Strafford County, New Hampshire
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Durham, NH
A normal year in Durham brings about 45 inches of rain; on roughly 10 of its days, an inch or more comes down at once. The wettest season is fall (September to November), with about 12.6 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 9.7. Off a 1,000-square-foot roof, that comes to about 28,100 gallons a year for the gutters to carry.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving DurhamDurham: rain and roofs
NOAA station USC00272174, 1 miBars to one scale; the longest is fall (September to November).
By heavy-rain days, Durham falls near the middle of the 60 places in New Hampshire on this site (10.2 a year). Its housing ranks near the middle of the 60 places in New Hampshire on this site (half built by 1971). By first frost it falls near the middle of the 60 places in New Hampshire on this site (October 4).
When to clean gutters in Durham
The first fall frost comes around October 4 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around May 8 (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 Durham rain
Gutters are sized for the worst few minutes of a storm, not for the year. In Durham the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 6.60 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 10). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,090 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,180, 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 39 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 Durham
Half the homes in Durham were built by 1971, 59% 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.
55% of households own their home, and 40% of homes are detached houses, 5% townhouses. If an association maintains the exterior, the gutters may be its job rather than yours; check before calling.
Hiring in New Hampshire
Licensing for gutter work differs from state to state; ask a contractor in Durham which license or registration they hold in New Hampshire, and for proof of liability insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
Gutter work in Durham
With half the homes built by 1971, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: