How much do aluminum gutters cost?

What it costs

Aluminum is the one material where the published figures nearly behave. Budget $7 to $13 a foot, or $1,400 to $2,600 on a 200-foot house.

Two sources, or one source twice

Rows one and two are identical. That is worth stopping on, because a reader who finds the same band on two respected sites will reasonably treat it as confirmation.

This Old House's aluminum guide also gives vinyl at $5 to $10 per linear foot, steel at $7 to $12 and copper at $18 to $32. Fixr's table gives vinyl at $5 to $10, steel at $7 to $12 and copper at $18 to $32.

Four materials, four identical bands, and the identical whole-home figure. This Old House's aluminum guide names no source for any of them. We are not in a position to say how that happened, and we are not going to guess. What we can tell you is the practical consequence: on aluminum pricing, Fixr and this particular This Old House page are not two independent checks. They are one set of numbers appearing twice.

Where This Old House publishes figures it has gathered itself, on its installation guide and its copper guide, the numbers are different: $1,535 and $2,000 to $2,430.

The label difference is not harmless

Fixr heads its column "Average installation cost (whole home)" and notes the figures assume 200 linear feet.

This Old House writes: "Remember that you'll have to pay labor costs if you decide to hire a professional to install your gutters. Labor for whole-house installation is $1,467 to $2,668."

Our arithmetic, marked as ours. If that really were labor, you would add it to the material. 200 feet at $7 to $13 is $1,400 to $2,600 in material, plus $1,467 to $2,668 in labor, giving $2,867 to $5,268 for aluminum gutters on an average house.

Every other published aluminum figure we have is below the bottom of that: $1,400, $1,535, $2,000 to $2,430, and Bob Vila's $800 to $2,800. So the additive reading produces a number nothing else supports.

Our conclusion: treat $1,467 to $2,668 as the whole job, the way Fixr labels it, and do not add it to a per-foot material price. If an installer's quote looks like it has done that addition, ask.

What the two figures bracket

Those three lines are internally consistent: $2 of material plus $5 of labor is the $7 a foot the seamless guide charges, and the material figure comes from a different This Old House page again. That is the cross-check that makes us comfortable with $7 as a real aluminum number, and it is set out on our seamless page.

Thickness is the spec to ask about

Aluminum gutters come in different gauges, and this is where a cheap quote hides.

This Old House's aluminum guide lists three common thicknesses: lightweight at .025 inch, medium-weight at .032 inch, and heavy-duty. Their experts recommend the .032 inch variety for greater stability and strength, particularly where falling branches or severe weather are a risk.

Aluminum's weakness is denting, from hail or branches, which both This Old House guides name. Gauge is the direct answer to that weakness, and it is rarely on a quote unless you ask.

Lifespan, and what that makes it cost a year

This Old House's installation guide, citing InterNACHI, puts aluminum at 20 to 40 years or more. Their copper guide says 20 years or more and their half-round guide says 20 to 30. Their FAQ on the gutter types page says about 25.

Our arithmetic, marked as ours. At $1,467 to $2,668 for the job and 20 years, that is $73 to $133 a year. At 40 years it is $37 to $67. On our copper page the same division puts copper at $125 to $190 a year over 50 years, which is why we keep arriving at aluminum as the economic answer and copper as the aesthetic one.

Where aluminum is the wrong choice

• Coastal. Salt air corrodes metal gutters; This Old House's half-round guide makes the point directly.
• Heavy snow. Galvanized steel is stronger, at $7 to $12 per foot on the same tables, which is barely dearer.
• Hail, or trees overhead. Go to .032 inch at least, or steel.
• A historic house. Copper or zinc, and our half-round and K-style page covers the style question that usually comes with it.

For everything else, aluminum at $7 to $13 a foot is the default for a reason, and our cost per linear foot page shows how far the other published figures scatter around it.