How much slope should gutters have?

A common figure is about a quarter inch of fall for every 10 feet, toward each downspout.

How far apart should gutter hangers be?

Usually every 24 to 36 inches, closer in snowy areas and for 6-inch or larger gutters.

How do you attach gutters to a house without fascia?

With strap hangers fastened to the roof deck under the shingles, or by adding a fascia board first.

Can I install gutters myself?

Short sectional runs on single-story buildings are a manageable DIY job. Whole-house and seamless jobs are best left to professionals.

How do you hang gutters on a house?

Snap a sloped chalk line on the fascia, fasten hidden hangers into solid wood every two to three feet, clip the gutter into them, then fit the downspouts and test with a hose.

Guides

How Gutters Are Installed: Layout, Slope and Hangers

Hanging gutters looks simple from the ground. The difference between a system that drains for 25 years and one that sags and drips comes down to a handful of measurements and fastening choices made on the day.

Updated 2026-10-26 · Gutter Fixing Editorial Team

Whether you are planning to hang gutters yourself on a garage or want to know what a crew should be doing on your house, the steps are the same. This guide walks through them in order. It focuses on standard K-style gutters on wood fascia, which covers most homes. Seamless gutters follow the same steps, with the gutter formed on site to each length.

1. Inspect the roof edge

Before anything goes up, the fascia is checked for rot by probing it with a screwdriver or awl, especially at corners and below old leaks. Soft boards are replaced, because hangers need solid wood. The drip edge or gutter apron is checked, and added where missing, so water drops into the gutter rather than behind it. Old gutters, spikes and nails are removed and holes filled.

2. Measure and plan

Measure each roof edge that will get a gutter, adding a little for end caps and corners.
Decide where downspouts go: at corners, away from doors and paths, where water can be carried off safely.
For runs longer than about 40 feet, plan a downspout at each end and a high point in the middle.
Count inside and outside corners, end caps, outlets, elbows and straps.
Choose gutter size and downspout size based on roof area and rainfall.

3. Set the slope

Gutters need a gentle fall toward each outlet so water does not sit in the trough. A common figure is a quarter inch of fall for every 10 feet of gutter, though some installers use as little as a sixteenth of an inch per foot to keep the gutter looking level from the street. The installer marks the high point just below the drip edge, measures the fall to the outlet end, and snaps a chalk line between the two marks along the fascia.

Too little slope leaves standing water; too much makes the gutter look crooked and can drop the low end so far below the roof edge that water misses it. Long runs are often sloped from the middle to both ends to keep the drop small.

4. Prepare the gutter sections

With sectional gutters, pieces are cut to length with tin snips or a hacksaw, joined with connectors and sealed. With seamless gutters, the forming machine produces one length for each wall. End caps are fitted and sealed, and outlet holes are cut where downspouts will go, with the outlet fitting riveted and sealed in place. Doing this on the ground is easier and neater than doing it on a ladder.

5. Attach gutters to the house

Hidden hangers are the standard today. They clip inside the front lip of the gutter and a long screw goes through the back of the gutter into the fascia. Hangers are typically spaced every 24 to 36 inches, closer in snow country and on wide gutters. Older methods, such as spikes and ferrules driven through the gutter, loosen over time as wood shrinks and swells. Strap hangers that fasten to the roof deck are used where there is no fascia board.

The gutter is lifted into place, aligned with the chalk line, and screwed to the fascia at each hanger. The back of the gutter should sit tight to the fascia and up under the drip edge.

6. Corners and joints

Inside and outside corners are either pre-made miter pieces or cut and folded on site. They are riveted and sealed on the inside. This is where most leaks start, so the sealant should be pressed fully into the seam and smoothed. On seamless systems, corners and end caps are the only joints.

7. Downspouts

Downspouts are assembled from the outlet down: a pair of elbows to step back to the wall, then straight pipe, then a bottom elbow and extension. Each piece slides inside the one below so water cannot leak out at the joints. Straps hold the pipe to the wall at the top, the bottom and in between. The bottom elbow sends water onto a splash block, an extension or into a buried drain.

8. Test

Finally, the gutters are flushed with a hose from the high end. Water should run steadily to each outlet with no standing puddles, no drips at joints, and strong flow from the bottom of every downspout. Any low spots are corrected by adjusting hangers.

Common installation mistakes

Hanging gutters on rotten fascia without repairing it.
Too few hangers, so runs sag when full.
Gutter set too low, so water overshoots or runs behind.
No slope, or slope toward the wrong end.
Downspouts too small or too few for the roof.
Joints sealed with the wrong sealant or not riveted.

How to install gutters yourself, or hire a pro?

A short run on a single-story garage or shed is a reasonable DIY project with sectional gutters. A whole house, anything above one story, seamless gutters and anything involving fascia repair are better done by a crew with the right ladders and equipment. Contractors in our network can quote installation on your house; the gutter installation service page explains what is included.

Installing gutters on brick, stucco and metal fascia

Not every house has a plain wood fascia. Where the fascia is wrapped in aluminum, the hanger screws go through the wrap into the wood behind, and the installer checks that wood is actually there. On brick or stone walls with no board, a fascia or nailer strip may be fixed to the masonry first. On metal buildings, straps attach to the eave trim. Each situation changes the hangers and fasteners, so it should be noted on the quote.

How long installation takes

A crew installing seamless gutters on a typical single-family home often finishes in a single day, including removing old gutters. Fascia repairs, many corners, a second or third story, or guards add time. Copper and half-round systems take longer because of soldering and bracket work. Weather matters too: crews avoid working on wet roofs, and sealants need dry, mild conditions to cure.

Safety on the day

Professional crews set ladders on firm, level ground with standoffs, tie them off on tall walls, and keep people and pets clear of the work area below. They watch for overhead power lines near the roof edge, which are a serious hazard with long metal gutters. If you are doing it yourself, never work alone on a ladder and never carry a long gutter section up a ladder by yourself.

Putting up gutters on a house, step by step

When people ask how to put gutters on a house, the order of work is the same whatever the material. The installer checks the fascia, marks a slope line along each eave, mounts the hangers or brackets to the fascia or rafter tails, lifts the gutter into place, fixes it to the hangers, then cuts in the outlets and fits the downspouts. Putting up gutters on a two-story home follows the same steps, with more time on ladders or a lift.

Mounting gutters correctly comes down to three things: a steady slope toward each outlet, hangers close enough together to carry snow and debris, and fasteners driven into solid wood, not just thin trim. Most failures of new gutters come from one of those three, not from the gutter itself.

How to replace gutters on a house

Replacing guttering adds work at the start. The old gutter, hangers and downspouts come off, nails and old sealant are removed, and the fascia is checked for rot that the old gutter hid. Any soft boards are replaced before the new gutter is hung. From there, how to install new gutters is the same as on a house that never had them. When replacing roof guttering at the same time as a new roof, the drip edge goes on first so the new gutter sits underneath it.

Gutters, lights and other things fixed to the roof edge

On a house without gutters, holiday lights can be hung with clips that grip the shingle edge or with hooks in the fascia. Once gutters are on, use clips made for the gutter lip so nothing is screwed through the trough. The same rule applies to satellite brackets, cameras and signs: fix them to the wall or fascia, not the gutter.