Straight answers about gutters in the desert.
Written by the crew that installs them, for people deciding whether a Phoenix house needs gutters at all.
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5-Inch or 6-Inch Gutters for a Phoenix House?
Six-inch for most Phoenix houses. A monsoon cell can put an inch of rain on the roof in under an hour, which on a 2,000 square foot roof is 1,246 gallons arriving at the eaves at about 21 gallons a minute, and a concrete S-tile eave throws it out past the fascia. Six-inch carries more water and catches that overshoot. Five-inch is fine on a casita, a patio cover or a short shingle run.
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Can a House Survive Without Gutters in Arizona?
Yes. A Phoenix house will stand for decades without gutters. What it will not do is stay dry at the base of its walls: every monsoon storm drops a roof's worth of water into a narrow strip of soil against the foundation, and the damage builds one season at a time.
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Are Gutters Worth It on a Phoenix House?
For most Phoenix houses, yes, and not necessarily on every eave. Gutters are worth it wherever the roof drains onto a patio, a paver walkway, a planter against the house, a doorway or a stem wall. They are not worth it on a foam roof with scuppers draining to open ground, over a driveway that falls away from the house, or on a house about to be reroofed.
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How Monsoon Storms Damage Phoenix Foundations
A monsoon storm puts a roof's worth of water into the two feet of soil against the foundation, then the sun bakes it dry. On the clay under much of the Valley that soil swells and shrinks with every cycle, and the edge of the slab moves while the middle stays put. That differential movement is what shows up inside as cracks off the corners of doors and windows.
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Why Does My Patio Flood When It Rains?
Because the roof is putting a roof's worth of water on it. On most Phoenix homes the patio sits directly under the longest eave, so without a gutter every storm sheets hundreds of gallons across a slab that was poured flat. Gutters over that eave, with downspouts routed past the patio, fix the roof water; grading or a drain fixes the rest.
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What Do Seamless Gutters Cost in Phoenix?
Six-inch seamless aluminum gutters installed in the Phoenix area run $16 to $25 per linear foot. A 1,500 square foot single-story with about 120 feet of eave lands between $1,920 and $3,000; a 2,000 square foot home with about 160 feet lands between $2,560 and $4,000. Linear feet, corners, downspouts, roof height and tile versus shingle decide where in the range you land.
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Do Gutter Guards Work With Palo Verde and Mesquite Trees?
Yes, with the right style. Palo verde and mesquite drop tiny leaflets, blossoms and pods rather than broad leaves, and that litter arrives with monsoon dust. A perforated aluminum screen or a fine mesh guard on a 6-inch gutter keeps the pods and most of the leaflets out. No guard stops the silt, so the gutter still gets a rinse once or twice a year.
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Why Doesn't My House Have Gutters?
Because nothing made the builder put them on. No Phoenix or Maricopa County code requires gutters on a single-family home, annual rainfall is low, tile roofs with wide eaves throw water clear of the wall, and the lot was graded to carry it away. Those assumptions hold until you add a patio, pavers or planters under the eave.
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Why Are My Pavers Sinking Near the House?
Because the roof edge above them has no gutter. The drip line off a tile eave lands on the first two or three courses of pavers, the water finds the joints, and every storm washes a little more bedding sand out from under them. Caliche below keeps it from draining down, so it moves sideways and takes the base with it. Gutters first, then re-set the pavers.
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Mon to Fri, 8 to 4 · AZ ROC 336896, CR-42 Roofing