Rochester Hills, Michigan · Oakland County
Seamless gutters, replacement, repair and leaf guards for a city that climbs 342 feet from one corner to the other. On ground like this the downspout discharge has to be planned lot by lot, and we plan it before we quote it.
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
The name is not decoration. Rochester Hills runs from 690 feet above sea level in its southeastern portion to 1,032 feet in the northwestern section, averaging around 820, and the Clinton River and Paint Creek both cut through it. That is 342 feet of vertical inside one municipality, and it changes what a gutter system is for.
Avon Township became the City of Rochester Hills on 20 November 1984, and the 1990 census already found 61,766 people here. Growth since has been steady rather than explosive — 68,825 in 2000, then 70,995, then 76,300 in 2020 — so most of the 30,961 housing units predate 1990. At a median value of $443,600 the typical house is also bigger than a Macomb County build of the same vintage: more roof area, more elevations, more separate runs.
On flat ground a splash block under every downspout gives roughly the same result each time. On sloped ground it does not. A downspout on the uphill side of a lot sends water back toward the house, and one above a walkout or daylight basement wall delivers it to the most exposed part of the foundation.
So we walk the grade before quoting: which way the lot falls, where the neighbouring lot drains onto yours, whether there is a walkout below this run, and whether anywhere downhill is within reasonable pipe distance. Sometimes the answer is a long buried line; sometimes it is moving the outlet twelve feet to the other side of a ridge in the grading. Two houses on one street can need opposite solutions.
Rochester Hills publishes one of the most specific thresholds any local building department states in writing. Its roof repair guidance reads: “Roof repairs involving replacement of more than 10 percent of the roof sheathing or replacement or repair any structural members will require a building permit application.” A separate Residential Re-roofing Re-Shingle Only guide covers work that stays under that line.
That matters on a gutter job more than it sounds. When an old gutter comes off and the fascia has gone, the rot has usually travelled into the first courses of decking behind it. Small repairs are carpentry. Once decking replacement crosses the city’s 10 percent threshold the job has changed category and needs an application, and the city states that the application fee and base plan review are due before review begins. We check deck condition at the inspection and tell you which side of that line you are on.
Oakland County carries a 25 psf ground snow load in the state code tables, and the Great Lakes region has averaged about 42 freeze-thaw cycles a year since 1951 according to the University of Michigan’s GLISA program. Those cycles land here on higher, more exposed ground, and a trough of refrozen meltwater is dead weight on a forty-year-old fascia board. County drains and storm systems are administered by the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner rather than by Macomb County Public Works.
Formed on site to each elevation, so a front with three roof planes is not a patchwork of factory lengths.
Where pitch has been lost, hangers have pulled or the layout never matched the roof. Outlet positions get re-planned against the lot grade.
Re-pitching, resealed miters, replacement hangers and additional outlets where one run is carrying more roof than it was sized for.
Larger roof areas per run make six inch with a 3×4 downspout a real calculation rather than an upsell, and we show the arithmetic.
Houses backing onto the Clinton River and Paint Creek corridors fill far faster than open subdivision lots. We recommend by property, not by policy.
Rotted board replaced, fascia wrapped, vented soffit fitted. This is also where we learn whether decking is involved.
Buried solid pipe run downhill to a pop-up emitter, which on a sloped lot is often the only way to get roof water past a walkout wall.
Every run measured, the roof area feeding each one calculated, the fascia hand-checked and the grade walked.
Footage, profile, hanger spacing, outlets, fascia work and drainage, priced before anything is ordered.
Old gutter down, fascia line straightened and made sound. If decking is involved you hear about it then, with the permit position explained.
Runs formed on site, hung to consistent pitch, outlets cut where the water and the lot both want them.
Gutters, fascia, soffit and roof edge are one assembly, and we carry all of it in house.
Flashing, valley and eave work, including the decking questions the city’s sheathing rule turns on. See roof repair.
The board the gutter hangs on and the intake side of your attic ventilation. See soffit and fascia.
On 342 feet of relief, where the downspout ends decides whether the system works. That gets designed on site.
The city’s own 10 percent sheathing threshold is easy to cross accidentally during fascia repair. You will know before we start.
Bigger houses mean bigger roof areas per run. Five inch or six inch is a number we work out, not a preference.
Gutter, fascia, soffit and drainage handled together by a family-run company operating since 2011, licensed and insured.
These come live from our Google Business Profile rather than being retyped here, so what you read is what homeowners actually posted.
Rochester Hills covers 32.8 square miles, from the Stony Creek end in the northeast down to the low southeastern corner. We work across all of it.
Gutter and fascia work on its own is generally carpentry rather than structural work. The city’s published trigger is the roof itself: replacing more than 10 percent of the sheathing, or replacing or repairing structural members, requires a building permit application. Requirements change, so we confirm the current position with the Building Department.
On a lot backing onto the Clinton River or Paint Creek corridor, usually yes, because that mature growth drops directly onto the roof. On an open subdivision lot with young trees, often not. We look before we recommend.
Weight on tired fasteners. Oakland County is set at a 25 psf ground snow load in the state tables, meltwater refreezes in the trough, and the Great Lakes region averages roughly 42 freeze-thaw cycles a year. Old spikes in old fascia give up under that.
Because the ground is different. This city rises from 690 feet in the southeast to 1,032 in the northwest, and grade can change noticeably within a single subdivision. An outlet that drains freely downhill on one lot points straight at a foundation on the next one.
Usually a discharge problem rather than a gutter problem. A walkout exposes a full wall at the low side of the lot, and any downspout releasing above it loads water onto the least protected part of the house. Buried pipe carrying that outlet past the wall normally solves it.
Oakland County work falls under the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner, which maintains storm drains, sewers, lake level structures and dams for municipalities across the county. Macomb County falls under a different office entirely.
We measure the runs, work out the sizing, check the deck and fascia, walk the grade and put it in writing. If a repair is the honest answer, the scope says so.
