Tompkins County, New York
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Northwest Ithaca, NY
Rain in Northwest Ithaca adds up to about 38 inches in a normal year, with about 7 days that bring an inch or more. The wettest season is summer (June to August), with about 11.7 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 6.8. That is about 23,700 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 Northwest IthacaNorthwest Ithaca: rain and roofs
NOAA station USC00304174, 4 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
Counting days with an inch of rain or more, Northwest Ithaca sits among the fewest heavy-rain days of the 817 places in New York on this site (6.6 a year). Its housing ranks among the newest by median year built of the 810 places in New York on this site (half built by 1992). By first frost it falls 30th earliest for the first fall frost of the 817 places in New York on this site (October 3).
When to clean gutters in Northwest Ithaca
The first fall frost comes around October 3 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around May 11 (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 Northwest Ithaca rain
The short, hard downpour is what a gutter is sized for. In Northwest Ithaca the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 6.66 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 10). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,080 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,160, 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 63 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 Northwest Ithaca
Half the homes in Northwest Ithaca were built by 1992, 43% 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.
48% of households own their home, and 34% of homes are detached houses, 13% townhouses. If an association maintains the exterior, the gutters may be its job rather than yours; check before calling.
Hiring in New York
Licensing for gutter work differs from state to state; ask a contractor in Northwest Ithaca which license or registration they hold in New York, and for proof of liability insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
Gutter work in Northwest Ithaca
In a neighborhood with half its homes built by 1992, the usual calls are cleaning, guards and small repairs. The line takes all of it: