Dallas County, Iowa
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in West Des Moines, IA
Rain in West Des Moines adds up to about 37 inches in a normal year, with about 9 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 4.0. That is about 22,700 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 West Des MoinesWest Des Moines: rain and roofs
NOAA station USW00014933, 7 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
Counting days with an inch of rain or more, West Des Moines sits near the middle of the 290 places in Iowa on this site (8.8 a year). Its housing ranks among the newest by median year built of the 290 places in Iowa on this site (half built by 1993). By first frost it falls among the latest for the first fall frost of the 290 places in Iowa on this site (October 20).
When to clean gutters in West Des Moines
The first fall frost comes around October 20 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around April 18 (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 West Des Moines rain
The short, hard downpour is what a gutter is sized for. In West Des Moines the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 7.97 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 8). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 900 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 1,810, 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.
West Des Moines averages about 37 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 West Des Moines
Half the homes in West Des Moines were built by 1993, 27% before 1980 (ACS 2020–2024). Houses that age have often had their gutters replaced once already; if not, the original runs and the boards behind them deserve a close look.
57% of households own their home, and 45% of homes are detached houses, 12% townhouses. If an association maintains the exterior, the gutters may be its job rather than yours; check before calling.
Hiring in Iowa
Licensing for gutter work differs from state to state; ask a contractor in West Des Moines which license or registration they hold in Iowa, and for proof of liability insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor
Gutter work in West Des Moines
In a neighborhood with half its homes built by 1993, the usual calls are cleaning, guards and small repairs. The line takes all of it: