Gutters
Gutters are the least interesting part of a house right up until they fail. Then they are a wet crawlspace, a settling foundation, rotted fascia and mulch washed across the driveway every time it rains hard. In North Georgia, where a summer storm can drop an inch in twenty minutes, undersized or clogged gutters are one of the most common causes of damage we get called out to look at.
We run seamless aluminum gutter formed on site to the exact length of each run. No sectional joints down the middle of a fifty foot run means no seams to separate, pull apart and drip behind the fascia three winters from now. Five inch is standard on most homes, six inch when the roof area or the pitch calls for the extra capacity.
Capacity is only half of it. A downspout dumping right at the corner of the foundation is just moving the problem two feet. We place and size the downspouts to actually carry the volume away from the house, and add extensions or underground runs where the grade works against you.
This part of Georgia is oak and pine. That means leaves in the fall and needles year round, and it means somebody is going up a ladder twice a year unless the gutters are covered. We install guard systems that keep the debris out while still letting a hard rain through, which is the part cheap screens get wrong.
With the roof. Gutters have to come off or be worked around during a tear off anyway, and installing them right after means one crew, one trip and a clean transition between the drip edge and the gutter line. Booking them separately almost always costs more.
Gutter questions
Five inch handles most homes. Six inch makes sense on larger roof areas, steep pitches that dump water fast, or where a long run has to carry several slopes into one downspout. We size it off the actual roof, not a rule of thumb.
Under oaks and pines in North Georgia, usually yes. They do not make a gutter maintenance free, but they turn a twice a year ladder job into an occasional rinse. Cheap screens that block heavy rain are worse than no guard at all, which is why the product matters more than the pitch.
Yes, and it has to be fixed before new gutter goes up. Hanging new gutter on soft wood means it pulls loose within a couple of years. We handle fascia, soffit and trim as part of our exterior work.
In most cases yes. Seamless aluminum comes in a wide range of standard colors, and we will match to your trim or your existing runs when only part of the house is being replaced.
