Gutter Profiles and Metals for Ann Arbor Houses
Seamless Aluminum K-Style Gutters
K-style is the profile most houses here already have. From the side it looks like crown molding, with a flat back that sits tight to the fascia board. "Seamless" means the installer feeds coil aluminum through a forming machine in the driveway and cuts each run to the exact length of the eave, so the only joints are at the corners and the downspout outlets.
HomeGuide's 2025 figures put seamless aluminum at $6 to $12 per linear foot installed, and aluminum gutters at 20 to 30 years of life. Most homes use the 5-inch size. The 6-inch size costs $1 to $2 more per foot and carries more water, which is worth it on a long, steep roof plane.
Hangers hold the whole thing up. Englert, a gutter manufacturer, says to space them no more than 18 to 24 inches apart. Our view: under Ann Arbor's winter snow, ask for the 18-inch end of that range and screw-in hidden hangers rather than the old spike-and-ferrule style, which tends to back out of the fascia.
Half-Round Gutters
A half-round gutter is a semicircle in section, hung on brackets or straps, usually with round downspouts. It's a common look on older colonials, Tudor Revivals and craftsman houses, and it costs about $1 to $2 more per foot than K-style, according to HomeGuide.
In one of Ann Arbor's historic districts, gutters get their own line on the Historic District Commission's staff approval list. City staff can sign off on replacement gutters and downspouts that exactly match the existing design, material and placement, or on new gutters where there were none, in a style that suits the building. The district guidelines also list covering built-in gutters, or swapping them for surface-mounted ones, as inappropriate. How the districts and the review work in general is on our slate roof repair page.
Copper Gutters
Copper is the long-haul option. HomeGuide gives it 50 to 100 years and prices it at $15 to $40 per linear foot installed: $15 to $30 for sectional runs soldered together, $30 to $50 for seamless copper formed on site. It comes in 16-ounce and 20-ounce weights, in K-style and half-round. Over time it goes from bright penny to brown and then a blue-green patina.
One rule matters more than the profile. Copper corrodes when it touches steel, aluminum or zinc parts, so the hangers, straps, fasteners and downspouts should all be copper too. Our view: copper earns its price on a slate or historic roof that already has copper valleys and flashing, where an aluminum gutter would look out of place and could not touch the copper anyway.
Downspouts and Drainage
Short bursts of rain overflow gutters, not the daily total. NOAA's Atlas 14 data for Ann Arbor puts a five-minute downpour of the kind expected about once a decade at 6.64 inches per hour. For storm drains, Michigan's plumbing code uses the 100-year one-hour rate, which NOAA puts at 2.69 inches per hour here. Our view: size the gutters and outlets for the short burst. On a big roof plane that means a 6-inch gutter, an extra downspout in the middle of a long run, or both.
Downspouts go at the corners or the low end of each run. Englert recommends the gutter fall at least a quarter inch for every 10 feet toward the outlet, and that downspouts discharge at least 5 to 10 feet from the house or into a drainage system that carries the water farther.
Ann Arbor gives a small break for keeping roof water on your lot. The city's stormwater bill credits $4.15 a quarter for one to five rain barrels of at least 35 gallons, and $8.59 a quarter for a rain garden that meets its criteria, including at least half of the roof's downspouts draining to it. The city's rain garden guidance says to keep the garden at least 15 feet from the foundation and end the downspout at its outer edge.
Gutter Replacement
A replacement makes sense for old sectional gutters leaking at every joint, gutters that were undersized from the start, or runs that have pulled loose along their length. The old gutters come down first, which HomeGuide prices at $1 to $2 per linear foot. Then comes the board behind them. Rotted fascia has to be repaired before new gutters go up, and that work is covered on our soffit and fascia repair page.
If a new roof is coming within a couple of years, our advice is to plan the gutters around it. The drip edge and the back of the gutter work together at the eave, and doing them in the same season avoids pulling new gutters to re-roof. What the roof replacement itself involves is on our roof replacement page. Skip vinyl gutters here: HomeGuide notes they can turn brittle in extreme cold.
Why Ann Arbor homeowners call Ann Arbor Roofing Co.
- Written estimate, free of charge
- Shingle line, underlayment and ice barrier named in the price
- Deck repair priced per sheet before the tear-off
- One independent local roofer per request, not a call list
- No fee to the homeowner for the referral
What Does Gutter Installation Cost in Ann Arbor?
HomeGuide's 2025 national guide puts gutter installation or replacement at $12 to $25 per linear foot, or $2,200 to $5,000 for an average home. Most houses have 100 to 200 feet of gutter, roughly a tenth of the home's square footage. Seamless aluminum sits at the low end; copper and half-round at the high end.
What moves the number on an Ann Arbor house, per the same guide:
Height
A two-story house adds $1 to $3 per foot for ladders, staging and safety gear.Size and profile
A 6-inch gutter or a half-round profile each add about $1 to $2 per foot.Removal and fascia
Tearing off the old system and fixing rotted boards behind it.Corners and outlets
Every inside and outside mitre and downspout is labor.
What the Written Gutter Estimate Should Say
A good estimate is specific enough that two quotes can be compared line by line. Look for the profile and width (5-inch or 6-inch K-style, or half-round), the metal and its thickness or weight, the hanger type and spacing, the number and size of downspouts, where each downspout discharges, the price per foot for any fascia repair, and whether removal and haul-away of the old gutters are included. Gutter work is one of the trades a Michigan maintenance and alteration licence covers; how to look up a contractor's licence is on our storm damage roof repair page.
Already have gutters that just need fixing? See gutter repair in Ann Arbor. Tired of cleaning them? See gutter guards in Ann Arbor. For gutters that fill with ice every winter, the cause is upstream in the attic; see ice dam removal.