Gutter Repair in Pennsylvania

Local know-how

Rowhomes, box gutters and freeze-thaw winters

Pennsylvania's gutters face cold winters with repeated freeze-thaw cycles, heavy summer storms and, in the northwest, lake-effect snow. Erie averages around 100 inches of snow a year, Pittsburgh around 40 and Philadelphia around 20. Ice dams and gutters pulled loose by ice are common across the state.

The housing is old. Philadelphia's rowhomes have flat roofs and shared downspouts; Pittsburgh's hillside homes often have box gutters built into the cornice; older stone homes on the Main Line and in small towns across the state have built-in or Yankee gutters lined with copper or terne metal. These need relining by someone who understands them.

The Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg, Lancaster and Reading have brick and stone rowhouses and twins in their older cores and large post-war suburbs around them. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in the northeast see heavier snow and have many older frame homes with long downspouts on steep lots.

Suburban and rural homes have conventional hung gutters under heavy tree cover, and autumn leaf drop from oaks and maples is the main cleaning season. On older homes, the fascia behind the gutter is often the weak point.

Pennsylvania rowhomes and shared drainage

Philadelphia has one of the largest stocks of rowhouses in the country, and many of them share a roof drainage system with their neighbors. A rear gutter or scupper may serve two or three houses, and a blocked downspout on one property can flood the roof of the house next door. Front cornices on older rowhomes often hide a built-in gutter. When the lining fails, water runs into the brick and the front bedroom ceiling.

Philadelphia also charges a stormwater fee based on the hard surface of each property, and the city's Water Department has run programs encouraging rain barrels and green stormwater projects. Keeping roof water out of the sewer system is a priority in a city that, like New York, has combined sewers in its older districts.

Pittsburgh hills and western Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is a city of steep streets, retaining walls and houses set into hillsides, and downspout discharge there is a structural question. Water released at the top of a lot can saturate the soil behind a wall or seep into the basement of the house below. Many older homes have downspouts that run into underground pipes, some of them clay tile laid a century ago, which crack and clog with roots.

Western Pennsylvania also sees frequent freeze-thaw cycles, mixed winter precipitation and long, cloudy, damp spells, so wood fascia stays wet and rots quickly where gutters leak. Erie, on the lake, deals with heavy lake-effect snow and needs gutters hung for weight.

Contractor registration in Pennsylvania

Under Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, most contractors doing home improvement work above a small annual threshold must register with the Attorney General's office and show a registration number on contracts and advertising. The law also sets out what a written contract must include and gives homeowners a right to cancel within three business days. Ask any gutter contractor for their registration number and look it up before work begins.

Philadelphia and some other cities have their own licensing requirements on top of the state registration. Contractors in our network who work in Pennsylvania can explain which apply to your job.

Central Pennsylvania and the Poconos

State College, Altoona, Williamsport and the ridge-and-valley towns between them sit in a cooler, snowier band than Philadelphia. Homes there often have steep roofs that shed snow onto lower roofs and porches, where gutters take the impact. In the Poconos, many vacation homes and cabins sit under hemlock, oak and pine, and gutters can go unchecked for months while the owners are away; clogged troughs freeze solid and split. Lancaster County farmhouses and Amish country homes often have long gutter runs on barns and outbuildings that need the same attention as the house.

Slate roofs and older gutters

Pennsylvania has more slate roofs than most states, thanks to the quarries of the Lehigh Valley and the southeast. Slate lasts a century or more, but the gutters and flashing beside it do not. Replacing a gutter under slate needs care, because slates are brittle and the gutter hangers are often fixed beneath the bottom course. Strap hangers, copper gutters and copper flashing are the traditional match. On these homes, a contractor who regularly works around slate is worth seeking out.

Allentown, Reading and the Lehigh Valley

The Lehigh Valley's older neighborhoods are dense with brick twins and rowhouses from the industrial era, many with shared gutters at the back and decorative cornices at the front. In Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and Reading, the original box gutters were often covered over with aluminum, hiding rot underneath. Suburban growth along Route 22 and Interstate 78 has added thousands of newer homes with larger roofs. Hail is less common than in the Plains, but summer thunderstorms here can still overwhelm small downspouts.

Seasonal checks for Pennsylvania homes

Before winter, Pennsylvania homeowners should check that every downspout runs clear, that hangers are tight and that no section holds standing water, because trapped water freezes and splits seams. After the thaw in March or April, look for sections pulled loose by ice and for staining on the fascia. In summer, check for overflow during the first heavy storm.

Wet basements in older Pennsylvania homes

Fieldstone and block basements in older Pennsylvania houses let water through readily, so downspouts that discharge at the wall are a common reason basements take on water after rain. Extensions, splash blocks and regrading the soil along the foundation are the first steps. Where downspouts feed old underground pipes, a camera inspection can show whether the pipe is broken or clogged with roots before deciding whether to dig.

Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and the northern tier

Northeast Pennsylvania's coal-region towns have tightly packed frame houses on steep streets, many with porches, dormers and gutters that drain straight onto the sidewalk. Snow there lingers longer than in Philadelphia, and ice in the downspouts is a common winter complaint.

Harrisburg and the Susquehanna

Harrisburg's Midtown and Shipoke rowhouses sit near the Susquehanna, which flooded severely after Agnes in 1972 and Lee in 2011. Downspouts there should keep water well away from basements.

Bucks and Montgomery County suburbs

Doylestown, Newtown and the Montgomery County boroughs have stone farmhouses and post-war colonials under heavy tree cover.