Orange County, New York
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Washington Heights, NY
Rain in Washington Heights adds up to about 44 inches in a normal year, with about 11 days that bring an inch or more. The wettest season is summer (June to August), with about 13.3 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 8.2. That is about 27,500 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 Washington HeightsWashington Heights: rain and roofs
NOAA station USC00305310, 2 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
Counting days with an inch of rain or more, Washington Heights sits near the middle of the 817 places in New York on this site (11.3 a year). By house age it falls among the newest by median year built of the 810 places in New York on this site (half built by 1978). By its first fall frost it sits near the middle of the 817 places in New York on this site (October 22).
When to clean gutters in Washington Heights
The first fall frost comes around October 22 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around April 21 (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 Washington Heights rain
What overwhelms a gutter is a burst, not a season. In Washington Heights the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 7.18 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 10). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,000 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,010, 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 58 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 Washington Heights
Half the homes in Washington Heights were built by 1978, 52% 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.
80% of households own their home, and 74% of homes are detached houses, 25% townhouses. In a townhouse or HOA community, check who owns the gutters and what colors are allowed before booking.
Hiring in New York
Ask any contractor working in Washington Heights what New York requires of them for gutter work, and to show proof of insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
Gutter work in Washington Heights
With half the homes built by 1978, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: