How Wide Should Rain Gutters Be

5 gutter would have been inadequate during a heavy rain squall.

How wide should rain gutters be.

Gutters should slope an inch or two for every 40 feet. Multiply the drainage area by the roof pitch factor and rainfall intensity to find out the adjusted square footage. 6 inch 7 960 square feet. Whether you use 5 or 6 gutters is more a function of how much roof area is feeding into the gutter.

Better protection from water damage. There has been a lot debate over whether most homes really need large rain gutters the over sized 6 inch 7 or 8 inch variety or if the standard 5 inch gutter will do. Drip edge varies in dimensions but typically the flange that nails to the roof surface is about 2 5 wide and the vertical edge that directs roof runoff down and away is about 1 5 in depth. If a roof s various drainage areas call for different size gutters go for the biggest one k style.

A k style gutter in the same inch width can handle twice as much water as a half round gutter. The standard is about inch per 10 feet. Aluminum gutters come in three standard thicknesses. 025 inch 027 inch and 032 inch.

5 inch 5 520 square feet. Lengths of drip vary but typically it s sold in ten foot lengths 120. Gutters can range anywhere from 4 inches to 8 inches wide but 5 and 6 inch gutters are the most common. I recently finished a home with a large steep roof 2 3rds of which on each side of the house fed into a narrow section between two gable dormers.

K style gutters are the most common option and they provide optimum drainage for the majority of homes in most of the u s. Then use the chart below to see what size gutter you need. Here are 3 benefits of large rain gutters. Increasing the pitch increases a gutter s handling capacity but the gutter may look askew over a long run.

That said gutters need to be completely level from front to back or water could spill over either edge. As with gutters a downspout s capacity must match or exceed the expected runoff. Is bigger really always better. The above recommendations assume that you have properly sized downspouts every 40 feet.

If your home needs to handle intense storms you can either install wider gutters or install more or wider downspouts to drain water away more quickly. While the thinnest. You need wide gutters of 5 or 6 inches in order for a large amount of water to fall into the gutter at high speed and not past.