"You Don't Need Gutters in Florida, There Are No Basements" — True or Not?

It's the most repeated thing in this business, and it's half true. There are no basements in Florida. That was never the reason gutters exist here.

In Florida the problem is above ground, and you can walk outside and see it.

What Actually Happens Without Gutters

• The trench around the house — water falling off a roof edge in a summer storm digs a channel into the grass and mulch. Once it starts, every storm makes it deeper.
• Mud up the wall — every drop that lands hard splashes dirt back onto the stucco. That is the brown line you keep pressure washing off.
• Soffit and fascia — water running back along the roof edge sits where the wood is. In this climate that is how rot starts, and it starts where you cannot see it.
• The slab and the landscaping — standing water right against the foundation, and beds that wash out every rainy season and get replaced every spring.

None of that has anything to do with a basement. It has to do with sending the water somewhere on purpose instead of letting it fall wherever it lands.

So Do You Need Them?

If none of what is listed above is happening at your house, tell us that when we come out and we will tell you so. But if you have a trench along the drip line, a brown splash mark on the stucco, or beds that wash out every summer, that is the roof telling you where the water is going, and gutters are how you decide that instead of the weather.

We measure the roofline, give you the number in writing, and leave. Free estimates across Polk, Osceola, Orange, Lake and Marion County.