Half-round and copper gutters for Portland homes

Why half-round on a Portland house

Most of Irvington, Laurelhurst, Alameda, Ladd's Addition, Sellwood and the older streets of Northwest Portland went up between 1905 and 1940, and nearly all of it had half-round gutters hung on rod-and-circle brackets. Some houses still have them. The good news is that half-round is not a worse gutter. It has no inside corners for needles to lodge in, the curved bottom carries debris to the outlet instead of holding it, and it is easier to clean by hand. The bad news is that most original half-round systems have two problems: outlets that were punched at 2 inches, and eighty years of hangers pulling out of fascia.

What we install

Aluminum half-round (about $14–$22 per foot installed): 5-inch or 6-inch profile in a heavy gauge, in standard colors or a factory-painted copper look. Hung on rod-and-circle or fascia brackets, with round or corrugated downspouts. This is the practical choice for most craftsman homes.

Galvanized steel half-round (about $16–$26 per foot): what the original was, and the right answer where a historic district or a purist owner wants it. Needs paint every ten years or so in our climate.

Copper half-round (about $38–$60 per foot): no paint, no rust, and a lifespan of 60 years or more. It turns brown in the first year and green over a decade or two in Portland's damp air. Copper gutters Portland-wide are the most expensive gutter on this site and the only one that reliably outlives the house's next two roofs.

Sizing an old profile properly

The reason so many people think half-round gutters overflow is the outlet. A 5-inch half-round holds roughly the same water as a 5-inch K-style, but the original outlets were sized for a 3-inch round downspout at best — and often a 2-inch tube feeding a downspout that has since been crushed or painted shut. We cut outlets to fit a 3-inch or 4-inch round downspout, add a downspout on runs over 35 feet, and hang the gutter with a real pitch. Done that way, a half-round handles Portland rain and fir needles better than the K-style that replaced it.

Repairing original systems

If the old gutters are galvanized and sound, we re-hang, re-pitch, resolder or reseal joints, replace outlets and downspouts, and paint. If they are rusted through along the bottom, it is time to replace — patching a rust line lasts a season. Copper originals almost never need more than a resolder at the joints and new hangers.

What it costs on a typical bungalow

A single-story craftsman with about 130 feet of gutter and four round downspouts runs $1,900–$3,000 in aluminum half-round, $2,200–$3,500 in galvanized, and $5,200–$8,000 in copper. Fascia repair, which is common on these houses, is a separate line. See the pricing page for how that compares to K-style.

Half-round is our specialty, but it is still a gutter — the same repair rules and the same twice-a-year cleaning apply.