Gutter Sizes in Buckhead & West Atlanta

For most 1960s ranches and smaller bungalows, 5 inch does the job. Two-story homes in Smyrna and Marietta and big Buckhead roofs often need 6 inch where an upper roof empties onto a lower one, and so do large, steep or metal roofs. A Solutionist measures before recommending either.

Watch them in a hard rain. A clog overflows at one spot, right where the debris sits. An undersized gutter spills evenly along the run even when it is clean, or water shoots past the front edge. Lower gutters catching an upper roof are the usual suspects.

Roof area, pitch, the shape of the roofline and the local rain pattern. A large, steep roof sends more water, faster, than a small, shallow one. Mixing sizes on one house is often the most cost-effective answer when only part of the roof needs extra capacity.

A run under 40 feet can usually work with one downspout; over 40 feet, plan on two. If a long run cannot take a second downspout, that is a reason to step up to 6 inch. Adding downspouts in the right spots often fixes overflow without changing the gutter at all.

Atlanta averages about 50.4 inches of rain a year, with the wettest stretches in winter and summer and hard summer thunderstorms. Gutters have to be sized for those downpours, and hilly lots move that water fast. Red clay grit and pine straw in the trough cut capacity further, so size and cleaning go together.

Low-slope roofs on ranch homes and apartment buildings shed water more slowly, but often from a large area to a single edge. That concentration is what we size for. Some need 6 inch, and big apartment or commercial roofs may call for 7 inch with oversized downspouts.