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Gutters · FAQ

Gutter questions answered

The three questions homeowners ask most are what gutters cost, how often to clean them, and whether guards are worth it. In 2026: seamless aluminum runs $4-$9 per linear foot installed, cleaning runs $191-$529 per visit and should happen at least twice a year, and professionally installed guards average about $40 per linear foot — which only pays off if your cleaning bill is genuinely high.

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Gutters attract more sales pressure than almost any other exterior product, especially in the guard category. Nearly every question below has a simple answer that a salesperson has an incentive to complicate.

The general rule: fix capacity and drainage problems first, maintain what you have second, and treat guards as an optional convenience purchase you justify with arithmetic rather than fear.

How to choose

Know your linear footage
It turns every quote into a comparable per-foot number.
Clean before you buy anything
A surprising number of 'you need new gutters' diagnoses go away after a cleaning.
Never decide at the door
Same-day pricing is a tactic. Real quotes survive the weekend.
Roof before gutters
If the roof is near end of life, sequence it first.
Ask what your roofing manufacturer allows
Especially before any guard is fastened near the roof edge.
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Gutters faq — common questions

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In 2026, about $4-$9 per linear foot for seamless aluminum installed, or roughly $800-$1,800 on a 200-foot house, per This Old House. Vinyl is cheaper, copper and zinc considerably more.
At least twice a year, or roughly annually if you have guards, per This Old House. More often under heavy tree cover.
Only if your cleaning cost is high enough. At about $40 per linear foot installed, guards on a 200-foot house run $6,414-$9,468, which is over a decade of typical cleaning — and This Old House's survey found 41% of guard owners still clean annually.
This Old House puts seamless systems at 20-30 years and sectional systems at 10-15 years, with maintenance and climate driving most of the variance.
Five-inch K-style handles roughly 5,520 square feet of drainage area; 6-inch about 7,960. Larger roofs, steeper pitches and heavy rainfall push you to 6-inch.
Sources

Where these figures come from

You know more than the last homeowner they quoted.

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