Do I Need 6" Eavestroughs?

 

Do I need 6" Eavestroughs? This is a question posed to me more each passing year. I own four 5" Gutter machines and from the date we started in 2007 until 2018, we didn't do much 6". In fact, we did so little, I had an acquaintance who had a 6" gutter machine come to my job site and run all our 6" eavestroughs. However, trying to coordinate this was a bit of a challenge so in 2018 I bought my own 6" gutter machine.

In the first two years of ownership of the machine, we still didn't do much 6" eavestroughs. My wife began questioning whether the $25,000 expenditure was worth it. Then two years ago in 2020, nearly every quote I went to people wanted to discuss their need for 6" eavestrough. Now we seem to use our 6" gutter machine at least a couple times per week.

The standard 5" K style eavestrough is still, by far the most common. I would say 90% of our jobs are 5". My own house has 5" eavestroughs with 3x3 downpipes and they have never overflowed. I own a 1600 square foot bungalow with an attached 28x28 garage with 240 lineal ft of eavestroughs. Here's a picture of my house.

Here are some standard questions I am usually asked regarding 6" eavestroughs.

1. Do 6" Eavestroughs cost more than 5" eavestroughs? Answer? Yes they do. Approximately 30% more. This is because the materials cost more and the 6" gutter machine costs ALOT of money and doesn't get used as much. Think of it as supply and demand.

2. How much bigger are 6" eavestroughs than 5" eavestroughs?  I am asked this question ALOT! Most people think, "It's only one inch wider." Yes, but it's also an inch deeper and this makes a BIG difference! In fact, a 6" eavestrough is about 33% larger than a 5".  For the sake of ease in calculating volume, let's square off both sizes of eavestroughs. The 6" eavestrough is right around 30 square inches and the 5" eavestrough is around 20 square inches. See the picture below. As you can see, the 6" is much much bigger than the 5".

3. WHAT SIZE DOWNPIPE SHOULD I USE WITH A 6" EAVESTROUGH? Answer? Try to always use a 3x4 downpipe. Seeing 3x3 downpipes installed on 6" eavestroughs is incredibly common. That is the same size I always install on 5" eavestroughs. You've heard the saying, "A chain is no stronger than it's weakest link." Well that holds true here as well. If you need a 6" eavestrough, you NEED 3x4 downpipes. Putting a 3x3 downpipe on a 6" eavestrough, in my opinion is like crimping a garden hose! The garden hose could handle greater volume but you are choking it off. Installing a 3x3 downpipe on a 6" eavestrough chokes off the flow of the 6" eavestrough. Here's a visual of what putting a 3x3 downpipe on a 6" eavestrough is like:

4. Do 6" Eavestroughs come in all the same colours as 5"?  The answer is no. In 5" eavestroughs there are probably 100 or so different colours you can choose from between my suppliers. In 6" there are around 32 different colours but all 32 of those colours are available in 5".

So the question is, "Do you need 6" Eavestrough for your own house or is 5" sufficient?" Without being emphatic, let's answer this question.  

1. Does every house need 6" eavestroughs? OK. I'll be emphatic here. Categorically, absolutely NOT! One company in the Hamilton area is now only quoting people on installing 6" eavestroughs no matter what the size of the house. I'm not sure why they are quoting it for every house because it's simply not needed. Here is a very small bungalow with 120' of eavestrough that they and I both quoted. I quoted for 5" eavestrough and they quoted for 6" eavestroughs.

I'll make this very clear! This house DOES NOT NEED 6" eavestroughs! And I found it very curious they were only going to install 3x3 downpipes on the house. The same size I use with 5" eavestrough.

2. How big is your roof area? If you have a normal size roof with water flowing evenly to all roof edges, chances are, you don't need a 6" eavestrough.

3. Does your roof channel water to one area? Some of the newly designed homes are beautiful. But with the designs come large amounts of water being channeled to very small parts of the eavestroughs. Below is a picture of what is called a dead valley or a dead mans valley.

You can see how nearly all the front of this area of the house channels the water to about 3 feet of eavestrough. It is a classic area of overflow in heavy rains. This area absolutely needs a 6" eavestrough with a 3x4 downpipe!

3. How wide is your fascia board? Believe it or not, this does matter. Try installing a 6" eavestrough on a 4" fascia board. Aesthetically, it looks like an elephant sitting on a mouse. Functionally, trying to slope eavestroughs on a board smaller than the eavestroughs is nearly impossible! However, the opposite is also true. If you have a wide 10", 12", or wider fascia board, the 6" eavestroughs looks much nicer then a 5" eavestrough.

4. How Heavy are the rains in the area in which you live? I am writing this blog based on the perspective of where I live in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. However, I have two children who live in the USA. One in Virginia and one in Texas. In these States, nearly 50% of the homes I have seen have 6" over 5" eavestroughs but the rains and storms they get are UNREAL! My understanding is in Florida, almost everyone has 6" gutters but the storms there produces so much rain they would nearly rival Noah's flood! :) Ok. Not really, but you get the idea!

5. What size eavestroughs make you feel more at peace? This is what it really boils down to. Remember that bungalow above I said, does not need 6" eavestrough. Well guess what? I did an identical house right around the corner in 6" eavestrough because it is what the customer wanted on their house and they were happy to pay the extra money for the 6" eavestroughs. 

At the end of the day, you need to do what is right for you and your most important investment. If you feel that installing a 6" eavestroughs is what is best for you and is going to give you peace of mind, then by all means install 6" eavestroughs!

I thought I would close this blog by posting a picture of our dog, Zoey. She doesn't care about 5" or 6" eavestroughs! She's just happy to take a nap in the shop and wander around our rural property.

If you would like a quote for 5" or 6" eavestroughs, please feel free to contact us at 905-902-9424 or visit our website at www.theeavestroughcompany.com. We also install fascia, soffit, siding and Alu-Rex Gutter Protection products.