Clarkston & Independence Township, Michigan · northern Oakland County
Seamless gutters, replacement, repair and leaf protection on the highest ground in the region — moraine country, twenty-eight named lakes, and the village where the Clinton River begins. Family-run since 2011.
Family-owned and operated in Michigan since 2011
Based at 31097 Fraser Dr, Fraser, MI 48026
Serving Macomb, Oakland and St. Clair counties
Free on-site inspection and a written, itemized scope before work begins
Independence Township sits at 1,112 feet, the highest ground anywhere in our service area. Pine Knob, just up the road, reaches 1,221 feet and is the highest point in Southeastern Michigan; Waterford Hill three miles off rises to 1,150. All of it stands on the Hillsdale–Lapeer moraine, which is why the ground here rolls and drops instead of lying flat.
The Clinton River winds through the township, and along the way it forms more than thirty named lakes — Lake Oakland at 255 acres and 64 feet deep, Lotus at 179 acres, Deer at 137, Woodhull at 135, and two dozen more. That same river reaches Lake St. Clair in Harrison Township at 577 feet. From the top of the chain to the mouth is a 535-foot drop, and this end of it is where the water is made rather than merely passed along. It is the reason exterior work here follows none of the rules that work on the lake plain forty miles downstream.
On moraine ground with genuine fall, a downspout is not a nuisance to be routed away — it is a small stream you are pointing at a hillside. Water released uphill of a walkout, or above a lakefront lot’s break in slope, finds the path it wants within a season and takes soil with it. Downspout placement here is a grading decision, and the right answer changes from one elevation of the same house to another.
The second thing this terrain does is drain fast, which fools people. Ground that takes water readily hides an overflowing gutter for years, because there is never a puddle to raise the alarm. The damage still happens — at the fascia, the sill and behind the siding rather than on the lawn.
The township was established in 1834 and named by Joseph Van Sycle after Independence Township in New Jersey. The railroad reached Clarkston in 1851, the old Saginaw Trail — now Dixie Highway — was paved by 1920, and Interstate 75 was cut through in 1962, which is where the township’s modern growth begins. Population stood at 34,681 in 2010 and 36,686 in 2020, and most of what we work on is lake-area and wooded subdivision housing from roughly the 1970s onward.
Sitting inside all of that is a separate city. The City of the Village of Clarkston — its actual legal name — was a village from 1884 and re-incorporated as a city in 1992. It holds 928 people on 0.44 square miles, the smallest city by land area in Michigan. It became a Michigan State Historic Site in January 1976 and was listed on the National Register in May 1979, with a district covering nine streets including Main and Church. Inside those blocks the houses are 19th and early 20th century: steep pitches, deep wood detail, and gutter work that has to look right as well as function.
Drains and lake levels across the county are the responsibility of the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner, whose remit expressly includes lake level structures and dams — which matters in a township with this many lakes in it.
Formed on site to the exact length of each elevation, which on a steep multi-gable lake house means fewer joints in the places hardest to reach again.
For 1970s to 1990s subdivision systems where the fall has flattened, the hangers have tired and the trough has been resealed one time too many.
Re-pitching, new hidden hangers, resealed miters, and extra outlets at valleys where a steep roof concentrates its flow into a short length.
For older houses where a modern K-style trough sits wrong against original trim. The right profile is part of the specification, not an upgrade.
Under mature hardwood on a tall wooded lot, protection usually earns its place. We quote it against your actual overhang rather than by default.
Deep eaves and steep gable ends carry long fascia runs. Rotted board out, sound board in, vented soffit kept working as the attic’s intake.
Buried solid pipe routed with the slope, releasing well below the house, so discharge is not left to cut its own channel across a graded lot.
Every run measured, contributing roof area worked out, fascia checked by hand, and the fall of the lot walked from the eave line to wherever discharge currently arrives.
Profile, size, hanger type and spacing, outlet locations, guard system, fascia repair and drainage routing, priced before ordering.
The old system comes down, soft board is cut out and replaced, and the fascia line is trued so the new run hangs straight.
We flood the system, follow each discharge to its outlet, clear the grounds and go over them with a magnet, then walk the roofline with you.
Gutter, fascia, soffit and roof covering are one assembly, and doing all four ourselves means nothing gets handed between trades halfway up a steep elevation.
Village or township changes who you deal with. Knowing the difference before we start is part of doing the job properly.
On moraine ground the discharge point is a decision about grade, and it is made per elevation rather than once for the house.
Inside the historic streets a gutter has to sit correctly against original trim, and we spec it that way from the start.
Licensed and insured, one crew, one written scope, and the same people who quoted the job on the ladder doing it.
Every size, spacing and routing decision itemized, so you can hold our scope beside anyone else’s and see the differences.
Below is our Google Business Profile feed, live rather than copied into the page, so nothing has been curated on the way here.
This is the far northwest end of our range, and we work it as a route — the lake country from Clarkston across to Orion and down toward Rochester.
Most people with a Clarkston mailing address are in Independence Township. The City of the Village of Clarkston is a separate government of 928 people on 0.44 square miles, entirely surrounded by the township — the smallest city by land area in Michigan. If your house is outside those few blocks, the township is your local government even though your mail says Clarkston. We confirm which one applies before any work that involves the building department.
Below the house and away from the break in slope, in buried pipe. Released above a walkout or at the top of a bank, roof water will cut its own route within a season. Each elevation gets its own answer, because the fall is different on each side.
It can. The village was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1976 and listed on the National Register in 1979, across nine streets. What review applies to a specific exterior change is a question for the city itself, and we ask them before we start rather than assuming. On appearance we work to match the existing profile and detail.
Yes. Half-round and traditional profiles sit far better against original trim than a modern K-style section does, and on a house with period detail that difference is visible from the street. We spec the profile as part of the design, not as a late upgrade.
Ice dams are driven by heat escaping into the attic, which melts snow that then refreezes at the cold eave. Oakland County’s code figure is 25 psf of ground snow load, and GLISA puts freeze-thaw cycling in this region at roughly 42 a year, so the raw material is always present. Gutters and guards neither cause nor cure it — air sealing, insulation and balanced ventilation do.
Where a scope requires a permit, we pull it with whichever authority your property actually falls under, which is one more reason the village-or-township question gets settled first. Requirements and fees are set locally and change, so we confirm the current position rather than repeat something from a web page.
Because free-draining ground removes the evidence, not the problem. On this terrain water disappears fast enough that an overflowing trough never leaves a puddle, so the first sign is a soft fascia board or a stained header above a window. We look for the overflow line rather than for standing water.
We measure the runs, work out what each one is carrying, check the fascia, walk the slope and hand you an itemized written scope. If the honest answer is a repair and one more outlet, that is what it will say.
