Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Old Forge, PA
Old Forge gets about 39 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 11.3 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 7.5. That is about 24,000 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 Old ForgeOld Forge: rain and roofs
NOAA station USW00014777, 3 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
Counting days with an inch of rain or more, Old Forge sits among the fewest heavy-rain days of the 975 places in Pennsylvania on this site (7.7 a year). By the age of its homes it sits near the middle of the 970 places in Pennsylvania on this site (half built by 1959). By its first fall frost it sits near the middle of the 975 places in Pennsylvania on this site (October 20).
When to clean gutters in Old Forge
The first fall frost comes around October 20 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around April 23 (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 Old Forge rain
What overwhelms a gutter is a burst, not a season. In Old Forge the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 5.50 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 2). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,310 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,620, 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.
The houses in Old Forge
Half the homes in Old Forge were built by 1959, 80% 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.
71% of households own their home, and 72% of homes are detached houses, 6% townhouses. In a townhouse or HOA community, check who owns the gutters and what colors are allowed before booking.
Hiring in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania requires home improvement contractors to register with the Attorney General under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act. On contracts over $5,000 the deposit may not exceed one third of the price, and the homeowner can cancel within three business days of signing. Ask for the registration number and check it before signing.
Source: Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, Act 132 of 2008. Look-up: Pennsylvania Attorney General, contractor registration search.
Gutter work in Old Forge
With half the homes built by 1959, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: