Marin County, California
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in San Rafael, CA
Rain in San Rafael adds up to about 34 inches in a normal year, with about 11 days that bring an inch or more. The wettest season is winter (December to February), with about 21.9 inches; the driest is summer (June to August), with 0.2. Every 1,000 square feet of roof sheds about 21,400 gallons a year, and all of it goes through the gutters.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving San RafaelSan Rafael: rain and roofs
NOAA station USC00047880, 2 miBars to one scale; the longest is winter (December to February).
For days with an inch of rain or more, San Rafael ranks 89th for heavy-rain days of the 939 places in California on this site (11.3 a year). By the age of its homes it sits near the middle of the 938 places in California on this site (half built by 1968).
When to clean gutters in San Rafael
Frost is rare in San Rafael, and in many years there is none (NOAA normals). With no hard freeze to strip the trees, the fall cleaning follows the leaf drop itself; book it once the trees over the roof are bare, and plan a second visit in spring.
When to clean gutters explains how the trees over a roof change the schedule.
Gutter and downspout size for San Rafael rain
Gutters are sized for the worst few minutes of a storm, not for the year. In San Rafael the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 3.40 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 6). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 2,120 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 4,240, 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.
The houses in San Rafael
Half the homes in San Rafael were built by 1968, 73% 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.
52% of households own their home, and 47% of homes are detached houses, 9% townhouses. Where an HOA governs the exterior, its rules on gutter color and style apply before any order is placed.
Hiring in California
Before hiring in San Rafael, ask which California license or registration the contractor holds and for a certificate of liability insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
In California’s fire hazard severity zones, the 2025 Wildland-Urban Interface Code (in force January 1, 2026) requires gutters and downspouts of noncombustible material, and gutters fitted with an approved means to keep leaves and debris from collecting (section 504.4). (2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Chapter 5 (UpCodes))
Gutter work in San Rafael
With half the homes built by 1968, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: