Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Pittsburgh, PA
A normal year in Pittsburgh brings about 41 inches of rain; on roughly 8 of its days, an inch or more comes down at once. The wettest season is summer (June to August), with about 12.3 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 8.7. Every 1,000 square feet of roof sheds about 25,600 gallons a year, and all of it goes through the gutters.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving PittsburghPittsburgh: rain and roofs
NOAA station USW00014762, 7 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
For days with an inch of rain or more, Pittsburgh ranks among the fewest heavy-rain days of the 975 places in Pennsylvania on this site (7.6 a year). By house age it falls 161st oldest by median year built of the 970 places in Pennsylvania on this site (half built by 1942). The first frost here ranks near the middle of the 975 places in Pennsylvania on this site (October 28).
When to clean gutters in Pittsburgh
The first fall frost comes around October 28 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around April 18 (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 Pittsburgh rain
What overwhelms a gutter is a burst, not a season. In Pittsburgh the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 6.19 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 2). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,160 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,330, 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.
Pittsburgh averages about 44 inches of snow a year (NOAA normals). Snow on a roof brings ice dams: heat escaping from the house melts the snow, and the water refreezes at the cold eave, in the gutter and over it. University of Minnesota Extension puts the cause in the attic, not in the gutter, so a gutter that fills with ice is a symptom; hangers spaced to carry ice and a sound fascia are what the gutter itself needs.
The houses in Pittsburgh
Half the homes in Pittsburgh were built by 1942, 83% 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.
47% of households own their home, and 44% of homes are detached houses, 14% townhouses. Where an HOA governs the exterior, its rules on gutter color and style apply before any order is placed.
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 Pittsburgh
With half the homes built by 1942, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: