Fall Leaf Season in Pittsburgh: Keeping Gutters Clear
The leaves are just starting to turn on the hillsides as this is written, and in six weeks most of them will be in someone's gutters. Pittsburgh has more tree canopy than almost any large city in the country, and the trees that make the streets — silver maple, Norway maple, pin oak, red oak, sycamore, black locust — each drop on their own schedule. Clean too early and you do it twice. Clean too late and the first freeze turns a wet leaf plug into a block of ice. Here's the calendar.
Who drops when
| Tree | Where you see it | Drops | What ends up in the gutter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver maple | Everywhere; the big street trees in Dormont, Brookline, Bellevue | Mid-October, fast | Big leaves in bulk; seeds in June |
| Norway maple | Older suburbs, Mt. Lebanon, Ross | Late October to early November | Broad leaves that mat flat |
| Sugar maple | Fox Chapel, Sewickley, the parks | Mid-to-late October | Similar to Norway |
| Pin oak | Squirrel Hill, Mt. Lebanon, Fox Chapel | November into December, some hang until spring | Small leaves that pack into downspouts |
| Red oak | Wooded lots, North Hills | Late October to mid-November | Medium leaves, acorns |
| Sycamore | Along the rivers, Highland Park, Schenley | October into November | Huge leaves, bark flakes, seed balls |
| Black locust, tree-of-heaven | Hillsides, vacant lots, the Slopes | Late October | Small leaflets that go through screens |
| Tulip poplar | Fox Chapel, Frick Park edges | Early October, early | Big leaves, early |
| Hemlock, spruce | Wooded lots | All year | Needles |
When to clean
One cleaning, done right, in the second half of November. That's after the maples, after most of the oaks, after the sycamores. If the house is under pin oaks, push it to the last week of November or the first of December; they hold on longer than anything. The goal is to go into the first hard freeze — usually early to mid-December here — with the gutters empty and the downspouts flowing, because a wet leaf plug at the outlet is what becomes the ice plug that splits the elbow and the ice dam that pulls the hangers. A gutter cleaned on October 20 under a Norway maple is full again by November 10.
A second, lighter pass in June for the maple seeds, which sprout in a gutter with alarming enthusiasm. That's a separate topic; the November cleaning is the one that saves you money.
What a fall cleaning should include
Scooped by hand into a bucket, not blown onto the neighbor's roof. Every downspout flushed from the top with a hose and checked for flow at the bottom — the flush matters more than the scoop, because the plug is always at the outlet. And a look at the hangers and the fascia while the ladder is up, because loose hangers in November are the gutter on the lawn in February. Our gutter cleaning visits are priced by the size of the house, $120–$300, and include the ladder check.
Guards, and which trees justify them
Under two small ornamentals in a Cranberry cul-de-sac, guards are a waste. Under a pair of silver maples on a Dormont street, they pay for themselves in six to eight years against twice-yearly cleaning. The type matters by tree:
- Maples: stainless micro-mesh. The helicopters go through every screen and reverse-curve hood on the market and sprout on the other side.
- Oaks and sycamores: an aluminum screen keeps the big leaves out for $5–$9 a foot. Mesh is better; screen is enough.
- Locust and tree-of-heaven: micro-mesh again. The leaflets are small enough to go through a screen.
- Hemlock and spruce: anything you install will need a brush-off once a year; needles lie flat on mesh. Guards still help, but don't expect zero maintenance.
One warning for this climate: solid reverse-curve hoods ice over and give an ice dam a shelf to build on. We don't recommend them on north-facing eaves here. The gutter guards page has the prices and the comparison.
Doing it yourself
Single-story house, good ladder, someone holding it: fine. Gloves, bucket hooked on the ladder, and flush each downspout from the top. Stop when the ladder would have to lean on the gutter, when you'd be reaching sideways, or when the ground on the downhill side is a story below the eave — which is half the houses in the city. Wet November leaves are heavier than they look, and the ladder feet slide on wet leaves on a sloped lawn. The storm-season checklist covers what to look at while you're up there, and if you find a corner dripping or a hanger loose, the gutter repair page has what each fix costs.
Need gutter work in Pittsburgh?
Call for a free estimate. Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.