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When a gutter run is undersized, patched at every corner and hanging from fascia that has gone soft, repair stops making sense. New gutters on a Spring house are sized for two things the builder’s were not: the volume of needles, and the clay at the slab edge that should not be getting the water.
Builder gutters on 1980s and 1990s houses here are typically five-inch runs with downspouts where they were convenient rather than where the water is. On a two-story with a large rear roof section under loblollies, a six-inch gutter with more downspouts holds more water and clogs more slowly, because the same volume of needles takes longer to fill a larger trough. Oversized downspouts clear needles that pack a standard elbow. None of this is exotic; it is a sizing conversation the contractor should be able to have with the roof plan in hand.
The clay under Spring swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and a downspout that drops roof water beside the slab is watering one corner of the foundation every storm while the rest of the house stays dry. That is the differential movement that cracks brick veneer at the corners. Downspouts should discharge on splash blocks well away from the slab, or into buried drain lines that carry water to the street or a drainage ditch. Beryl dropped 7.2 inches on Spring in a day; the drainage should be planned for that, not for a shower.
Under pines, the guard question comes up with every gutter quote. Fine micro-mesh guards do best against needles and still need brushing off. Reverse-curve covers shed needles and, in a downpour, a good deal of water. Foam and brush inserts fill up. A guard changes the cleaning schedule from three times a year to once; it does not end it. The cleanout page has the honest version.
Six on a large roof section under trees, five elsewhere. The contractor sizes it to the roof area feeding each run.
Where a downspout would otherwise dump at the slab and there is nowhere for the water to go, yes. They need a cleanout, because needles get in there too.
If both are due, the roof goes first and the gutters go on after, so the drip edge is set over new fascia. If only the gutters are due, they go on now.
Get them sized for the roof, the trees and the clay. A local contractor walks the runs and says what each one needs.
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Spring Roofing