Shelby County, Iowa
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Harlan, IA
Harlan gets about 34 inches of rain in a normal year, and on about 8 days a year an inch or more falls in a single day. The wettest season is summer (June to August), with about 13.2 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 3.2. Every 1,000 square feet of roof sheds about 21,300 gallons a year, and all of it goes through the gutters.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving HarlanHarlan: rain and roofs
NOAA station USC00133632, 0 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
For days with an inch of rain or more, Harlan ranks near the middle of the 290 places in Iowa on this site (8.4 a year). By the age of its homes it sits 69th oldest by median year built of the 290 places in Iowa on this site (half built by 1956). By its first fall frost it sits near the middle of the 290 places in Iowa on this site (October 9).
When to clean gutters in Harlan
The first fall frost comes around October 9 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around April 27 (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 Harlan rain
What overwhelms a gutter is a burst, not a season. In Harlan the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 7.88 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 8). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 910 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 1,830, 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 31 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 Harlan
Half the homes in Harlan were built by 1956, 81% before 1980 (ACS 2020–2024). In a neighborhood that age, many houses are on their second set of gutters or due for one, and the fascia board behind them is worth checking at the same visit. 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.
68% of households own their home, and 81% of homes are detached houses, 1% townhouses. In a townhouse or HOA community, check who owns the gutters and what colors are allowed before booking.
Hiring in Iowa
Ask any contractor working in Harlan what Iowa requires of them for gutter work, and to show proof of insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
Gutter work in Harlan
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: