What to Consider with New Gutters

1.       Seamless or Seamed Gutters.  All professionally installed gutter systems should be seamless.  Seamless gutters are more rigid and stronger than their seamed counterparts and they are much less prone to leaking of any kind.  Most professional installers will only quote seamless gutters.    

2.       Material. There are several materials used for gutters, but the two most common are aluminum and vinyl.  Vinyl is generally a DIY material and most commonly used in seamed systems.  Vinyl can become brittle in the winter and is subject to cracking, so it is generally considered less durable and not the best material for climates like ours where winter freezing can be an issue.  Aluminum is the best material for most homeowners, but all aluminum gutters are not the same.  Aluminum thickness is an important consideration for climates that can have heavy snow and ice.  The two most common aluminum thicknesses or “gauges” are .027 and .032 though they can be as thin as .019.  While .019 and .027 are less expensive, they are more easily damaged.  Today, most professionals will not consider a thickness less than .027 and high-quality installers will use .032-gauge aluminum.

3.       Gutter width.  Most common gutter sizes today range between 4 to 6 inches and downspouts are commonly 2 x 3 and 3 x 4 in dimension.  What is best for my roof?  Gallons Per Minute (GPM) should be considered in determining your best choice for gutter width.  This can be best determined by a licensed gutter professional that will take all of the roof and environmental considerations such as rainfall rates, roof size, roof slope and length into consideration.