Seasonal

Storm-Season Gutter Checklist for Pittsburgh Homes

By Pittsburgh Gutter Repair · September 10, 2026 · 4 min read

Pittsburgh doesn't have a hurricane season. What it has is a summer thunderstorm season that runs from late May through August, a September that occasionally delivers the wet remains of a Gulf storm (Ivan in 2004 is the one people still talk about), a windy, wet October and November, and then ice. Mid-September is the gap between the two halves, and it's the best week of the year to walk around the house and see what the summer did before the fall does something worse.

What summer does to gutters

Thunderstorm rain is the overflow test. If a run overflowed in July, you'll see the evidence now: a strip of washed-out mulch under the eave, mud splashed up the siding, a dark stain on the fascia at one corner. Wind from the same storms works on loose hangers, and a gutter that was slightly loose in May is noticeably loose by September. Heat cycles the sealant at every corner. And a summer of maple seeds and locust leaflets has settled into a mat in the bottom of the trough that's now holding water.

The walk-around

Do it after a rain if you can, with a flashlight, looking up.

• Hangers and straps. Every run should sit tight against the fascia with no gap at the top. A gap, or a run that's visibly lower in the middle, means hangers backing out. Downspouts should be strapped every 8 feet and not rattling.
• Fascia. Look for peeling paint in a band along the roof edge, worst at corners and below downspouts. That's water getting behind the gutter. Push a screwdriver in if you can reach; soft wood needs replacing before anything is hung on it.
• Flow. Every downspout should be running in the rain. One that isn't is plugged, or the gutter feeding it has gone flat. One that's running full while the gutter overflows is too small for the roof.
• Extensions. Every downspout should end at least six feet from the wall, on ground that slopes away. Kicked-over splash blocks and disconnected extensions are the most common thing we find, and the easiest to fix.
• Corners and seams. Look for drip marks, a white sealant that's gone chalky, or a dark line under a corner on the siding.
• The roof edge. From the ground, check that the shingles or slate overhang the gutter by half an inch or so. Shingles that stop short, or a missing drip edge, let water run behind the gutter down the fascia.
• Trees. Anything hanging over the roof that's going to drop into the gutter in six weeks. Branches over the roof also drop in October wind.

What to fix now, and why now

Loose hangers get worse with every wind, and October is the windy month here. A re-hang in September is $150–$300 per run; the same gutter on the ground in November is a replacement.

A dead downspout or one that dumps at the wall matters more in fall than summer, because the ground stays wet longer once the temperature drops. See downspouts and your foundation for the extension distances.

A leaking corner is a nuisance in summer and a problem in winter, when the drip freezes into an icicle that pulls on the corner every day. Reseal it while the joint is warm and dry; sealant applied in November on a cold wet joint doesn't hold.

Overflow that showed up in July will show up in October rain, and the standing water it leaves in a flat run is what freezes solid in December. If a run overflows, the reason is one of three things and this post sorts them.

The one thing to leave until November

Don't book the fall cleaning yet. The maples and oaks haven't dropped, and a gutter cleaned in September is full again by Halloween. Clean the obvious mat out of any run that's holding water, flush the downspouts, and book the proper gutter cleaning for mid-to-late November after the pin oaks have finally let go. The fall leaf post has the timing by tree.

After a bad storm

If a storm has already taken a gutter down or peeled a run off the fascia, photograph it before anyone touches it, then call. Wind damage is often an insurance claim, and a photo of the gutter on the lawn with the date is what an adjuster wants. Storm work goes ahead of routine repairs on our schedule. The gutter repair page covers what we do and what it typically costs.