Type of Gutters?

1486 Views 13 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Tom738, Dec 18, 2015

Alumifab

Discussion Starter · Dec 17, 2015

I have a home in the DFW area that has some gutters (on the front and back), but where there are no gutters (side of the home) the rain is starting to erode some spots of the soil exposing some deep parts of the slab foundation.

I will eventually put some soil and sod in these areas, but first I will need some new gutters on the sides of the home and to replace the old gutters as well.

I am assuming aluminum gutters is the standard way to go, but I heard about vinyl gutters, but I am thinking they are cheap, will crack and break, etc...

Any thoughts?

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craig11152

· #2 · Dec 17, 2015

No to vinyl. Aluminum unless your rolling in cash then copper

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joecaption

· #3 · Dec 17, 2015

No one can see your house from here without a picture.
What style roof is it?
Gable roofs do not have gutters on the ends.

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Tom738

· #4 · Dec 17, 2015

If soil is easy to dig and drainage is easy, consider french drains under the lip of the house instead of gutters. More work initially but you never have to clean gutters again.

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craig11152

· #5 · Dec 17, 2015

joecaption said:
No one can see your house from here without a picture.
What style roof is it?
Gable roofs do not have gutters on the ends.

True enough. But I will assume the homeowner knows just enough about gutters to realize their primary function is to catch water run off from a roof line. And given that there seems to be an issue "where there are no gutters (side of the home) the rain is starting to erode some spots of the soil exposing some deep parts of the slab foundation." I'm going to assume it is some sort of hip roof configuration without a complete gutter system.

In any case the relative merits of aluminum verses vinyl, or steel or copper or wood gutters could be discussed without a picture.

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Gymschu

· #6 · Dec 17, 2015

Nothing says "cheap" more than vinyl gutters on a house.

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1985gt

· #7 · Dec 17, 2015

There is also steel but not nearly as common and will be more expensive than aluminum. Vinyl is cheap and will not last 1/3 of the time aluminum will.

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Alumifab

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 17, 2015

Here's one side of the home so you can see, no gutters.

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Ron6519

· #9 · Dec 17, 2015

Is this a ranch with a hip roof? If you don't know, take a photo of the whole front of the house.
Aluminum, definitely. Get the heavier gauge metal as well. If you get heavy rain storms, get a larger gutter and downspouts.

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Alumifab

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 17, 2015

These are the only pictures that I have of the roof line as I have not closed on the home (next week).
As you can see there are some gutters on the front, clogged. As soon as I move in this will be addressed. I also don't like where the downspout is located, but not sure i can move it. You can't really see it, but it is around the corner from the garage and it dumps water right on the walkway as you're walking to the front door.

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joecaption

· #11 · Dec 18, 2015

Go with seamless gutters.
Cost more but there's not going to be any seams to leak, fastners will be hidden.

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kwikfishron

· #12 · Dec 18, 2015

Seamless aluminum is the only way to go on that house imo.

Get multiple bids, gutter installation is a highly competitive business. The guy you see selling them on TV will likely be twice the price of what you need to pay for the same thing that the ma and pop shop is selling.