Forsyth County, North Carolina
Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Winston-Salem, NC
Winston-Salem gets about 43 inches of rain in a normal year, and on about 11 days a year an inch or more falls in a single day. The wettest season is summer (June to August), with about 12.4 inches; the driest is winter (December to February), with 9.5. Every 1,000 square feet of roof sheds about 26,800 gallons a year, and all of it goes through the gutters.
Call (866) 228-6229 free call to a gutter contractor serving Winston-SalemWinston-Salem: rain and roofs
NOAA station USW00093807, 3 miBars to one scale; the longest is summer (June to August).
For days with an inch of rain or more, Winston-Salem ranks among the fewest heavy-rain days of the 457 places in North Carolina on this site (11.2 a year). By the age of its homes it sits near the middle of the 457 places in North Carolina on this site (half built by 1980). The first frost here ranks near the middle of the 456 places in North Carolina on this site (November 9).
When to clean gutters in Winston-Salem
The first fall frost comes around November 9 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around March 26 (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 Winston-Salem rain
What overwhelms a gutter is a burst, not a season. In Winston-Salem the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 6.89 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 2). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,040 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,090, 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 Winston-Salem
Half the homes in Winston-Salem were built by 1980, 50% 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.
55% of households own their home, and 61% of homes are detached houses, 5% townhouses. Where an HOA governs the exterior, its rules on gutter color and style apply before any order is placed.
Hiring in North Carolina
North Carolina licenses general contractors for projects of $40,000 or more (G.S. 87-1). An ordinary gutter job falls well below that, so no state license is required for it. Ask for proof of liability insurance and a written quote; for a larger project, look the company up with the licensing board.
Source: N.C. General Statutes § 87-1. Look-up: NC Licensing Board for General Contractors, license search.
Gutter work in Winston-Salem
With half the homes built by 1980, replacement gutters and the fascia behind them come up more often here than in newer suburbs. The line takes all of it: