Gutter guards in Glastonbury, CT

Three systems, and which Glastonbury roof each one suits

There are three systems on our price list, and the right one depends on two things: whether your gutters are still sound, and what drops on your roof. Gutter Clean Pro is the retrofit. It goes over gutters that already hang true, drain, and do not leak at the seams, and it costs $18 per foot for 5-inch gutters or $20 per foot for 6-inch. If the gutters are sagging, pulling off the fascia or rusted through, a cover on top only hides the problem, so we will tell you that on the call.

When the gutters need replacing anyway, the guard is built into the new run. T-Rex is a continuous hanger with a perforated top, so the hanger and the guard are one piece and the gutter is supported along its whole length rather than every couple of feet. It starts at $25 per foot for 5-inch. DoublePro adds a second perforated aluminum layer underneath, which is what stops the fine stuff: pine needles, seed pods and the grit that washes off shingles. It starts at $30 per foot for 5-inch and $34 for 6-inch.

On a Glastonbury lot with white pine near the roofline, DoublePro is usually the one we talk through first, because needles are exactly what a single screen lets through. DoublePro carries a lifetime clog-free warranty, pine needles included. Under mostly hardwoods, T-Rex often does the job for less. Over sound gutters with the same leaf load, Gutter Clean Pro keeps the gutters you have.

Downspouts are priced as their own line, by the foot, from $14 to $16, because a two-story house can have almost as much downspout as gutter. Taking down old gutters is $1 per foot when it is needed. None of that is hidden inside the gutter rate, and the price list is the same one every caller gets.

What is different about gutters in Glastonbury

Start with the houses. Census figures put about three in four Glastonbury homes as single-family detached houses, and the median one was built in 1976. The 1970s and 1980s account for more than a third of all the town's housing. A house from that era has usually had its roof redone at least once, and the gutters are often the original 5-inch runs, hung on spikes or brackets that have been working loose for decades. That is the first thing we ask about.

Then the trees. Part of Meshomasic State Forest lies in Glastonbury, and it mixes hardwoods with white pine, including a stand of pines more than a century old. A wooded lot near that forest gets both kinds of debris: big leaves in October and needles most of the year. Needles are what slip through a coarse screen and knit into a mat, and that is the case for a two-layer guard.

Then the weather. At Hartford Bradley, the nearest long-record NOAA station, the 1991–2020 normals are about 47 inches of precipitation a year, 51.7 inches of snow, 12.4 days with an inch or more of rain, and roughly 126 nights at or below freezing. Those are Hartford-area figures, not a Glastonbury measurement, but they describe the same climate: a dozen real downpours a year and about four months of freeze and thaw. Most guards cope fine with a drizzle. Trouble starts in a downpour, when a short run below a roof valley has to take a lot of water fast.

Storms bring trees down here too. NBC Connecticut's record of the October 2011 snowstorm shows a tree uprooted in Glastonbury. Heavy wet snow on leaves still on the branches is the kind of load that tears gutters off, and it is a reason to want the gutter supported along its whole length rather than at a bracket every two feet.

If your house is in the historic district along Main Street, or in South Glastonbury, exterior changes visible from the road can need a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic District Commission, though ordinary maintenance and repair that does not change the design is exempt. We will not tell you whether your job needs one. Check with the commission before work starts, and we will plan around what they say. The building department's permit list covers roofs and siding; it does not name gutters.

How much do gutter guards cost in Glastonbury?

The rate is per foot of gutter, installed, and it is the same across Connecticut: $18 for Gutter Clean Pro over existing 5-inch gutters, $25 for new gutters with T-Rex, and $30 for new gutters with DoublePro. The 6-inch rates are $20, $29 and $34.

To turn that into your number we need the length of the roofline, the number of stories, and what the trees are doing. A single-story ranch with one long run is a different job from a two-story Colonial with several corners and long downspouts. We measure the roofline remotely, so the price comes on the call and nobody has to visit to sell you anything. The written quote lists gutter, downspout and removal as separate lines, so you can see exactly what the total is made of.

Why does rain run over my gutter guards?

Usually for one of three reasons. The guard is sitting under leaves that have matted on top, so the water sheets off before it reaches the openings. Or the openings are too coarse and the gutter underneath has filled with needles anyway. Or the guard is fine and the problem is capacity: a valley is dumping a whole roof section into three feet of gutter, or the downspout cannot take the water away fast enough.

Each has a different fix, which is why we ask where the overflow starts and whether it happens in a steady rain or only in a hard one. If you can, take a short video during the next downpour. If the water crosses the front edge above one spot, that points to a valley or an outlet problem, and the page on overflowing gutters goes through what we check.

What is the downside of gutter guards?

The honest one is cost: a guard adds money to a gutter job, and on a house with no trees nearby it may not be worth it. We will tell you that if it is true. The second is that no guard makes a roof maintenance-free. Leaves can still sit on top where the wind does not reach them, and a guard does not fix bad pitch, a crushed downspout or a blocked drain underground.

The third is a bad match. A coarse guard under pine is the classic Glastonbury mistake: the needles get through, the gutter fills, and now it is harder to clean because there is a cover in the way. Choosing by the debris you actually have is most of the job. Each system also carries its own written warranty, and the warranty page sets them side by side.

Call to install: every step

Three ways to start

• Call (617) 401-9301. It is answered any hour, and a missed call gets called back.
• Send the short form on the home page with your street address, and your number lands in your inbox.
• Text or chat through the chat window on this site.

1. 01

   Understand what you actually need

   About fifteen minutes on the phone: the length of the roofline, the number of stories and the trees around the house. The roofline is measured remotely, so nobody comes to the house to sell. You get your price the same day, from the published per-foot rates.

   • Gutters still in good shape: Gutter Clean Pro goes over the gutters you already have, from $18/ft.
   • Gutters that need replacing: new gutters with the guard built in. T-Rex (continuous hanger) from $25/ft, or DoublePro (two filtration layers) from $30/ft.
   • Fascia that cannot be drilled: Hover Pro, quoted for your house.
   • Complex rooflines, third stories and copper are quoted separately, and we say so on the call, never after arrival.
2. 02

   Your plan, in writing

   You get a written quote and your StormRail plan: photos of your house, the system, the gutter size and your color choices. The certified installer works from that same plan, so you and the installer are never on different pages.

3. 03

   A deposit capped at one third

   Massachusetts law caps a home-improvement deposit at one third of the contract. We hold to that in every state we work in. Your quote names the exact figure before you pay anything.

4. 04

   Material ordered and confirmed

   Your Alu-Rex system is ordered through the Alu-Rex distributor and confirmed before an install date is set, so the date you get is one the material can meet.

5. 05

   Scheduled with a certified installer in your county

   A certified Alu-Rex installer working in your area takes the job, and you get the date without chasing anyone. In season we're typically booking four to six weeks out. We'd rather tell you that now than promise you Tuesday and send whoever happened to be free. Emergency work — a collapsed run, active water in the basement — gets triaged ahead of the queue.

6. 06

   Installed

   The installer fits the system on the plan you already approved. Any balance is due as your quote states.

7. 07

   After the install

   We check in after the job is done. Each system carries its own written Alu-Rex warranty:

   • Gutter Clean Pro: manufacturing lifetime limited, clog performance lifetime limited, including coniferous areas
   • T-Rex: manufacturing lifetime limited, clog performance 25-year prorated limited
   • DoublePro: manufacturing lifetime limited, clog performance lifetime limited, including coniferous areas

Questions homeowners ask

Around Glastonbury

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