Cost data reviewed September 2026 · 4 sources
How Much to Replace Gutters? 2026 Cost Breakdown
Replacing the gutters on a typical 160-foot run comes to a cost build-up of roughly $1,323 to $1,940 — aluminum material at trade prices, published installation labour, downspouts and corner mitres, itemised below. That is our arithmetic on sourced unit rates rather than a published total, and it is deliberately missing one line: taking the old system down and hauling it away. No publisher we can reach puts a defensible figure on that, so the number above is an installation cost, and a replacement is an installation plus a demolition. Everything on this page is about the difference between the two.
The build-up, itemised
Worked example · our arithmetic
| Item | Basis | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Gutter material | 160 ft x $2.90–$4.52/ft | $464–$723 |
| Installation labour | 160 ft x $5/ft | $800–$800 |
| Downspouts | 7–8 needed x $4–$21 each | $28–$168 |
| Corners and mitres | 4 x $7.79–$62.15 each | $31–$249 |
| Removal and disposal | Normally inside the contractor’s package price rather than a separate line, so there is nothing to add here — but the work is real, and it is part of why a quote sits above this build-up. Confirm it in writing. | |
| Build-up total | material + labour + parts, national | $1,323–$1,940 |
A build-up is materials at trade rates plus published labour. A contractor's quote also carries overhead, insurance, vehicles and profit, and usually marks the materials up, so expect a real quote to sit higher than this. Always get at least three written quotes. See how we calculate costs.
Each unit rate in that table, with its source and date:
Aluminum K-style, material only (trade)
$2.90–$4.52USD/linear foot (material only, trade)
Aluminum K-style, .027-.032 gauge. $3.60/ft is the confirmed mid-point for .027. This is trade-channel pricing: a homeowner buying pre-cut sections at a home centre pays more, and a contractor's quoted material line may differ again.
Checked against 1 source
| Source | Figure | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Gutter Supply — aluminum K-style gutter, per footTrade supplier list pricing, fetched and read directly 2026-09-16 with gauge .027 and Length 'Per foot' selected. The page confirms per-foot is a purchasable option: 'Enter your total footage needed and our system will prompt you for individual lengths.' Material only, trade channel. | $2.90–$4.52 | September 2026 |
Installation labour, per linear foot
$5USD/linear foot (installed labour)
An average rather than a range, for seamless installation. One caveat, found on 16 September 2026: this figure cannot be reconciled with the vinyl row of the same publisher's per-material table, which puts vinyl installed at less than this labour rate alone. It reconciles with that table's aluminum, steel and copper rows, so the vinyl row looks like the broken one rather than this figure.
Checked against 1 source
| Source | Figure | Published |
|---|---|---|
| This Old House — seamless gutter costsNationwide homeowner surveys (a 2026 survey of 1,000 homeowners and a 2025 survey of 1,484 respondents) for satisfaction data. PRICING PROVENANCE, confirmed by re-fetch 2026-09-16: the page states 'The cost data featured in this guide was sourced using Homewyse and Angi, unless otherwise stated.' So its prices are NOT independent of Homewyse. | $5 | August 2026 |
Downspouts, each
$4–$21USD each (material)
Checked against 1 source
| Source | Figure | Published |
|---|---|---|
| This Old House — gutter installation costsPRICING PROVENANCE, confirmed by re-fetch 2026-09-16: the page states 'The cost information featured in this guide was calculated using estimates from the Homewyse contractor pricing guide, unless otherwise noted.' Its headline installed range disagrees sharply with the same publisher's seamless page — but BOTH pages cite Homewyse, so neither is the independent one. See installedPerFoot.allMaterials. | $4–$21 | June 2026 |
The removal line, and why there isn’t one
This is the line that makes replacement different from installation, and the answer turned out not to be a price at all.
Removal and disposal, how it is billed
Normally included in a replacement quote, not billed as a separate linebilling practice
Ask anyway, in writing. Two quotes a few hundred dollars apart can be identical once you know one includes the skip and the other does not.
Checked against 3 sources
| Source | Figure | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Angi — gutter replacement costWritten by Deane Biermeier, updated 2026-07-09. Read at source in a browser 2026-09-16 and relayed; angi.com refuses automated retrieval from here. Gives NO separate removal or disposal pricing, and states that an installation quote normally covers design, preparation, installation, disposal and cleanup as one package, advising readers to confirm that with their contractor. | — | July 2026 |
| Dropcurb — gutter removal costVendor of standalone gutter removal, so its standalone prices are self-interested and are NOT published here. Relayed human read 2026-09-16. Its statement that removal costs '$0 (included)' when bundled with a new install is against its own commercial interest and is treated as the credible part. | — | April 2026 |
| This Old House — gutter installation costsPRICING PROVENANCE, confirmed by re-fetch 2026-09-16: the page states 'The cost information featured in this guide was calculated using estimates from the Homewyse contractor pricing guide, unless otherwise noted.' Its headline installed range disagrees sharply with the same publisher's seamless page — but BOTH pages cite Homewyse, so neither is the independent one. See installedPerFoot.allMaterials. | — | June 2026 |
We spent a long time trying to source a per-foot removal cost before concluding there is not one to source. In a replacement, taking the old system down and hauling it away is inside the package price — Angi’s replacement guidance states that an installation quote normally covers design, preparation, installation, disposal and cleanup together, and a company that sells standalone gutter removal says the same from the other direction, pricing it at zero when it is bundled with a new installation.
That also resolves an apparent conflict we had recorded. This Old House says you pay extra fees when there is an existing system to remove; Angi says removal is folded in. Both are right, because they answer different questions. A replacement does cost more than fitting gutters where there were none — there is a day’s work in taking the old ones down. You just will not see it broken out on the quote.
The practical advice is unchanged: ask, in writing, whether removal and disposal are in the quoted price. Two quotes a few hundred dollars apart may be identical once you know one includes the skip and the other does not. It remains the most common avoidable surprise in a replacement job — not because the cost is hidden, but because it is bundled and bundles vary.
Why we do not publish an all-in replacement price
The number you actually want is a single installed cost per foot. We have it from published sources. We are not printing it, and the reason is specific rather than a general disclaimer.
Cost data disputed
All materials, installed
Our sources disagree on this figure, so we are not publishing one until that is resolved.
What to do instead
- Get this line itemised in more than one written quote. Published sources genuinely conflict here, and a line the trade does not agree on is usually a line where quotes vary most — which makes it the one worth comparing rather than accepting as given.
- See how we check a figure, and what has to be true before one appears here.
We would rather leave a gap here than publish a number we cannot stand behind.
Two pages from the same publisher give installed cost as $4 to $40 per foot on one and $12 to $62 per foot on the other. A factor of three, one masthead. The obvious tiebreak would be to prefer whichever page is independent — except that both state they took their pricing from the same underlying contractor pricing guide, so neither corroborates the other and neither is the original. The upstream guide itself could not be read.
Publishing a number from that would mean choosing which of two contradictory figures to put in front of somebody about to spend several thousand dollars. The build-up above is what we can stand behind instead: fewer conveniences, every line checkable.
What a replacement quote should contain
Use this as the checklist against the paperwork. A quote that does not separate these is not necessarily dishonest, but you cannot compare it to another one.
Removal and disposal of the existing system. Present or absent. Get it in writing either way.
Linear feet of gutter, stated. Not “the house” — the actual run. It is the number every other line scales from, and it is the easiest thing to check with a tape.
Material, gauge and profile. Aluminum .027 and .032 are different products at different prices; K-style and half-round are different again. See K-style vs half-round gutters if that choice is still open.
Seamless or sectional. Seamless is formed on site and has no joints along the run, which is where gutters leak. Most professional replacement is seamless — seamless gutter cost covers the premium.
Downspout count and size. One per 20 to 25 feet of guttering is the sourced spacing. Too few is the most common design fault in a replacement, because the new system silently inherits the old one’s outlet positions.
Hangers and their spacing. New hangers should be part of a replacement. If the quote reuses the old brackets on new gutter, ask why.
Fascia condition, and what happens if it is soft. Covered below. This is the line that turns a predictable job into an open one.
Number of corners. Each mitre is a joint and a labour step. A complex roofline with eight corners genuinely costs more than a rectangle with four.
Fascia: the line that moves the total
Hangers screw into fascia board. If the old gutter overflowed for years, or water ran behind it because there was no gutter apron or drip edge, the board behind it is soft — and you will not know until the old gutter comes off.
We have no sourced figure for fascia repair, and we are not going to invent one. It is carpentry, priced by the foot of board and the difficulty of access, and it varies more than anything else on this page. What we can tell you is how to stop it being an ambush:
- Ask for a stated rate per linear foot of fascia replacement in the original quote, contingent on what is found. A contractor who has already priced it cannot price it opportunistically on the day.
- Ask to see it before it is covered up. Soft fascia is obvious once the gutter is off.
- Expect some. On a system old enough to be worth replacing, a few feet of board is normal. A quote that assumes none is optimistic rather than cheap.
Replace everything, or only the bad run?
Partial replacement is legitimate and under-offered, because it is a smaller job for the contractor.
Replacing one elevation makes sense when the failure is localised — a run that has lost fall, a rotten fascia section, ice damage on the north side — and the rest of the system is sound. The honest caveat is cosmetic: a new run against twenty-year-old chalked gutter will not match, and aluminum finishes fade rather than staying true to their colour code.
Replacing everything makes sense when the system is sectional and leaking at multiple joints, when a steel system is perforating in more than one place, when the downspout layout was wrong from the start, or when access is already paid for because the roof is being done.
If the failure is one symptom rather than general decline, price the repair first: rain gutter repair costs is structured by failure mode, and several of them are a morning’s work rather than a replacement.
What actually moves the price
Length, first and by a wide margin. Every major line scales with it.
Storeys and access. Two-storey work is slower and needs more setup. It genuinely costs more, and we do not publish a multiplier for it because no sourced one exists — a made-up factor applied to a real rate produces a wrong number that looks precise.
Material. Aluminum is the default. Copper and zinc are multiples of it, and we hold verified trade pricing for aluminum only, so gutter cost per foot gives the ordering rather than a figure for each.
Corner count, as above — a labour cost disguised as a parts cost.
Region. Labour rates vary by state and we cannot yet quantify it. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes state-level wage data in a file that refuses automated download, so a regional multiplier here would be invented rather than sourced. Every figure on this page is national.
Timing. Autumn is peak season for gutter work, for obvious reasons. Quotes in late winter are typically easier to negotiate.
Getting a number for your own house
- Measure the run. Walk the perimeter of the roofline with a tape, or approximate it as 2 x (length + width) of the footprint. Most homes land between 125 and 200 feet.
- Count the corners, inside and out.
- Run the build-up. The gutter installation cost calculator does the same arithmetic as the table above for your own footage — it prices the installation half of the job, and it treats removal the same way this page does.
- Ask what each quote includes on removal, rather than adding an estimate to the number — it is normally bundled, and bundles vary.
- Get three written quotes. The build-up tells you whether a quote is the right shape. Only quotes tell you the price.
Common questions
How much does gutter replacement cost per foot?
We publish the parts of that figure rather than the figure itself: aluminum material at trade pricing plus about $5.00 per linear foot of installation labour. A single installed per-foot number is available from published surveys, and we are withholding it because the two we can reach disagree by a factor of three while sharing a source, as set out above.
Is it cheaper to replace gutters or repair them?
Almost always cheaper to repair, if the problem is a symptom rather than general decline. The parts are inexpensive and most failures are localised. The case for replacement is when the fascia has gone, when a system is failing at several points at once, or when access is already paid for.
How much does it cost to replace gutters on a two-storey house?
More than a single storey, and we cannot tell you how much more. The extra is labour, from setup, ladder work and slower handling. No sourced multiplier exists, and applying an invented one to a real rate would produce a confident wrong answer.
Do I need to replace the fascia when I replace gutters?
Only the soft parts, and only if it is soft. Sound fascia takes new hangers without any work. The reason it comes up on every replacement job is that nobody can see the board until the old gutter is off.
How long does a gutter replacement take?
A straightforward single-storey replacement is usually a day. Fascia repairs, difficult access and complicated rooflines extend it. We have no sourced figure for install time per foot — the published sources disagree by roughly five times — so treat that as trade convention rather than something we have checked.
Should I replace gutters before or after a new roof?
After, or at the same time. The drip edge is fitted as part of the roof and it sits behind the gutter, so doing gutters first means disturbing them again. How long gutters last covers whether yours have reached the point of being worth doing at all.
How we check our figures
The unit rates on this page are each traceable to a named, dated source shown beside them. The totals are our arithmetic on those rates, with the working visible in the table so you can redo it — they are derived figures, not published statistics.
Two things are shown as gaps rather than numbers: fascia repair, and the all-in installed cost per foot. Removal is a third case and a different one — not a gap, but a sourced finding that there is no separate figure to publish. In each case the reason is stated where the gap appears. Our full method, and the verification status of every value in the cost model, is on how we calculate costs.
Related reading
For unit pricing by material, see gutter cost per foot. To run the build-up on your own measurements, the gutter installation cost calculator. If you are fitting gutters where there were none rather than replacing, new gutters cost is the right page. For the repair-versus- replace decision, rain gutter repair costs and how long gutters last.