When a spring storm rolls through, you can watch the water sheet off the roof and land in a line along the foundation. The mulch washes out, the siding gets splashed with mud, and a day later there’s a damp spot on the basement wall. Maybe your house has gutters that can’t keep up, or it’s missing them on a side or two.
Rain gutters in Overland Park have one job: catch the water coming off your roof and put it somewhere it can’t hurt the house. Doing that well during a Kansas downpour comes down to sizing, downspouts and where the water ends up.
APC Roofing installs custom rain gutters for homes across the Kansas City area from our office in Shawnee. We’ve been in business since 2017, we’re licensed and insured, and estimates are free. Call 913-398-5020 to set one up.
Why rain gutters matter on an Overland Park home
Plenty of homes around here have basements, and a lot of the soil in the Kansas City area is clay. Clay holds water and swells when it’s wet. Roof water dumped at the base of the wall keeps that soil soaked, and the moisture looks for the easiest way in.
Gutters also protect the things you see every day. Without them, water splashes dirt onto the siding, rots the bottom edge of trim, and wears a trench in the flower beds. In winter, water dripping off the eave onto a front step or walkway can refreeze into ice by morning.
Sizing rain gutters in Overland Park for Kansas storms
Gutters don’t fail in a wet year. They fail in the ten minutes a thunderstorm sits over your street. That’s why a good gutter estimate starts with your roof, not a catalog.
Two things decide how much water a gutter has to carry: how much roof area drains into it and how steep that roof is. A steep roof sends water down faster, so a run that handles a low-pitched ranch roof may overflow on a two-story house with a tall, steep front.
Most homes get either 5-inch or 6-inch K-style gutters. The 6-inch size holds a lot more water, and on larger or steeper roofs that extra room is often the difference between a gutter that keeps up and one that spills. On a modest roof with a gentle pitch, 5-inch is usually plenty. We’ll show you the measurements behind our recommendation.
Roof valleys deserve a closer look. A valley collects water from two slopes and drops it onto a short piece of gutter. That spot can take far more water than the rest of the run, which is why one corner of a house may overflow every storm while everything else drains fine.
Downspouts do half the work
A gutter can only drain as fast as its downspouts let it. A 3-by-4-inch downspout has twice the opening of the smaller 2-by-3 size, and upsizing is one of the most useful upgrades on a rain gutter job.
Placement matters as much as size. A downspout close to where a valley dumps its water keeps that flow from traveling down the whole run. Long runs often need an outlet at each end instead of one in the middle. And when an upper roof drains onto a lower roof, that water hits one small area of shingles hard. Routing it around the lower roof is usually better for both the shingles and the lower gutter.
Getting the water away from your foundation
Where a downspout ends matters as much as anything above it. A gutter system that collects all that water and then drops it right at the foundation hasn’t solved much.
An extension or splash block that carries water several feet out is the simple version. The ground there should slope away from the house too. If it slopes back toward the wall, the water comes right back. We’ll point out grading problems we see during the estimate so you can deal with them.
Rain gutter materials
Most rain gutters on homes in Overland Park are aluminum. It doesn’t rust, it’s light enough to be easy on the fascia, and it comes in a wide range of factory colors, so you can match your trim. Seamless aluminum gutters are formed on site to the length of each run, which cuts down on joints that can leak. You can read more on our seamless gutters in Overland Park page.
Rain gutters and your roof work together
The gutter is only as good as the roof edge above it. If water runs behind the gutter instead of into it, the culprit is usually a missing drip edge or gutter apron. Because we’re a roofing company, the edge of the roof and the gutter are handled as one job.
If your roof is near the end of its life, it’s worth thinking about gutters and roof together. Hanging new gutters and then taking them down a year later for a roof replacement isn’t the best use of your money.
How it works with APC Roofing
- Book your free estimate. Call 913-398-5020 or request a free online estimate.
- Get a clear, honest assessment and estimate. We measure your roof, look at the pitch, valleys and downspout locations, and give you a written recommendation on size and layout.
- Get your gutters installed and the site cleaned up. The crew installs the system and leaves your yard clean.
Financing is available through Aqua Finance, Fortifi, Hearth and Home Run Finance if you’d like to spread out the cost.
Rain gutter questions from Overland Park homeowners
Do I need 5-inch or 6-inch gutters?
That comes down to how much roof drains into each run and how steep it is. Larger and steeper roofs often need 6-inch. We’ll measure and explain the recommendation instead of guessing.
How many downspouts should my house have?
Enough that each one handles a reasonable share of the roof. Long runs and runs below valleys usually need more than one. Upsizing downspouts can also help.
Do I need gutters on every side of the house?
Not always. Some roof edges shed very little water. The sides that drain large areas, sit over entries or walkways, or drop water next to the foundation are the ones that need them most.
Should I replace my gutters when I replace my roof?
Often, yes. Doing both together lets the roof edge and gutters go on as one system, and it saves taking new gutters down and back up later.
Get gutters that keep up with the storm
Water left to pour off the roof works on your foundation, siding and landscaping a little more with every storm. A properly sized system stops that quietly.
Think of the next downpour with the water running into the gutters, down the spouts and away from your walls while the basement stays dry. Call 913-398-5020 to book your free estimate, or get started online. For everything else gutter-related, see our Overland Park gutters page.
