Seamless aluminum and copper, 5-inch and 6-inch, downspouts and guards — installed by roofers, because gutters fail at the roof edge, not in the middle of the run.
Almost nothing goes wrong in the middle of a gutter run. It goes wrong in the few inches where the drip edge, gutter apron, fascia and the starter course of roofing all meet — and when water gets behind a gutter there, it rots fascia and tracks into the soffit and wall.
That is roofing work. It's what we're detailing every day anyway, which is why roughly six in ten of the jobs we complete include gutter work alongside the roof. We hold Illinois Roofing Unlimited License #104.010248 and carry liability and workers' compensation for work at height.
Formed on site so there's no seam to fail along the run. The default on most Chicagoland homes, in a range of colours to match existing trim.
Where the architecture warrants it — typically the estate homes we work on the North Shore, patinating alongside copper flashing and standing-seam detail.
2x3 and 3x4, re-routed where discharge is undermining foundations or landscaping. Outlet capacity is usually the real fix for overflow.
Worth it under mature oak and maple. A harder call under pines. Largely unnecessary on an open lot — we'll tell you which you are.
Sagging runs, failed hangers, split seams and end caps, damaged sections. Targeted repairs run $300 to $10,000 depending on scope.
The rot behind a failed gutter is usually the real job. Soffit and fascia work →
The most common question we get, and the answer is usually about outlets rather than the gutter itself.
| Situation | What we'd fit |
|---|---|
| Typical Chicagoland home, moderate roof area | 5-inch K-style with 2x3 downspouts |
| Large roof plane draining into one run | 6-inch with 3x4 downspouts |
| Steep pitch throwing water fast | 6-inch, sometimes with a valley diverter |
| Long runs with few downspout locations | 6-inch plus additional outlets |
| History of overflow with clean gutters | Diagnose first — usually outlets, pitch, or valley overshoot |
Going from 2x3 to 3x4 downspouts roughly doubles outlet capacity, and on most overflow complaints that matters more than the gutter width.
A leader is the vertical pipe that carries water from the gutter down to the ground — what most homeowners call a downspout. The trade has used both words for a century, which is why you'll see contractors advertise 'gutters and leaders.' Our name is not a reference to that: Leaders Roofing Corp was named by Jan Koszyk when he founded the company in 1996, and the coincidence has caused decades of mild confusion. If you searched for gutters and leaders and landed here, you're in the right place anyway — we install and repair both.
Five-inch K-style is the default on most Chicagoland homes and handles a typical roof fine. Six-inch is the right call when the roof area draining into one run is large, when the pitch is steep enough to throw water fast, when you have long runs with few downspouts, or when you've had overflow before. Six-inch also pairs with 3x4 downspouts rather than 2x3, which roughly doubles the outlet capacity and is usually the more important upgrade. If your gutters overflow in heavy summer storms and they're clear of debris, the problem is almost always capacity or outlet count, not the gutter itself.
If they're near end of life, yes — and it's the single most common thing homeowners regret not doing. The gutter, drip edge, fascia and the first course of roofing all meet at the same few inches of the roof edge. Doing them together means one setup, one crew, correct drip-edge-over-gutter-apron detailing, and no risk of a new gutter being dented or a new roof being disturbed by a later install. Roughly six in ten of the jobs we complete involve gutter work alongside the roof for exactly this reason.
It depends on what's above the roof, not on the sales pitch. Under mature oaks and maples — most of the North Shore and the wooded Lake County villages — a good guard genuinely reduces cleaning frequency and is worth it. Under pines it's a harder call, since needles defeat many designs. Under an open lot with little tree cover, guards mostly solve a problem you don't have. We'll tell you which of those you are. What guards do not do is eliminate maintenance entirely; any product sold on that promise is overselling.
Usually one of four things, none of which is the gutter being dirty. Too few downspouts for the roof area draining into the run. Undersized outlets — 2x3 downspouts on a roof that needs 3x4. Insufficient pitch, so water sits rather than moves toward the outlet. Or water overshooting the gutter entirely at a valley, which happens when a large roof plane dumps into a short section with no diverter. All four are fixable without replacing the whole system, and diagnosing which one it is takes a look at the roof, not just the gutter.
We repair them, and on a system with life left a targeted repair is the better spend. Common scopes: re-pitching a sagging run, replacing failed hangers or spikes, resealing end caps and seams, re-securing or re-routing downspouts, replacing damaged sections, and rebuilding rotted fascia behind the gutter. Targeted gutter and downspout work typically runs $300 to $10,000 depending on scope. We inspect first and tell you honestly which side of the repair-or-replace line you're on.
Seamless aluminum for the large majority of homes — formed on site so there are no seams to fail along the run, in a range of colours to match trim. Copper where the architecture warrants it, typically on the estate homes we work on the North Shore, where it patinas alongside copper flashing and standing-seam detail. Steel where impact resistance matters. We'll recommend the one that suits the house rather than the one with the best margin.
Because the failure point is almost never in the middle of the gutter — it's at the roof edge, where the drip edge, gutter apron, fascia and starter course all interact. Water getting behind a gutter rots fascia and can track into the soffit and wall. That's roofing work, and it's what we're doing every day anyway. We hold Illinois Roofing Unlimited License #104.010248 and carry liability and workers' compensation for work at height.
We'll diagnose whether it's the gutter, the outlets, or the roof edge — and tell you honestly whether it's a repair. Free written estimate.