Utah
Gutters and roof drainage
A roof is not finished when the shingles are on. Water has to leave the eave, miss the fascia, and get away from the foundation. Utah gives that job cottonwood seed, pine needles on the benches, monsoon bursts in Washington County, and ice that rips a weak gutter off a north eave in Logan. Gutters are part of the roof scope when we are already at the edge, and their own job when the roof is fine and the drainage is not.
What we install
Seamless aluminum gutters, sized for the roof area, with downspouts that actually reach a place that can take the water. Hidden hangers, not a spike through the fascia every few feet as the only plan. Drip edge on the roof that sheds into the gutter instead of behind it. Extensions or a drain connection so the downspout does not dump against the foundation and then into a window well.
We replace rotted fascia before we hang a new gutter on it. A straight gutter on a wavy, soft board will not stay straight.
- Seamless runs, with seams only where a run cannot be one piece
- Outlets and downspouts placed for the grade, not for the easiest ladder position
- Splash blocks or extensions, called out so “installed” includes where the water goes
- Gutter guards only when they match the debris you actually have
- Coordination with the roof edge metal on replacements
Debris is local
Cottonwoods along the Jordan River, Utah Lake, and older streets in Murray, Provo, and Ogden will fill a gutter in a week in June. Pine and scrub oak on the east benches, in Woodland Hills, and up Immigration and Emigration canyons pack needles into a guard that was designed for maple leaves. Washington County deals with grit and the sudden water of a monsoon more than with seed. A guard that works in one of those places can fail in another. We say which debris you have before we sell a cover.
Guards do not cancel cleaning. They change what gets stuck and where. Anyone who promises you will never touch the gutter again is selling a slogan.
Ice and snow
On Wasatch and Cache eaves, ice will lever a gutter off the house if the hangers are light and the roof is shedding a dam. Snow guards on a metal roof above a gutter are sometimes what keeps the gutter on the house. Heat cable is a tool for a specific eave, not a decoration on every downspout. We recommend it when the dam is a geometry problem we cannot rebuild this season.
When to do gutters with the roof
During a replacement, the drip edge, the fascia, and the gutter are one edge. Doing the roof and leaving a crushed gutter is how water gets behind the new starter course. If the gutters are new and straight, we will leave them and protect them. If they are full of holes, the estimate should include them so you are not paying a second mobilization for the same ladder.
Cities where this comes up
These are examples, not a coverage limit. Every city page links the services that matter there.
Gutters and roof drainage questions
Do I need new gutters if I am replacing the roof?
Not automatically. If they are sized, sloped, and hung on solid fascia, we protect them and reuse them. If they are undersized, rusted through, or pitched the wrong way, we include new ones so the new roof edge has somewhere to drain.
Are gutter guards worth it?
Sometimes. A guard matched to pine needles is a different product from one matched to large leaves. In cottonwood country, plan on some cleaning either way. We will not promise a guard makes the gutter maintenance-free.
Why does water pour behind the gutter?
Usually the roof edge is short of the gutter, the drip edge was skipped, or the gutter has pulled away. It is a roof-edge detail, not a reason to blame the downspout. We fix the relationship between shingle, metal, and gutter.
Can you add downspouts that do not flood the walk?
Yes. Moving an outlet and running the downspout to a lower grade, a pop-up emitter, or a line the landscaper owns is ordinary. We will not dump a five-inch gutter into a two-inch hole and call it connected. Buried drain lines that already exist get tested, not assumed.
Do you hang gutters in cities you roof?
Yes. Gutters are available across the same city list as the roofing work. They are not a reason to invent a separate city page. If the roof is outside the cities we publish, ask and we will tell you.
Related work
- Full roof replacementTear off the old roof, inspect the deck, and install a system specified for that city’s snow, wind, and sun.
- Roof repairLeaks, flashing, pipe boots, and storm-lifted shingles — repaired when a repair will last, and declined when it will not.
- Asphalt shingle roofingArchitectural shingles — the default Wasatch roof — detailed for UV at elevation, ice at the eaves, and local wind.
- Metal roofingStanding seam and other metal systems for wind, snow shedding, and owners who want a roof they can reread in twenty years.
Ask about gutters.
The inspection is free when it is tied to work we might do. The written scope comes after we have seen the roof.
Emergency roof calls answered 24/7. (385) 333-9637.