Copper Gutters for Older Atlanta and Decatur Homes

Half-round copper with soldered joints and round downspouts, sized for the roof and kept clear of other metals so it lasts.

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Half-round copper beside a K-style aluminum gutter of the same width, drawn to scale.

Is copper worth it on an older Atlanta home?

Copper costs more per foot than aluminum, often twice as much or more by the national ranges in the gutter cost guide. It suits a house whose age and style call for it, an owner who plans to stay, or a historic district that wants the original look.

Plenty of intown houses are old enough for it: in ZIP 30306, around Virginia-Highland and Morningside, about 40 percent were built before 1940. In City of Atlanta historic districts the usual permit exemptions don't cover exterior work, and Decatur's local districts need a preservation commission certificate before material changes.

Half-round doesn't have to mean copper. Aluminum half-round painted to match the trim gives the same profile for less, and Decatur Spout can set up either one.

Old copper half-round gutter streaked blue-green on copper brackets — Copper streaks blue-green as it weathers

White Victorian house with a wraparound porch behind a blooming magnolia — The kind of older house copper suits

Half-round vs K-style looks

Half-round, a semicircle with a rolled bead at the front, drains through round downspouts and reads as part of an older house's trim. K-style, with a flat back and a front shaped like crown molding, is the later profile.

Half-round is sized like any gutter. The plumbing code's table credits a 6-inch half-round with about half again the flow of a 5-inch (110 gallons a minute against 74 at a 1/8-inch-per-foot slope), so a big roof may need the next size up or another downspout. The gutter size guide works that out for a given roof.

How long copper lasts

The home builders' association puts copper gutters at more than 50 years and copper downspouts at a century, against about 20 for aluminum gutters, and Consumers' Checkbook says copper can reach 100.

The joints decide how much of that you get. Seams are lapped an inch, riveted and soldered instead of sealed. Long straight runs need expansion joints no more than 48 feet apart, so the metal can move in the heat without tearing a seam.

Craftsman bungalow porch with a copper half-round gutter and a round copper downspout — Half-round copper on a bungalow porch

New white K-style gutter and its end cap on a painted fascia — K-style aluminum with its end cap

Craftsman bungalow with a deep front porch on a shady street — A bungalow with painted trim

Copper and other metals don't mix

Where copper touches aluminum or zinc in the wet, the other metal corrodes, and water running off copper carries salts that eat into aluminum below it. So a copper job stays copper from top to bottom. The gutter materials guide lists the other pairings to avoid.

Planning copper on an older house? Have the roof edge and trim checked first.

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Hangers and straps
Copper or brass, never galvanized, no more than 36 inches apart in a climate like ours. Half-round hangs on straps with spring clips or on brackets.
Downspouts
Copper all the way down, including elbows and the straps that hold them.
What drains onto it
Watch for copper flashing that drains onto an aluminum gutter. Asphalt shingles bring their own trouble: acidic runoff funneled into a copper gutter can wear a line in it before the patina forms. A strip under the shingle edge prevents it.

Questions about copper gutters

Does copper turn green?

Eventually. New copper starts a bright salmon color, darkens to reddish brown and, over many years, weathers to a gray-green patina. How fast varies, and it's quicker in city air. The Copper Development Association's handbook shows the roof of Druid Hills Baptist Church with a mature patina after more than 80 years in Atlanta's humid climate.

Can copper gutters be repaired in sections?

Yes. A damaged length can be cut out and a new piece soldered in, and a leaking joint cleaned and resoldered. Mention copper when you call, since it takes an installer who solders.

Say how old the house is and whether it's in a historic district, since both shape what goes up.

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