How to Install Gutters
Measure, cut, seal, and mount sectional gutters with proper slope to ensure rainwater diverts safely away from your home's roof and foundation.
- Read the tools, materials, safety notes, and steps below for free.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Cordless drill and driver bits
- ✓ Aviation tin snips
- ✓ Chalk snap line
- ✓ Tape measure
- ✓ Torpedo level
- ✓ Extension ladder
- ✓ Caulk gun
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ K-style or U-style gutter troughs
- ✓ Gutter hidden hangers with screws
- ✓ End caps and downspout outlets
- ✓ Downspout elbows and pipes
- ✓ Downspout pipe brackets
- ✓ Gutter lap sealant
- ✓ 1/2-inch self-tapping sheet metal screws
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Position ladder using the 4-to-1 ratio on firm, level ground and never lean past side rails.
- • Wear cut-resistant gloves and safety glasses whenever handling or cutting sharp sheet metal edges.
- • Inspect eaves to ensure overhead power lines are safely cleared before raising metal components.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (5 Steps)
Establish Slope Line on Fascia
Measure from the high end of the roofline to the downspout location. Mark a starting point 1 inch below the drip edge on the high side, then mark the low end allowing a 1/4-inch drop per 10 feet of run. Snap a chalk line between these marks along the fascia board.
- • A distinct colored chalk line visible across the fascia board sloping down toward the downspout corner.
- • Sloping the line away from the downspout or creating a completely flat run that causes water pooling.
Cut Gutters and Outlet Holes
Measure the gutter run length and mark the trough. Cut through the front and back lips with tin snips, then slice across the bottom. Trace the downspout outlet fitting onto the bottom at the low end and snip out the opening, making V-notches inside the perimeter.
- • Square-cut gutter end without crushed profiles and a clean, notched hole sized to the outlet fitting.
- • Cutting the downspout outlet hole larger than the outer flange of the outlet fitting.
Install End Caps and Outlets
Insert the downspout outlet into the cut opening and secure it with two sheet metal screws from underneath. Apply a heavy bead of gutter sealant along the inside rim of each end cap, slide the caps onto the gutter ends, and crimp or screw them in place.
- • End caps fully seated flush over gutter profile with a continuous bead of sealant squeezed out along internal joints.
- • Using standard silicone bathroom caulk instead of dedicated, UV-resistant gutter lap sealant.
Hang Gutters to Fascia
Snap hidden hangers into the gutter trough every 24 inches, clipping the front lip first and pressing into the back. Lift the gutter assembly to the fascia, align the top rear edge along your chalk line, and drive the hanger screws through the fascia into rafter tails.
- • Gutter securely snug against fascia, following the chalk line slope without dips or bowed sections.
- • Driving screws only into thin fascia plywood instead of hitting solid rafter tails behind it.
Assemble and Secure Downspout
Fit an elbow onto the gutter outlet drop tube pointing toward the wall, add a short pipe extension, and attach a second elbow pointing downward against the siding. Slide downspout sections together with upper crimps pointing into lower sections, and fasten wall brackets into siding studs.
- • Vertical downspout plumb against siding, secured by wall straps every 6 feet, terminating with an elbow at ground level.
- • Orienting joints upside down where the lower pipe inserts into the upper pipe, causing persistent wall leaks.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by MrFixItDIY — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Aviation tin snips? Hacksaw with a fine 32-TPI blade and a wooden block backer
- No Chalk snap line? Tight nylon mason line clamped to ends of fascia