Quick answer
Does every side of an Atlanta house need gutters? Every eave that drips near the house should have one. The sloped gable edges do not, because no water runs off them. Gutters matter most over doors, steps, decks and walkways, along walls with a crawlspace or basement behind them, and on the uphill side of a sloped lot. With rain in every month and red clay that drains slowly, a missing run usually shows up as a wet foundation or a washed out bed. For a free written estimate call (770) 213-1621 or get a free quote.
Partial gutters
Why so many houses only have gutters on some sides
Walk any metro Atlanta street and you will see it: gutters across the front, and nothing along the side or the back.
Sometimes a builder only guttered the side facing the street. Sometimes a run came down in a storm or during a roof job and never went back up. Either way, the roof still sheds the same water. It just lands wherever the eave happens to end.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Solution Center says gutters or another drainage system are needed in all but the driest climates. Atlanta is about as far from dry as it gets, with NOAA normals of 50.43 inches a year at Hartsfield-Jackson.
The ground matters too. Georgia red clay takes water in slowly, so roof water that drops at the wall tends to sit there or run along the foundation instead of soaking away. Our summer storm and red clay guide covers that in detail.
Sources: DOE Building America Solution Center guide to gutters and downspouts; NOAA NCEI climate normals for the Hartsfield-Jackson airport station, 1991 to 2020 period.
Priorities
Where a missing gutter does the most damage
If you are adding gutters a side at a time, start where the water hurts the most.
| Roof edge | What happens without a gutter | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Over a door, stoop or steps | A curtain of water to walk through, and wet, slick steps | High |
| Over a deck, patio or walkway | Splash, stained boards and puddles where people walk | High |
| Along a wall with a crawlspace or basement behind it | Water soaking the clay against the foundation | High |
| The uphill side of a sloped lot | Roof water trapped between the house and the hill | High |
| An eave fed by a roof valley | A concentrated stream that digs a trench in the bed | Medium to high |
| A short back eave over open lawn | Splash and some soil loss along the wall | Lower, but still worth doing |
On a hilly lot in Smyrna or Mableton, the uphill wall is the one most people miss. Water off that eave has nowhere to go but down along the foundation. Our hillside lot gutter drainage page shows how we route it.
The exceptions
Where gutters do not belong
Every side of the house is not the same as every edge of the roof. Some edges never need a gutter at all.
On a gable roof, the two sloped edges that rise to the peak are called rakes. Rain runs down the roof toward the eaves, not sideways off a rake, so there is nothing for a gutter there to catch. A house with gables on both ends often needs gutters on only two sides, and that is exactly right.
Hip roofs are different. Every edge is an eave, so every side sheds water. Dormers, porch roofs and additions add short eaves of their own, and those small runs are easy to forget.
What about no gutters at all?
The DOE does list alternatives, such as a lined rock bed with a drain pipe along the house. Those take careful grading and digging. For most metro Atlanta homes, gutters with downspouts carried well away from the walls are the simpler fix, especially on clay.
The fix
Adding gutters to the sides that need them
Filling in the missing runs does not mean starting over. Here is how we add to a system so it looks like it was always there.
- Walk every eave.We mark which edges drip near the house, where the valleys dump and where the ground slopes toward the walls.
- Match what is up there.New runs are formed on site to the exact length, in a color matched to the existing gutters or the trim.
- Plan the downspouts.Each one gets a spot that carries water at least 5 feet out, away from steps, drives and neighbors.
- Check the old runs too.If the existing gutters are tired, it can make sense to redo the whole house at once.
- Every eave near a door, deck or walk has a gutter.
- No downspout empties at the foundation.
- Valley corners have enough gutter size to keep up.
- Downspouts on slopes send water downhill, away from the house.
We form seamless gutters in your driveway, sized to the roof, often 6 inch on long, steep slopes, and in colored aluminum to match. Where a downspout has nowhere good to go, underground drainage carries it off. Matthew Prewett’s crews work out of Lithia Springs and serve homes from Buckhead to Douglasville. Start with our gutter installation page.
Missing gutters on part of the house? Call (770) 213-1621
Get a Free QuoteLocal tip: during the next hard rain, walk the house with an umbrella and look for the spots where water pours off the roof edge onto the ground. Those splash lines are your to-do list.
Frequently Asked Questions
You need them on every eave that drips near the house. The sloped gable edges, called rakes, shed no water and never need a gutter, so a gable roof often only needs gutters on two sides.
Start with eaves over doors, steps, decks and walkways, walls with a crawlspace or basement behind them, and the uphill side of a sloped lot. Those are where missing gutters do the most damage.
Yes. New runs are formed on site to the exact length and can be matched in color to your existing gutters or trim, with downspouts planned so the water leaves the foundation.
The Department of Energy’s Building America Solution Center puts the minimum at 5 feet, onto ground that falls away from the house, or into an underground system set farther out.
It rarely works well. Atlanta gets rain every month and red clay drains slowly, so roof water left to drop at the walls tends to sit against the foundation. The DOE lists rock bed drains as an alternative, but they take careful grading.
Free estimates
Is part of your roof still dripping on the house?
Book a free written estimate with our local crew. We will walk every eave, show you which sides need gutters and which do not, and price only what makes sense.
The Brothers That Just Do Gutters · Buckhead & West Atlanta · (770) 213-1621 · Crews work out of Thornton Road in Lithia Springs, GA