Do you need gutters? Dallas Gutter Installation Experts Share Best Tips

How Gutters Drain Your Home and Prevent Damage

The #1 job of gutters is to provide drainage and prevent damage to your home. Here's how it all works.

Drainage

An inch of water doesn't seem like much. But one inch of rainfall on a 1,000 square foot roof equals 600 gallons of water.

Dallas gets about 39 inches of rain per year.(So yes, it's time to schedule your gutter installers.)

Your gutter system keeps all that water away from the things that matter most — your soil, your plants, and the foundation of your house.

Protecting Your Foundation

Residential roofing and gutters don't just protect your home. They protect its foundation.

Your rain gutters collect water off your roof. They guide the rainwater to a series of downspouts. Those downspouts aim the water a safe distance away from your foundation. 

A faulty gutter system causes water to drain into the soil directly near your foundation. Over time, this leads to big problems — leaks in basement walls, basement flooding, and shifts and cracks in the foundation itself.

Dallas home foundations are at increased risk for water damage due to the soil found in our region.

Protecting Your Soil and Plants

Dallas homeowners have a high percentage of clay in their soil. Clay soil drains water poorly — you've probably seen pools of water on your property after a heavy storm.

Since soil with high clay content retains water longer, it's a recipe for plant disaster. A water-logged area rots plants and kills grass. Over time, it can severely damage and even uproot young trees.

Installing home gutters prevents waterlogged soil in your yard by properly dispersing rainwater. 

So, let's talk about which type of gutter offers the best protection for your home and family.

Dallas Gutter Materials: Which Type is Right For You?

What type of gutter material is cheapest? Which gutter material is easiest to clean and maintain? Is a seamless gutter system really that much better? 

Here are the pros, cons, and pricing information for the major types of gutters on the market.

Aluminum Gutters (Best for Most People)

• Pros: Aluminum is extremely lightweight and easy to handle and install. It takes on paint well, making it easy to match with your siding or roofing shingles. It's usually cheaper than galvanized steel and copper. 
• Cons: Aluminum dents quite easily when hit by debris or falling branches. While it certainly outlasts vinyl and plastic, it isn't as durable as steel and copper gutters. It's rust-resistant, but not fully rustproof. 
• 2023 Materials Pricing: $7-14 per linear foot

Galvanized Steel and Stainless Steel Gutters

• Pros: Steel is a very durable material due to the addition of zinc or chromium. A new gutter system made of steel will outlast new aluminum gutters. 
• Cons: Steel gutters are heavy. They also require welding. Both these factors drive up labor costs for steel gutter installation. While material pricing is similar to aluminum, steel gutters cost more to install.
• 2023 Materials Pricing: $7-13 per linear foot

Vinyl Gutters

• Pros: Vinyl gutters are easy to install, lightweight, and cheap. Homeowners with vinyl siding can select (or paint) their gutters to match. Unlike their metal counterparts, vinyl gutters are waterproof.
• Cons: Just because vinyl is waterproof doesn't mean it's durable. Vinyl gutters are highly prone to chip and crack, especially in extreme hot and cold temperatures. We don't suggest vinyl gutters for Dallas homes, and most homeowners agree.
• 2023 Materials Pricing: $4-7 per linear foot

Copper Gutters

• Pros: Copper looks absolutely beautiful on rustic, historic and traditional homes. It's fully rustproof, and oxidation actually makes copper gutters look better over time. They will outlast aluminum and steel gutters by decades.
• Cons: You're paying for the durability, beauty and relative scarcity of copper gutters. The price for both labor and installation is far higher than the other gutter options listed. Copper must be welded during gutter installation.
• 2023 Materials Pricing: $18-30 per linear foot

Rain Gutter Add Ons for the Dallas Area

Your gutter installation should include specific add-ons for the Dallas area. All three — gutter guards, downspout strainers, and splash blocks — play a role in diverting water and eliminating blockages.

“Any blockages in your gutter system will result in damage to your roof, fascia, siding, and/ or foundation,” Mike with Creative Gutters explained.

Gutter Guards

Dallas Window and Gutter Cleaning is a HOMR featured partner. Their owner, Mike, is an expert on gutter guards and clog prevention. He recommends gutter guard installation for every Dallas homeowner.

“I prefer FlexGuard products for two reasons,” Mike told us. “They’re inexpensive and easy to install, and they don’t slide under your shingles. There’s no contact with your shingles at all.”

Gutter guards generally fit best with K-Style rain gutters. It’s harder to find guards to fit half round style gutters. 

The volume of live oak and crape myrtle leaves in Dallas make gutter guards essential for all homes. Mike considers them a form of preventative maintenance worth the upfront cost.

FlexGuard gutter guards come with a 30-year limited warranty. It costs approximately $650 for 100 feet.

Downspout Strainers

Mike from Dallas Window and Gutter Cleaning also likes downspout strainers. “It’s a wire mesh ball we insert between the gutter and downspout,” he explained. “It stops leaves from clogging the downspout while still allowing drainage.”

Downspout strainers are a great option for Dallas homeowners. Live oaks and crape myrtles drop debris and leaves on roofs — keeping all of that out of your downspouts is key. Inserting strainers in your downspouts is solid preventative maintenance.

HOMR research shows quality downspout strainers cost between $7 and $22.

Splash Blocks

You see splash blocks all the time. They're the rectangular pieces of concrete, granite, vinyl or plastic under the downspouts of a gutter system.

They play an integral role in diverting water away from your foundation. If you have a gutter system, you absolutely must own splash blocks as well.

The good news? Splash blocks are very inexpensive. Plastic and vinyl splash blocks cost about $6 apiece. Concrete options will depend on your installer. 

We like granite splash blocks — they're durable, and most quality brands cost between $12-20 apiece.

Choosing The Right Dallas Gutter Style

Seamless Gutters vs. Traditional Gutters

Dallas residents strongly prefer seamless gutters over traditional gutters, and so do we.

Seamless gutters offer 3 major advantages over regular gutters:

1. Durability. Regular gutter systems last up to 20 years, as joints and connectors rust and corrode. Without those divided spaces, seamless gutter systems easily last well beyond 20 years.
2. Customization. Each section of your seamless gutter system is custom cut to fit your house. 
3. Curb Appeal. Seamless gutters are pleasing to the eye and create clean lines in your exterior home design.

Custom seamless gutter installation costs $2-5 more per foot than regular gutters. You will make that cost up over time with decreased maintenance and repair.

K-Style Gutters vs. Half Round Gutters

K-Style gutters are found on most modern American homes. They have a flat side that attaches to the house and work well with angular roofs. K-Style gutters are also easier to install.

Half round gutters are found on historic homes, as well as attached to slate roofs. They feature a U-shaped design and have a smooth, clean design. Half round gutters are most effective in winter climates. 

5” K-Style gutters are the most popular option for Dallas homes. They’re a more cost-effective option than half round gutters, and can hold more rainwater than half round gutter systems.

Mike from Dallas Window and Gutter Repair adds that it’s difficult to find gutter guards that fit half round gutters properly. It’s far easier to find gutter guards that match 5” K-Style gutters.

Cost Analysis, Dallas Gutter Installation

So, what's all this going to cost?

Expect to pay $7-13 per foot for seamless gutter installation in Dallas, versus $5-10 per foot for regular gutters. 

Most Dallas homeowners choose an aluminum gutter system. Buyers concerned about durability over cost may opt for galvanized steel.

Based on our market research and conversations with featured providers, we suggest seamless K-Style gutter installation with gutter guards and downspout strainers for Dallas homeowners. 

200 linear feet of seamless aluminum gutter installation currently costs $1,400-$2,600. Gutter guards of the same length cost $1,300 - $1,900.

Conclusion

“Think of gutters as preventative maintenance,” said Dallas Window and Gutter Cleaning. “Get them done right once, and all your other exterior home costs go down for 20+ years.”

That's the mentality we bring HOMR members when scheduling gutter installation and repairs. New gutters are just like our home management service — a way to achieve peace of mind.

You deserve to fall in love with your house again. HOMR takes every Dallas home management headache off your to-do list for just $9/month.

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