Kanawha County, West Virginia
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Charleston, WV
A normal year in Charleston brings about 46 inches of rain; on roughly 10 of its days, an inch or more comes down at once. The wettest season is summer (June to August), with about 13.8 inches; the driest is fall (September to November), with 9.6. That is about 28,700 gallons a year off each 1,000 square feet of roof, every drop of it through a gutter and a downspout.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving CharlestonCharleston: rain and roofs
NOAA station USW00013866, 3 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
Counting days with an inch of rain or more, Charleston sits near the middle of the 147 places in West Virginia on this site (9.6 a year). Its housing ranks 34th oldest by median year built of the 147 places in West Virginia on this site (half built by 1956). By its first fall frost it sits near the middle of the 147 places in West Virginia on this site (October 26).
When to clean gutters in Charleston
The first fall frost comes around October 26 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around April 16 (median dates, NOAA normals). Booking the fall cleaning after the first frost, once the trees over the roof are bare, catches the season’s drop in one visit; the spring cleaning comes after the pollen and catkins are down.
When to clean gutters explains how the trees over a roof change the schedule.
Gutter and downspout size for Charleston rain
The short, hard downpour is what a gutter is sized for. In Charleston the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 6.50 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 2). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,110 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,220, 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.
Charleston averages about 32 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 Charleston
Half the homes in Charleston were built by 1956, 82% 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.
63% of households own their home, and 67% of homes are detached houses, 3% townhouses. In a townhouse or HOA community, check who owns the gutters and what colors are allowed before booking.
Hiring in West Virginia
Ask any contractor working in Charleston what West Virginia requires of them for gutter work, and to show proof of insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
Gutter work in Charleston
With half the homes built by 1956, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: