Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Lafayette, CO

When to clean gutters in Lafayette

The first fall frost comes around October 11 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around May 2 (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 Lafayette rain

Gutters are sized for the worst few minutes of a storm, not for the year. In Lafayette the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 5.44 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 8). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,320 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,650, 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 45 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.

Lafayette is dry by national standards, about 15 inches in a normal year, but much of the rain that does come can arrive in short, hard storms: the five-minute downpour expected once in ten years still runs at 5.44 inches an hour. Where gutters are used here, the job is moving that burst away from the foundation, and keeping a dry season’s dust and debris from blocking the first storm.

The houses in Lafayette

Half the homes in Lafayette were built by 1993, 23% 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.

67% of households own their home, and 56% of homes are detached houses, 17% townhouses. If an association maintains the exterior, the gutters may be its job rather than yours; check before calling.

Hiring in Colorado

Licensing for gutter work differs from state to state; ask a contractor in Lafayette which license or registration they hold in Colorado, and for proof of liability insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor