaves and needles on roofs and in gutters.
Local rules
What do Sebastopol's tree and storm drain rules mean for gutter work?
Mostly the tree ordinance and the storm drain rules. Removing a protected native tree, or cutting away more than a third of its crown or roots, takes a tree removal permit, and the Design Review Board sits as the Tree Board. Wash water from power washing can’t go into the storm drains without a written variance.
Five things to check in Sebastopol
- Look up your trees in Sebastopol Municipal Code 8.12. On a single-family or duplex lot, listed native trees 20 inches or more across are protected.
- Trimming that takes off more than a third of a protected tree’s crown counts as removal, so ask the city before cutting big limbs back from the roof.
- Plan where wash water goes. Engineering, at 714 Johnson Street, (707) 823-5331, handles storm drain questions.
- On the east side near the Laguna, clear gutters and downspouts before the big winter storms, since that is where the city’s storm drains empty.
- Eucalyptus, acacia and Monterey pine are on the city’s escaped exotic list, so they are not protected native trees.
Services in Sebastopol
What can we do about Sebastopol's leaves and needles?
Gutter guards and gutter cleaning lead, since the trees stay and so do their leaves. On older houses, repairs or new seamless gutters can follow. Roofs under redwoods collect needles and moss, which is where roof moss removal comes in.
FAQ
Sebastopol Questions
Can I remove an oak that keeps filling my gutters?
Probably not for leaf litter alone. On a single-family or duplex lot, a native oak 20 inches or more across is a protected tree, and taking it out needs a tree removal permit. A consulting arborist’s memo in city records notes that requests to remove native oaks because of leaf litter have been denied. Guards and regular cleaning are the practical answer.
Is Sebastopol in a high fire hazard zone?
Not inside city limits. CAL FIRE’s 2024-25 maps show no hazard zone anywhere in Sebastopol, so the state’s Very High zone rules don’t reach in-town homes. Unincorporated land around town is another matter: Sonoma County’s fire safety ordinance applies there, and its inspectors check roofs and gutters for leaves and needles.
How much rain falls on Sebastopol?
About 40 inches in a normal year, going by the Graton station just northwest of town. Storms come in bunches: Graton logged 13.60 inches over three days in the October 2021 atmospheric river, and 19.54 inches between December 26, 2022 and January 16, 2023. Gutters that are half full when that starts overflow fast.
Which gutter cover suits a yard full of redwoods?
One chosen for redwood needles. Dave picks covers by the debris first and the roof pitch second, and he has said that redwood needles, oak leaves and bay leaves are acidic enough to rot out a gutter that holds them. We install Gutterglove and Amerimax products among the 27 cover types we carry.
Nearby
Which towns near Sebastopol do we also serve?
Santa Rosa, across the Laguna de Santa Rosa, is home to our main office about 8 road miles away. Guerneville, on the Russian River, is on the same Google profile’s service area, and Petaluma is south down Highway 116. Our Windsor office covers the north county. See the full list.
Talk to Dave's team
Leaves piling up on a Sebastopol roof?
Call (707) 940-7875 and ask about guards for the trees you have.