Seamless Gutter Installation in Boston, MA

Seamless gutters are not actually jointless

The coil runs through a roll former at your curb and comes out as one continuous length. A 44-foot wall gets 44 feet of unbroken metal, with joints only at the miters and end caps. Sectional gutter joins every ten feet.

Aluminum also moves with temperature. A dark run bakes in July and shrinks hard in January. Hidden hangers screwed into solid wood hold through that. Spikes do not.

Which gutter belongs on which Boston building

K-style aluminum

5-inch K-style is the workhorse. A long, steep plane funneling into one corner gets a 6-inch trough and 3x4 downspouts, which covers most post-war capes in West Roxbury, Saugus and Quincy.

Half-round copper in the historic districts

On Beacon Hill, in Back Bay and across the South End, the gutter profile and the metal are design reviewed. Half-round copper with round corrugated downspouts is the usual answer. Landmarks approval lands before ISD issues a permit. Beacon Hill has been a local historic district since 1955.

Built-in box gutters

Many Victorian and mansard roofs have no hanging gutter. The trough is framed into the cornice and lined with metal, part of the roof with no overflow path. A split lining sends water into the cornice and down inside the wall. These get relined, which is roof and chimney flashing work.

Downspouts decide whether the job worked

• Carry the discharge past the foundation and downhill, not into a splash block
• Use 3x4 outlets on long runs and where two slopes meet at one corner
• On a tight Boston lot, confirm the water is not landing on a neighbor's property
• Scope or cap an old buried clay tie-in; a plugged line backs up at the elbow
• Strap downspouts to brick with a proper anchor, never a nail in a mortar joint

Ice, snow and a trough full of water

Boston averages 49.2 inches of snow a year at Logan, but snow is not the problem. The city hits freezing about 92 days a year and stays frozen all day only about 23. That gap turns a full gutter into a bar of ice.

A gutter does not cause an ice dam. Warm air leaking through your ceiling does. But an iced trough gives the dam a base and the weight to pull the fascia off. We do ice dam removal with low-pressure steam, and our guide to stopping ice dams on a Boston triple-decker covers the attic side.

Gutter guards and salt air

Micro-mesh screwed to the trough keeps out oak tassels, maple keys and white pine needles, which is what plugs a gutter here. It does not make the gutter maintenance-free. We do not sell reverse-curve covers that let shingle grit ride into the trough, and we will say when a run needs none.