Gutters for a city that gets 66 inches of rain a year
Mobile's rain comes in cloudbursts, and its trees drop pine straw in the fall and live oak tassels in the spring. The standard 5-inch gutter with no guards was never going to work here. We size them for the rain and guard them against the trees.
The National Weather Service puts Mobile's average rainfall at just over 66 inches a year, more than almost any larger metro in the country, and a lot of it falls in summer afternoons at two or three inches an hour. A 5-inch gutter on a 2,000-square-foot roof overflows in that, sheets water down the fascia and into the soffit, and dumps it at the foundation, which on Mobile's sandy soil and slab foundations means settling, a damp crawlspace or a wet garage. The fix is sizing: 6-inch seamless aluminum gutters with 3-by-4-inch downspouts, more downspouts than the builder put in, hung on hidden hangers every 24 inches so a wet gutter full of oak leaves doesn't pull the fascia loose, and pitched so the water actually moves.
Then the trees. In Midtown and Spring Hill the live oaks drop tassels for weeks every spring and leaves year-round; in west Mobile, Semmes, Tillmans Corner and across the Eastern Shore it's pine straw, which mats, holds water, and rots the fascia behind the gutter. A clogged gutter in a hurricane is also a gutter that gets torn off; the water and debris weight is what the wind pulls on. We install micro-mesh or surface-tension guards that shed straw and tassels and still take a cloudburst, we don't install the foam inserts that turn into a planter in a season, and we don't claim a guard means you'll never look at a gutter again; it means once every few years instead of every few months.
Gutters are usually a roof question too. We replace gutters with the roof so the drip edge, the apron flashing and the gutter line up the way they're designed to, we repair the fascia and soffit rot that old overflowing gutters caused before the new ones go on, and on a FORTIFIED job we make sure the edge metal and the gutter don't fight each other. If your gutters are fine and the problem is a single pulled-loose section or a downspout that ends at the slab, that's a repair and an extension, not a replacement.
What's included
6-inch seamless aluminum
Rolled on site to each run's length, no seams to leak, sized for Mobile cloudbursts.
Oversized downspouts and extensions
3-by-4-inch downspouts, more of them, discharged away from the slab and the crawlspace.
Hidden hangers every 24 inches
Screwed into the rafter tails, so a gutter full of wet oak leaves doesn't tear the fascia off.
Guards that beat pine straw and tassels
Micro-mesh or surface-tension guards that shed Mobile's debris and still take a downpour. No foam inserts.
Fascia and soffit repair
Rot from years of overflow cut out and replaced before the new gutters go on.
Matched to the roof edge
Drip edge, apron flashing and gutter installed so they work together, especially on a FORTIFIED roof.
Gutter and gutter guard cost in Mobile, AL
| Job | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Seamless 6-inch aluminum gutters, installed | $10 – $16 per linear foot | Includes downspouts and hangers |
| Typical Mobile home, 150–200 ft | $1,800 – $3,400 | Gutters and downspouts |
| Micro-mesh gutter guards | $12 – $22 per linear foot | Pine straw and tassel rated |
| Gutters plus guards, typical home | $3,500 – $7,500 | Complete |
| Fascia or soffit repair | $12 – $30 per linear foot | Rot behind old gutters |
| Downspout extension or underground drain | $75 – $600 | Away from the slab |
| Gutter repair (re-hang, re-seal, one section) | $150 – $450 | Per visit |
These are 2026 Mobile-area ranges so you can budget. Your written price is itemized (tear-off, decking, underlayment, sealed deck, flashing, vents, disposal, permit) and good for 30 days.
Recent work
Questions we get about gutters
Do I need 6-inch gutters?
On most Mobile roofs, yes. A 5-inch gutter handles a moderate rain; a 6-inch gutter with 3-by-4 downspouts handles the two-inch-an-hour summer cloudburst that overflows everything else, and it costs only a little more.
Which gutter guards work with pine straw?
Micro-mesh with a steel screen, or a surface-tension cover, both installed at the right pitch. Pine straw slides off the mesh and the needles can't fall through. Foam and brush inserts collect it and fail in a year.
What about live oak tassels?
They're the hardest debris in Mobile because they're small and come down for weeks. Fine micro-mesh handles them; anything with openings big enough for a tassel to fall through is a clogged gutter by May.
Can you replace the gutters with the roof?
That's the best time. The drip edge, apron flashing and gutter go on in the right order, the fascia is exposed for repair, and you get one crew and one price.
My gutters overflow at the corners. Why?
Usually too few downspouts for the roof area, or a downspout at the wrong end of the run. Adding a downspout is cheaper than replacing the gutters.
Will guards hold in a hurricane?
Screwed-on micro-mesh guards on properly hung gutters do far better than open gutters full of wet debris, which is what the wind grabs. Nothing on a roof edge is hurricane-proof, but a clean, well-hung gutter is the closest thing.