How To Slope Rain Gutters

Place the line spirit level on the string.

How to slope rain gutters.

To check the slope of your gutters you ll need a ladder tall enough to safely get to your gutter and a one gallon bucket of water. Or you can slope the gutters down from each end toward a single downspout placed in the middle of the run. Rain gutters have to slope down to the downspout for proper drainage. It should run at a consistent speed down the gutter to the downspout.

Get on a ladder after a rainstorm and look in the gutter. To calculate gutter slope attach one end of a long piece of string to the highest point of your gutter and the other end at the location of your downspout. The gutter should have a quarter inch of slope per 10 feet. The standard slope for rain gutters is half of an inch for every 10 feet.

This gutter looks to be over 1 inch per 10 feet. If there s standing water it s not pitched properly. To ensure that gutters drain properly make certain they slope inch for every 10 feet toward a downspout. Gutters need to be pitched toward the downspouts for the water to flow properly.

In the picture you can see an example of what happens when the installer gets a little crazy with the slope of the gutters. Pull the gutter down about 3 quarters of an inch lower than it originally was. A line spirit level is a very small level that attaches to string. You want at least a quarter inch of slope for every 10 feet.

Put a temporary screw at the back to adjust the pitch. For spans longer than 40 feet it s wise to have a downspout on each end and start the high spot of the gutter in the center. Gutter sloping only needs to be 1 4 inch per 10 feet. Use a string level to ensure the string is completely parallel to the ground.

Once the gutter is properly pitched re install the gutter brackets. To correct this yourself you ll need to measure from the peak to the downspout. This means that your gutter should be a half inch lower in height at every 10 foot mark until you reach the downspout. Pull the line tight to the other side of where the gutters will be installed.

For gutter runs longer than 40 feet it s best to pitch the gutter down from the middle to a downspout at each end. It s sloped so much the flashing or drip edge is no longer covering the back of the gutter.