McKean County, Pennsylvania
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Bradford, PA
Bradford gets about 50 inches of rain in a normal year, and on about 9 days a year an inch or more falls in a single day. The wettest season is summer (June to August), with about 14.3 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 10.8. Every 1,000 square feet of roof sheds about 30,700 gallons a year, and all of it goes through the gutters.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving BradfordBradford: rain and roofs
NOAA station USC00360868, 6 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
For days with an inch of rain or more, Bradford ranks near the middle of the 975 places in Pennsylvania on this site (8.7 a year). By the age of its homes it sits 1st oldest by median year built of the 970 places in Pennsylvania on this site (half built by 1938). The first frost here ranks 27th earliest for the first fall frost of the 975 places in Pennsylvania on this site (October 4).
When to clean gutters in Bradford
The first fall frost comes around October 4 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around May 18 (median dates, NOAA normals). Plan the fall visit for after the frost, when the trees over the roof have finished dropping, and the spring visit for after the pollen and catkins.
When to clean gutters explains how the trees over a roof change the schedule.
Gutter and downspout size for Bradford rain
Gutters are sized for the worst few minutes of a storm, not for the year. In Bradford the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 5.80 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 2). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,240 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,480, 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.
Bradford averages about 75 inches of snow a year (NOAA normals). Snow on a roof brings ice dams: heat escaping from the house melts the snow, and the water refreezes at the cold eave, in the gutter and over it. University of Minnesota Extension puts the cause in the attic, not in the gutter, so a gutter that fills with ice is a symptom; hangers spaced to carry ice and a sound fascia are what the gutter itself needs.
The houses in Bradford
Half the homes in Bradford were built by 1938, 92% before 1980 (ACS 2020–2024). At that age a gutter has seen decades of leaves and storms, and the fascia it hangs from has too. 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.
62% of households own their home, and 73% of homes are detached houses, 1% townhouses. Where an HOA governs the exterior, its rules on gutter color and style apply before any order is placed.
Hiring in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania requires home improvement contractors to register with the Attorney General under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act. On contracts over $5,000 the deposit may not exceed one third of the price, and the homeowner can cancel within three business days of signing. Ask for the registration number and check it before signing.
Source: Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, Act 132 of 2008. Look-up: Pennsylvania Attorney General, contractor registration search.
Gutter work in Bradford
With half the homes built by 1938, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: