Gutter guards in Norfolk County, MA

Towns we cover in Norfolk County

• Gutter guards in Wellesley
• Gutter guards in Needham

Blue Hill's winters and downpours

The Blue Hill weather station in Milton sits on a summit about 625 feet up. Its 1991-2020 normals are 53.27 inches of precipitation a year, 69.3 inches of snow, most of it from December to February, 14 days a year with an inch or more of rain, and about 117 nights at or below freezing. A summit is not your street, so read those as Blue Hill's numbers. They still give a fair sense of what the county's gutters face.

Fourteen days a year with an inch of rain or more is the figure that matters most for a guard. Most guards cope fine with a drizzle. Trouble starts in a downpour, when a roof valley sends a whole slope of water into a few feet of gutter. A guard has to let that water in as fast as it arrives, and the gutter and downspouts behind it have to carry it away. That is the part of the job we size on the call, and the heavy rain question page shows what we look at.

Winter is the other load. Snow sliding off a roof drags on the gutter edge, and a gutter full of wet leaves can freeze into a solid block. A guard keeps the leaves out so meltwater can drain. It does not stop ice dams, which form on the roof itself, and the ice dam page explains why.

• Blue Hill normals: 53.27 in of precipitation and 69.3 in of snow a year (NOAA, 1991-2020)
• 14 days a year with an inch of rain or more
• About 117 nights a year at or below freezing

Trees on purpose, and trees in storms

Wellesley has held Tree City USA status longer than any other town in the Northeast: its 36th straight designation came in 2019. That spring its public works department planted 105 trees, 75 of them on private property. Trees planted along the streets are trees dropping leaves onto the roofs.

The same canopy is what falls in a hurricane. When Sandy came through in October 2012, about 23 percent of Needham's electric customers, roughly 2,814 households, were without power on the Monday night, and the fire department took at least a half dozen calls that day about trees falling into houses. A gutter hung from spikes every couple of feet can be pulled off the house by one limb.

That is why we suggest T-Rex under big trees. The T-Rex rail holds a new seamless gutter along its whole length and is the guard at the same time. It costs $25 a foot in 5-inch and $29 in 6-inch. Where seed pods, needles or grit come down, DoublePro adds a finer second layer from $30 a foot. DoublePro carries a lifetime clog-free warranty, pine needles included.

Older houses, and some new ones

Census estimates put Wellesley's median home at 1955 and Needham's at 1965. In Wellesley about a third of the housing dates from 1939 or earlier. In Needham the 1950s are the biggest building decade, but 1,596 units also date from 2010 to 2019. Both towns are mostly detached houses.

A county with that mix gets both kinds of quote. A newer, sound gutter can keep Gutter Clean Pro on top, from $18 a foot on 5-inch and $20 on 6-inch. An older gutter that sags or leaks is better replaced, and the old one comes down for $1 a foot. The pricing page lists every rate.

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

Compare the systems before you call: all gutter guards, Gutter Clean Pro, T-Rex, DoublePro, and the full price list.