Gutters are an important part of your home’s ability to push rain and precipitation away from the edges of the foundation and roofline. As part of our gutter showdown, this article will discuss the differences between box gutters and half round gutters and you should pick one over the other. If you are deciding which kind of gutter to purchase for your home, this is a great place to start.

Half Round Gutters

What is a half round gutter?

Let’s first go into a little detail about a half round gutter. Half round gutters have the appearance of a tube that has been cut in half – hence a half round gutter.

Any advantages?

The half round gutter style does have advantages. The simple, clean lines of a half round gutter don’t stand out as much on luxury homes with unique architecture, like heavily textured shakes or slate on the exterior. People will see the textures first instead of the gutters as the standout object.

The half round style has a few technical advantages too. The smooth interior shape of a tube offers fewer places for water to gather and gradually cause corrosion. They are also easier to clean as they don’t have any boxy edges for either a scoop, hand, or debris to get caught on.

The shape is most popular with homes built before the 1950s, which had architecturally appealing rounded shapes. Half round gutters complemented this shape well and didn’t detract from the homes beautiful lines. While brackets and rods are generally needed to install half round gutters, these can be made uniquely beautiful as well and add to the exterior appeal of a home. Their popularity came in the 1950s because at that time, half round gutters were considered easy to make and often simply involved bending metal plates around a cylinder to create half a pipe.

K Style Gutters

A K-Style gutter is shaped differently from a half round gutter. The side of the gutter that faces your home and collects water is flat. The front side of the gutter facing away from your home is not flat, and moves up in shape that could be described as an S, and to many, a K.  These are not round like half round gutters.

Any Advantages?

K Style gutters offer a couple advantages. Their unique shapes gives them more space to hold more water. Their shape also makes them less likely to break when struck by a tool or objects like trees or anything else falling, as the shape can deflect more intrusions.

K style gutters also tend to be more popular on modern homes. A properly installed K Style gutter looks like a nicely crafted crown moulding inside a house. When your house is mostly square and horizontal, these style of gutters better blend in with the architecture and become less noticeable.

Most homes in America currently have K style gutter. This is in part because most contractors have the machines necessary to make seamless K style gutters readily with their own equipment, and can do so quickly.

What do K Style and Half Round have in common?

K style and half round gutters also have many things in common.

Sizing

Both types of cutter can be readily made in different sizes depending on your gutter water flow needs. Most gutters are 5 or 6 inch depending on the angle of your roof line and your yearly precipitation. Gutters can be made 8 inches or more if needed, though.

Materials

Custom gutters can be made of many materials from aluminum to vinyl and copper or galvanized steel. The choice is up to the homeowner need and budget, as well as any exterior style matching you want to do .

Effectiveness

While the styles are slightly different, they are both readily capable of keeping water running to the right place off your roof. The first step in having an effective gutter system is calling us at StormMasters. We can help you design the right kind of gutter system for your needs.

Style

The gutters have their own kind of style, but this is entirely up to your preference. You might want a K style gutter on your older home with rounded edges because you want more water to come off after snowstorms or heavy rain. You might want to add a vintage, unique look to a modern house just to make it look different from the rest of the neighborhood.

Install

You should get expert install with either type of gutter. Here at Storm Masters, we are experts at knowing how your roof’s area and slope are going to effect the flow of water to your gutters. We are also experts at knowing the right angles to place your gutters at to ensure proper flow of water that is fast enough to move water, but not so fast to overflow. Regardless of the gutter type, the ultimate goal is to have water run to the ground in a place where you want it to go instead of heading toward your lawn or right into your foundation. Do it yourselfers can try these things but often require trial and error to get the right balance.

Cleaning

Some say cleaning is easier with half round gutters. At Storm Masters, we believe both kinds of gutters need regular cleaning anyway. We also suggest letting someone else do the dirty work and ask us at Storm Masters to do your yearly cleaning. We can get on the ladder for you! Once the fall leaves have come and gone, get your gutters cleaned out to prepare for the post snow melt roof drip. We can help with that!