Cumberland County, Maine
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Portland, ME
A normal year in Portland brings about 48 inches of rain; on roughly 12 of its days, an inch or more comes down at once. The wettest season is fall (September to November), with about 13.3 inches; the driest is summer (June to August), with 11.2. Off a 1,000-square-foot roof, that comes to about 29,800 gallons a year for the gutters to carry.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving PortlandPortland: rain and roofs
NOAA station USW00014764, 6 miBars to one scale; the longest is fall (September to November).
By heavy-rain days, Portland falls near the middle of the 87 places in Maine on this site (11.9 a year). By the age of its homes it sits 10th oldest by median year built of the 87 places in Maine on this site (half built by 1946). By first frost it falls near the middle of the 87 places in Maine on this site (October 15).
When to clean gutters in Portland
The first fall frost comes around October 15 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around April 26 (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 Portland rain
Gutters are sized for the worst few minutes of a storm, not for the year. In Portland the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 6.65 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 2,170, 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 69 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 Portland
Half the homes in Portland were built by 1946, 77% 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. 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 37% of homes are detached houses, 5% townhouses. If an association maintains the exterior, the gutters may be its job rather than yours; check before calling.
Hiring in Maine
Licensing for gutter work differs from state to state; ask a contractor in Portland which license or registration they hold in Maine, and for proof of liability insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
Gutter work in Portland
With half the homes built by 1946, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: