Anonymous wrote:We also upgraded to a 6 inch and the difference is amazing. Our garage doors and sidings were ruined because our narrow gutters would spill copious amounts of water. We were the house that had icicles around the gutters in winter. We had to make major repairs to our exterior and when it came time to change the gutters we went with the largest one. It has kept the sidings, trim, doors, window sills nice and dry for us.

Yup, this is what prompted us to upgrade as well. Overflowing gutters that splash back on trim/doors will lead to premature rot and water damage. I'm all about pre-emptive maintenance and I'm a firm believer in oversizing the gutters for this reason. It's amazing how much money people spend on houses and then cheap out on the small things that can make such a big difference. I realize a lot of this is simple ignorance. It's like people that have problems with their basement flooding but don't extend downspouts away from the house and consider grading.

To the builder, you ought to lookup the "appeal to authority" fallacy. Just because you built a few houses doesn't mean you're right or even make you an expert. All it means is you built some houses..

Anonymous wrote:You people are completely out of your depth.

5" gutters are not cutting corners. Just because you did a renovation, spent a bunch of money and were upsold some 'premiums' by your builder doesn't make you an expert. It makes you a homeowner with one data point and a huge case of confirmation bias.

Sorry, but definitely not out of my depth. We chose to update our gutters/downspouts/drainage because I don't half ass things and prefer overkill for drainage (and like I said, larger downspouts/gutters have the advantage of not needing frequent gutter cleanings). With some common sense, someone with half a brain will come to realize that 2 gutter cleanings and the bigger gutters more than pay for themself (we have a big home with high gutters). Also, I see little downside to 6" vs 5" gutters. Even on small homes, the size difference is minimal so aesthetically it's barely noticeable. Yes, 5" gutters aren't "cutting corners" in the technical sense, but 6" for many homes (and 3x4 downspouts) is clearly better. I also don't bury black corrugated pipe like 99% of builders. I use sch40 4" pvc that gets daylighted. Our neighbor just had a new house built and I never cease to be amazed how so many "builders" half ass many things..

You people are completely out of your depth.

5" gutters are not cutting corners. Just because you did a renovation, spent a bunch of money and were upsold some 'premiums' by your builder doesn't make you an expert. It makes you a homeowner with one data point and a huge case of confirmation bias.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason in the world to use 6"

6" is what they use on large apartment buildings.

I'm a builder. Have built 2 houses for myself and used 5" both times. Don't waste your money.

I wouldn't listen to this "builder." Most are notorious for cheaping out on stuff. We've upgraded both of our homes to 6" gutters and 3x4 downspouts and the difference is very apparent at a minimal price difference (a few hundred bucks for a whole house). Do yourself a favor and get the 6" gutters. The big kicker isn't just the gutter size, but the downspout size. I think 5" gutters use a 2"x3" downspout. 3"x4" flow a LOT more which helps a few things. #1- Flush leaves out of the gutters/downspouts (don't need to have them cleaned very often and don't use those stupid gutter guards). #2- Catch all the water during storms.

Oh ya, apartment buildings can use even larger gutters. There are 8"+ gutters, you can google it yourself OP.

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We also upgraded to a 6 inch and the difference is amazing. Our garage doors and sidings were ruined because our narrow gutters would spill copious amounts of water. We were the house that had icicles around the gutters in winter. We had to make major repairs to our exterior and when it came time to change the gutters we went with the largest one. It has kept the sidings, trim, doors, window sills nice and dry for us.

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason in the world to use 6"

6" is what they use on large apartment buildings.

I'm a builder. Have built 2 houses for myself and used 5" both times. Don't waste your money.

I wouldn't listen to this "builder." Most are notorious for cheaping out on stuff. We've upgraded both of our homes to 6" gutters and 3x4 downspouts and the difference is very apparent at a minimal price difference (a few hundred bucks for a whole house). Do yourself a favor and get the 6" gutters. The big kicker isn't just the gutter size, but the downspout size. I think 5" gutters use a 2"x3" downspout. 3"x4" flow a LOT more which helps a few things. #1- Flush leaves out of the gutters/downspouts (don't need to have them cleaned very often and don't use those stupid gutter guards). #2- Catch all the water during storms.

Oh ya, apartment buildings can use even larger gutters. There are 8"+ gutters, you can google it yourself OP.

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason in the world to use 6"

6" is what they use on large apartment buildings.

I'm a builder. Have built 2 houses for myself and used 5" both times. Don't waste your money.

OP here, thank-you!

There is no reason in the world to use 6"

6" is what they use on large apartment buildings.

I'm a builder. Have built 2 houses for myself and used 5" both times. Don't waste your money.

OP here, thanks for the feedback everyone. We measured the gutters and turns out they are actually 4 inch gutters, so 5 would be an upgrade for us. I think that is what we will go with.

If it doesn't break... why waste money on it? You can spend that gutter money (1.5k - 2k) on yourself.

Anonymous wrote:Spend the money and get 6 inch. They hold more in a heavy rain.

+1 We went with larger gutters when we were having our siding replaced. During heavy downpours, our smaller gutters overflowed much more frequently than the 6" ones have. No regrets on upsizing.

Spend the money and get 6 inch. They hold more in a heavy rain.

Gutters are sized based on roof area and pitch...generally 5 inch gutters can handle the majority of roof loads, but in certain cases 6 inch are better. And other than cost there isn't a lot of reason NOT to size a bit larger, because as PP noted the rate of rainfall has picked up over the last 20 years.

When it rains do you see water running over the gutters? That is a sure sign they should be larger.

If you need new gutters, 6" can be a good idea. We are getting fiercer, faster rain storms now because of climate change. But most people upgrading would have 4" gutters.if yours are already 5", there might not be much difference.

So I've been getting estimates for new roof and gutter. The highest estimate also includes an increase in gutter size from our current 5 inches to 6 inches. We've lived with 5 inch gutters for 20 years with no problems. Is there any real advantage to increasing the size to 6 inches?