Chemung County, New York
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Big Flats, NY
A normal year in Big Flats brings about 32 inches of rain; on roughly 5 of its days, an inch or more comes down at once. The wettest season is summer (June to August), with about 10.4 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 5.0. Off a 1,000-square-foot roof, that comes to about 20,100 gallons a year for the gutters to carry.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving Big FlatsBig Flats: rain and roofs
NOAA station USW00014748, 1 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
By heavy-rain days, Big Flats falls among the fewest heavy-rain days of the 817 places in New York on this site (4.9 a year). By the age of its homes it sits among the newest by median year built of the 810 places in New York on this site (half built by 1974). By first frost it falls 117th earliest for the first fall frost of the 817 places in New York on this site (October 9).
When to clean gutters in Big Flats
The first fall frost comes around October 9 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around May 9 (median dates, NOAA normals). A fall cleaning set for the weeks after that frost, when the branches over the house are bare, gets the year’s leaves in one trip; a spring visit follows once the pollen and catkins have come down.
When to clean gutters explains how the trees over a roof change the schedule.
Gutter and downspout size for Big Flats rain
The short, hard downpour is what a gutter is sized for. In Big Flats the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 6.64 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 10). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,080 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,170, by the rule in the Copper Development Association’s design handbook. Try your own roof in the gutter and downspout calculator, which starts from this figure.
With about 42 inches of snow in a normal year here (NOAA normals), gutters carry ice as well as water. Ice dams start with heat from the house melting roof snow that refreezes at the edge (University of Minnesota Extension); the fix for the dam is in the attic, and the gutter’s part is to be hung strongly enough to take the weight.
The houses in Big Flats
Half the homes in Big Flats were built by 1974, 64% before 1980 (ACS 2020–2024). Houses that age have often had their gutters replaced once already; if not, the original runs and the boards behind them deserve a close look. On a house built before 1978, replacing more than 20 square feet of painted fascia or trim falls under the EPA’s lead-safe rule, so ask whether the crew is certified.
86% of households own their home, and 86% of homes are detached houses, 1% townhouses. If an association maintains the exterior, the gutters may be its job rather than yours; check before calling.
Hiring in New York
Licensing for gutter work differs from state to state; ask a contractor in Big Flats which license or registration they hold in New York, and for proof of liability insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
Gutter work in Big Flats
With half the homes built by 1974, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: