Handnail Roofing installs seamless aluminum gutters, downspouts and gutter guards on homes in Conroe, Spring, The Woodlands and the rest of Montgomery County, usually alongside a roof replacement or repair. Andy Hughes, the owner, measures the roof edge, checks the fascia behind the old gutters and sends you a written price by the linear foot. The inspection is free and there’s no obligation.
We’re a roofing company first. Gutters are here because they hang from the edge of the house we work on every week, and because most of the rotted fascia we find is behind a gutter that has been overflowing for years.
Why gutters get done with the roof
Three things meet at the edge of your roof: the drip edge, the fascia board and the gutter. The drip edge is a metal strip under the shingles that kicks water over the fascia and into the gutter. If it’s short, bent or missing, water runs down the back of the gutter and the fascia rots. A gutter apron is a longer version of the same piece, lapped over the back of a gutter that sits high against the shingles.
On a roof replacement the drip edge is replaced too, and new drip edge belongs behind the gutter, not over it. A crew that tucks the metal over the old gutters leaves a gap for water along the whole eave. So we pull and re-hang gutters worth keeping, or replace them the same week, and fix the fascia in between. Fascia, then drip edge and roof, then gutters. Same order on a roof repair at a soft eave.
What we install and repair
Seamless aluminum gutters
Formed on site from a coil in one continuous run per side, so the only joints are at corners and outlets. 5-inch and 6-inch K-style, in a baked-on color to match your trim.
Downspouts and extensions
2×3 downspouts on 5-inch gutters, 3×4 on 6-inch. Placed where the water needs to leave the roof, with the discharge carried away from the slab.
Gutter guards
Guards that keep most of the pine needles and oak tassels out of the trough. Fewer cleanings, not zero. We’ll tell you where they earn their cost and where they don’t.
Fascia rot repair
New fascia board where the old one has gone soft behind a leaking gutter, primed and painted before the new gutter goes on. Gutters hung on rotted wood don’t stay up.
Re-hanging and repair
Sections that have pulled loose, sagged or split at a seam. Sometimes a repair is the right call; sometimes the fascia behind it says otherwise. You get the photo either way.
5-inch or 6-inch, and where the downspouts go
Five-inch K-style is the standard residential gutter and fits most one-story homes with a moderate pitch. Six-inch holds a good deal more water, takes a 3×4 downspout instead of a 2×3, and is the right call on a steep roof, a big roof or a long run feeding one downspout. A Houston summer storm can drop an inch of rain in under an hour, and a steep slope delivers it fast enough to jump a 5-inch trough. We size each run by the roof draining into it.
The downspout is the drain, and most problems blamed on the gutter are a downspout problem: too few, too small or dumping in the wrong place. Figure one downspout for roughly every 30 to 40 feet of gutter. Montgomery County sits on clay that swells wet and shrinks dry, so a downspout pouring onto the corner of a slab is how that corner starts to move; we carry the discharge several feet from the house or into a yard drain. An upper-roof downspout should pipe into the lower gutter, not splash across the shingles below, because that spot loses its granules and leaks.
Gutter guards, pine needles and oak tassels
Nearly every yard in Montgomery County has a loblolly pine or a live oak within reach of the roof. Pine needles drop year-round and slide through a cheap screen; oak tassels come down by the bushel in March and April and mat over anything. A good micro-mesh guard keeps both out of the trough, so the gutter stays open and the downspouts don’t pack. It doesn’t make the debris disappear: it sits on the mesh until wind or rain moves it, and may want a brush-off once a year. Reverse-curve guards shed needles but let hard rain shoot past the lip, and foam inserts pack solid in this humidity, so we don’t install those. Guards are worth it if you clean gutters more than once a year or don’t want anyone on a ladder at a two-story eave.
How gutters fail around here
- Pulling away from the house. Spike-hung gutters work loose as the fascia softens; the gutter sags, water pools, and the weight pulls it further. The fix is hidden hangers screwed into the rafter tails every two feet, usually after fascia work.
- Overflow at inside corners. A valley delivers water to the inside corner fast and all at once, and it shoots over the lip. A splash guard, a nearby downspout or a 6-inch gutter on that run solves it.
- Wrong pitch. A gutter needs about a quarter inch of fall per ten feet toward the downspout. Level or back-pitched, it holds water, breeds mosquitoes and pulls the hangers.
What gutters cost
Gutters are priced by the linear foot, and we quote after measuring the house, not over the phone. The number moves with the size, the count of downspouts and corners, guards, how much fascia needs replacing, and ladder height. With a new roof, the gutters are their own line on the same written estimate. Financing is available, including 0% APR for up to 18 months for qualified buyers, subject to credit approval. Gutters-only customers still get a free roof inspection while we’re up there.
A hand-nailed roof over properly hung gutters
Gutters only work if the roof above them puts water where it should. Our roofs are hand-nailed: every shingle nailed by hand, straight and flush, inside the strip the manufacturer prints on it, because an over-driven or crooked gun nail is a shingle that lifts in the first hard wind. A gutter peeled off by the same wind that lifted the shingles goes on the same storm damage claim as the roof. Rotted soffit and fascia get handled with our siding and soffit work, and painted-shut soffit vents get mentioned, because your attic ventilation depends on them. Here’s why we still hand-nail.
Gutter questions we get on roof inspections
Do I need new gutters when I get a new roof?
Not always, but they have to come loose either way, because new drip edge belongs behind the gutter. We re-hang good gutters or replace them the same week as the roof. If yours sag, leak or hang on soft fascia, that week is the cheapest time to replace them.
Are 6-inch gutters worth it in Montgomery County?
On a steep roof, a big roof or a long run that drains to one downspout, yes. A 6-inch gutter carries a lot more water and takes a bigger 3×4 downspout, which is what a Houston thunderstorm needs. On a typical one-story with a moderate pitch, 5-inch is fine and we'll say so.
Do gutter guards work with pine needles?
A good micro-mesh guard keeps pine needles and oak tassels out of the trough, so the gutter and downspouts stay open. The needles still land on top of the mesh until wind or rain moves them, so you go from cleaning gutters a few times a year to brushing off a guard now and then. Cheap screens let needles through, so we don't install those.
How much do seamless gutters cost?
Gutters are priced by the linear foot, quoted after measuring the house, not over the phone. The price moves with 5-inch versus 6-inch, the number of downspouts and corners, guards, fascia repairs and whether the crew is working from a two-story ladder.
Can you fix the rotted wood behind my gutters?
Yes. Rotted fascia is the most common thing we find behind an old gutter, and a gutter hung on soft wood ends up in the flower bed. We cut out the bad fascia, install and paint new board, and hang the gutter on solid wood.
Why do my gutters overflow at the corner when it rains hard?
A roof valley dumps water into that inside corner fast and all at once, and it jumps the front lip. The fix is usually a splash guard on the corner, a downspout close to it, or a 6-inch gutter on that run. Standing water after the rain stops is a pitch problem, a different fix.
Where we install gutters
We’re based in Spring and install gutters wherever we roof: Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Magnolia, Montgomery, Willis, Tomball, Cypress, Pinehurst and Huntsville. Gutters on their own are a smaller job, so we book them around roof work nearby. Call and we’ll tell you when we’re next out your way.
