It is the first thing nearly everybody wants to know, and the one thing most gutter companies will not put in writing until they have been out to look. That can feel like a runaround. It is not meant to be.

The honest position is that a gutter job is priced off your particular roofline, and no two rooflines are the same. What we can do is explain exactly what moves the number, so that when a quote lands in front of you — ours or anybody else’s — you can tell whether it makes sense.

Why nobody can price it over the phone

A quote given down the phone is a guess, and guesses go one of two ways. Either it comes in low to win the call and climbs once somebody actually turns up, or it is padded high to cover whatever the installer might find.

Neither is much use to you. Measuring takes us a short visit, it costs you nothing, and it produces a number that holds.

What actually drives the price

How much roofline you have

This is the big one. Gutter is priced by the foot, and the footage is set by the shape of your roof rather than the size of your house. A long, simple ranch can carry less gutter than a smaller home cut up with dormers, gables and porch returns, because every change of direction adds corners, end caps and labour.

How high the work sits

Single-storey eaves you can reach off a standard ladder are quicker and safer than a two-storey run over a sloped bank or a conservatory roof. Height affects the time on site and the equipment needed, and both show up in the price.

Downspouts, and where the water has to go

Downspouts are priced separately from the gutter run, and the count is not arbitrary. It is set by how much roof area drains into each section. Put too few in and the gutter overflows in heavy rain no matter how well it was hung.

Where the water goes after that matters too. A downspout that empties onto a splash block is straightforward. One that needs extending away from a foundation, or running underground to daylight, is more work and more material.

The state of the fascia

New gutter is only as sound as the board it hangs on. If we pull an old run off and find soft or rotten fascia, that has to be dealt with before anything goes back up — otherwise the hangers have nothing solid to bite into and you will be looking at the same sag in two years.

We cannot see this until the old gutter comes down, which is one more reason estimates come with a look rather than a phone call.

Whether you add leaf guard

Leaf guard is the single biggest optional line on most quotes. It adds to the up-front number and takes away the annual job of clearing the trough, so whether it is worth it depends a great deal on what is growing over your roof. Under heavy pine, it usually pays for itself in saved call-outs.

Colour and finish

We roll in twenty-four baked-on colours and, unlike some suppliers, we do not charge a premium for stepping outside white. Picking a colour that matches your trim costs the same as picking the safe option.

Taking the old gutters away

Worth asking about explicitly, because it is not always included. Pulling the old run down, hauling it off and leaving the site clean is part of our job rather than a line added at the end. If another quote looks noticeably cheaper, check whether removal and disposal are in it.

Where people get caught out

The cheapest quote on the table is usually cheap for a reason, and the reason is normally one of these.

Sectional gutter instead of seamless. Sections are joined every few feet, and every joint is a future leak. Seamless runs are one unbroken piece per side, rolled to length on site.
Thinner aluminum. Lighter gauge dents when a ladder leans on it and deforms under a load of wet leaves.
Nailed spikes rather than screwed hidden hangers. Spikes work loose over the years as the wood expands and contracts. That is the classic sagging front edge.
Too few downspouts. The cheapest way to shave a quote, and the fastest way to end up with a gutter that overflows in a real storm.
No written warranty. A price means very little without one.

What a fair quote should tell you

Whoever you end up using, a quote worth comparing should be clear about the footage of gutter, the number and placement of downspouts, the gauge and finish of the material, whether removal and disposal are included, what leaf guard would add, and what is covered in writing afterwards.

If two quotes are far apart, the gap is almost always hiding in one of those lines rather than in anybody’s profit margin.

Getting a real number for your house

We measure for free across Florence, Darlington and Hartsville, there is no obligation attached, and the figure we give you is the figure you pay. Every job carries a lifetime material warranty and a ten-year performance warranty on the installation, both of which transfer if you sell the house.

Call 843-992-7619 between 8am and 7pm, Monday through Saturday, or send us the details of your property and we will come and look.