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GUTTER SIZES – 5”,6”,7” and Beyond.
Seamless gutters come in various sizes from 5”, 6”, 7”, or even 8”. By installing properly sized, seamless aluminum gutters you can protect your home —diverting water safely away from your home before it can do damage. Preventing water issues from occurring in and around your home is certainly much more affordable than removing water from your basement and correcting damage once it has occurred.
The standard size for residential seamless gutters depends largely on your region of the country along with the size and style of your home. Many homeowners are upgrading to 6″, 7″, or even 8″ ‘oversized’ gutters. Though a 6″ gutter is only an inch bigger than a 5″, it can handle 40% more water. In some cases, larger or “oversized” gutters are necessary on your home or a specific portion of your roofline.
What size may be necessary for your home?
5-Inch Gutter
When to CONSIDER A 5-INCH GUTTER:
- Gutter lengths under 40’ with at least 1 downspout
- Gutters over 40’ in length should have 2 downspouts
- Gutters do not overflow during normal rains
- Asphalt shingles with proper drip edge
- 5” Gutters should not be used to catch runoff from upper roofs with gutters
6-INCH GUTTER
For residential homes with large or steep roofs and high volumes of water, a 6-inch gutter may be your best solution. These gutter systems are often seen on office buildings and commercial buildings as well. Often, there is great value in using a combination of the two sizes. Most importantly, 6-inch gutters can handle approximately 40% more volume than a 5″ seamless gutter system. When installing 6″ gutters, we use 3×4″ oversized downspouts as well, allowing more water and debris to flow freely through the system.
We have seen an incredible increase in our number of 6″ seamless gutter installs in our home office in New York in recent years. We have even encountered many homeowners with straight ranches, capes, and colonial homes, interested in the larger sized 6″ gutters. Since the pitch of a roof varies so greatly on each home, designing a system custom for your roof is essential. Pitch greatly affects how the rain will flow down into the gutters. Many homeowners have found that their smaller 5″ seamless gutters overflow with heavy rain. When choosing between a 5-inch gutter and a 6-inch gutter for your residential housing consider the following.
When to CONSIDER A 6-INCH GUTTER:
- Gutter lengths over 40’ that cannot have 2 downspouts
- Lower gutters that have upper gutters draining into them
- Long runs over 60’
- Rooflines with tremendous amounts of water concentrating to a small section of gutter
- Inside valleys where the water is flowing at great speed, and typically overflows during heavy rains
- Metal roofs
7-INCH GUTTER
While 6-inch is becoming the new ‘standard gutter size’, in some situations, it is not big enough. In these cases, 7-inch or 8-inch gutters can be offered. For example, climates that receive large amounts of rain and/or heavy rainfall, have a roof style that requires a wide gutter system to collect rainwater, and homes that have varying gutter heights are great candidates for a larger gutter system. These large gutter sizes are available on a location basis only. Please inquire for specifics on participating locations.
When to CONSIDER A 7-INCH GUTTER:
- In need of more protection against water damage
- Capacity of water flowing to gutters is higher than what a 6-inch gutter can handle
- Lower gutters that have upper gutters draining into them
- Tile, Concrete Shingles, or Spanish style roofs with longer overhangs require a wider gutter
- Areas with a significant amount of rainfall
Our blog goes into further detail about each of these examples.
Also, keep in mind our gutters are available in 24 colors and we can often match colors outside of our regular swatches if necessary. For instance, if you want to match your downspouts to your building’s siding, we most likely can. Not only can we help you protect your home with practical solutions, but we also work with you to design a system that caters to your home’s aesthetic.