Snowmelt comes off a Wasatch Front roof fast, and it has to go somewhere. When the gutters are undersized, pitched wrong, or pulling away from the fascia, that water ends up against your foundation, down your siding, or frozen in a sheet across the walkway.
Gutter installation is the fix: new gutter and downspouts sized to the roof above them, hung with the right pitch, and dumped far enough from the house to matter. It is a short job compared to a roof, but it is the part of the system that decides where thousands of gallons a year end up.
Utah's Roofing Experts You Can Count On
We work on roofs in Bountiful, Layton, Ogden and Salt Lake City, and we see the same thing over and over: a sound roof sitting above a gutter system that quit years ago.
Nobody calls about gutters until there is a stain on the ceiling or ice on the front step. By then the fascia is usually soft.
Our job on a gutter call is to tell you plainly what is failing and why. Sometimes that is the gutter itself. Sometimes it is the drip edge, the fascia board behind it, or a downspout that drains two feet from the foundation and always has.
We would rather explain the cause than sell you a length of metal that fails the same way in four years.
Our Roofing Services: What Gutter Installation Involves
We start on the ground and on the roof, not with a tape measure on the old gutter. We look at the roof area feeding each run, the pitch, the valleys that concentrate water, and the condition of the fascia behind the existing gutter.
Then the old gutter comes off. That is usually when we find out what we are really dealing with. Rotted fascia, missing or bent drip edge, rusted hanger screws, and sometimes decking that has been wet at the eave for a long time. Soft fascia gets replaced before anything new goes up, because new gutter hung on bad wood is a waste of your money.
New gutter gets sized to the roof feeding it. Larger roof planes and steep pitches move more water per minute, and a run that is too small simply overshoots in a hard rain.
We set the pitch so water runs to the outlets instead of standing in the trough. Hangers go in at proper spacing so the run holds a load of wet snow. Outlets and downspouts are placed where the water volume actually is, then extended away from the foundation.
Included on a standard gutter installation:
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Removal and haul-off of the old gutter and downspouts
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Inspection of fascia, drip edge and eave decking
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Fascia replacement where the wood is soft or rotted
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Gutter sized and pitched to the roof planes above it
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Hangers set at proper spacing, sealed end caps and miters
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Downspouts placed by water volume, with extensions away from the house
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Cleanup of fasteners and debris around the perimeter
When you need it, and when you don't
Handle it now if water sheets over the front edge in a normal rain, if a run has pulled loose from the fascia, if you see staining or soft wood behind the gutter, or if water is pooling against the foundation. Those are active problems, and the damage behind them gets more expensive every season.
Handle it now, too, if the gutter is standing full of water on a dry day. That means the pitch is wrong or the outlet is blocked, and that weight comes down eventually.
It can wait if the gutters are simply old and ugly but draining, or if a seam drips a little at one miter. A seam can often be resealed. Dents and faded color are cosmetic.
Clogs are their own category. If the only issue is debris, you need a cleaning, not a new system. We will tell you that.
What North Salt Lake Does to a Roof
We sit around 4,500 feet with the mountains right behind us. That means big swings between day and night for most of the winter.
Snow sits on the roof, the sun melts it off, the temperature drops after dark, and the melt refreezes at the eave. That freeze-thaw cycle is what tears gutters off houses here. Ice builds in the trough, the hangers let go, and the run comes down with the fascia attached.
Summer does its own damage. Afternoon thunderstorms drop a lot of water in a short window, and an undersized gutter cannot keep up with that volume no matter how clean it is.
The housing stock matters too. Plenty of homes along this stretch of the Wasatch Front were built with the small residential gutter that was standard at the time, hung over roof planes that really want something larger. We size by the roof, not by what was there before.
What it costs, and what moves the price
We do not quote gutter work without looking at it, and we will not give you a number over the phone that changes once we are on site.
Here is what actually moves the price:
Our Process
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If we find something during the work that changes the scope, you hear about it before we keep going.
Gutter installation questions
How long does gutter installation take?
It depends on the footage, the height of the house and whether fascia needs replacing. We will give you an honest estimate of duration when we quote the job.
Do I need new gutters or just a cleaning?
If the gutter is sound, pitched correctly and only overflowing because it is packed with debris, you need a cleaning. We will tell you which one it is.
What size gutter should my house have?
That depends on the roof area draining into each run and the pitch of those planes. Steeper, larger roof sections need more capacity than the standard profile.
Can you install gutters in winter?
Often, yes. Cold weather affects sealants and access more than the gutter itself. Heavy snow or ice on the roof may mean waiting for a safer day.
Will new gutters stop ice dams?
No. Ice dams come from heat escaping into the attic and melting snow from underneath. Gutters catch the result, they do not cause it. Fixing dams means looking at insulation and ventilation.
What happens if you find rotted fascia?
We stop and show you. Rotted fascia gets replaced before the new gutter goes up, because hangers need solid wood. We price that separately so you can see it.
Do gutter guards work?
They reduce how often you clean, especially under trees. None of them eliminate maintenance, and some trap fine debris. We will give you a straight answer for your situation.
Where should downspouts discharge?
Far enough from the house that water does not return to the foundation. Extensions, splash blocks or buried lines all work, depending on your grade and landscaping.
Can you replace gutters without touching the roof?
Usually. But we always check the drip edge and the first course of shingles at the eave, because that is where gutter problems and roof problems overlap.
Related work
If the gutter is a symptom of something larger, start here instead: Roof Inspection, Roof Repair, Roof Replacement, or Storm Damage Roof Repair after wind or hail.
Get a look at it
Call White Ridge Roofing at (801) 880-7663 and tell us what the water is doing. We will come look at the roof, the fascia and the existing runs, and give you a written scope and price before anything comes off the house.
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954 Mink Cir, North Salt Lake, UT 84054