Galvalume Gutters

Galvalume is sheet steel with a hot-dipped coating that is about 55 percent aluminum and 43 percent zinc, with a little silicon. Each metal in that coating has a job. The aluminum weathers very slowly and acts as a barrier, and the zinc protects the steel at scratches and cut edges by corroding first, so the steel underneath does not.

It is the same coated steel used on a lot of the standing seam metal roofs you see around the Texas Hill Country. A galvalume gutter is that material formed into a gutter profile instead of a roof panel, which is why the two match so well.

Galvalume is a material, not a gutter shape. The profile is a separate decision. Most homes here use K-style gutters, and older or more traditional houses often look better with a half round profile. We will talk through which shape fits your roofline at the estimate.

Seamless aluminum gutters are the most common gutter in Central Texas, and for most homes they are the right call. Aluminum does not rust, it is light, and it comes in a long list of baked-on colors. Galvalume earns its place when strength matters more than color choice:

• Dent resistance. Steel holds its shape better than aluminum when a ladder leans on it, a limb drops on it, or hail comes through in the spring.
• Long, heavy runs. A stiffer gutter holds its line on long eaves and on big roof planes that dump a lot of water at once.
• Metal roofs. Galvalume matches a galvalume roof, and it stands up to the fast, heavy runoff that comes off metal panels.

The tradeoffs are real too. Galvalume is heavier and costs more than aluminum, and a deep scratch or an unsealed cut edge can show rust over the years. It is usually installed in its natural silver finish, so if you want gutters that match painted trim, seamless aluminum gutters are often the better fit.

Galvanized and galvalume both start as steel, and they get mixed up all the time. Galvanized steel is coated with zinc only. Galvalume adds aluminum to that coating, and in long-term outdoor exposure testing the aluminum and zinc coating has outlasted plain zinc in most climates. That is a big part of why it has replaced galvanized steel on most new metal roofing and gutter work.

Plenty of older Central Texas homes still have galvanized gutters, and they tend to fail the same way: rust starting at the seams, inside the trough where wet leaves sit, and around the downspout outlets. If yours are rusting through, replacing them with galvalume keeps the steel look with a longer-lasting coating.

Our weather is hard on gutters in a few specific ways, and galvalume handles most of them well.

• Heat and sun. Bare galvalume has no paint to fade or peel in a Texas summer, and the aluminum in the coating reflects a lot of that sun.
• Hail and limbs. Spring storms and live oak limbs over the roofline are the main reasons we see dented gutters. Steel takes the small hits that would crease aluminum.
• Wet debris. Oak leaves, pollen tassels and cedar needles sitting wet in a trough wear on any metal gutter from the inside. Keeping the gutters clean, or adding gutter guards, does more for the life of a gutter system than any other maintenance.

A few things galvalume does not get along with. Water running off copper flashing or a copper roof will corrode it, and so will long contact with wet treated lumber, fresh concrete, or mortar. We look for those at the estimate, and if your house has a metal roof, our notes on pairing gutters with a metal roof are worth a read before you decide.

Galvalume gutter installation follows the same steps as our seamless aluminum work. A few details matter more with steel, and they are worth asking any installer about.

1. We measure every run, check the roof pitch and the area each downspout has to drain, and note anything the water will touch on the way down.
2. Each gutter is formed on site and cut to length, so every run is one continuous piece.
3. Hangers need to be spaced for the extra weight of steel, and every corner and end cap needs to be sealed.
4. Cut edges and scratches from handling should be cleaned up and sealed so they do not start rust.
5. Downspouts are placed to carry water away from the slab, and tied into underground drainage where the yard calls for it.

Owner Tyler Smith has spent more than 20 years in rain gutters and sheet metal work, and galvalume is sheet metal work. It rewards an installer who knows how to cut and seal steel cleanly.

Galvalume typically costs more than aluminum gutters and much less than copper gutters. The price for your home comes down to a few things: the total length of gutter, how many stories we are working on, the number of corners and downspouts, whether old gutters have to come off first, and whether you add gutter guards for leaf protection. We give you a free quote after we measure, so the number reflects your house and not a per-foot guess.