Shelby Township, Michigan · Macomb County
Seamless gutters, replacement, repair and leaf guards across a township that runs from 1970s subdivisions to 2000s builds, on the highest ground in this part of the county and the most mature river-corridor tree cover.
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
Shelby Township sits at 679 feet, which sounds unremarkable until you set it beside its neighbours: Fraser 610, Sterling Heights 614, Macomb Township 604, Harrison Township at the river mouth 577. Shelby is the high ground here, and the only one of the group with meaningful surface water — 0.8 of its 35.2 square miles, against Macomb Township’s 0.09.
Both show up in the work. These lots generally have somewhere to send water — but more of them have real grade, a swale or a slope toward the river corridor, and a downspout aimed the wrong way on sloping ground does damage faster than the same mistake on the flat.
Stony Creek Metropark, the 600-acre Riverbend Park and Yates Cider Mill are all inside this township, and the Clinton River, a tributary of Lake St. Clair, drains it. That corridor carries mature riparian tree cover — old growth that does not exist in the newer subdivisions a few miles east.
Near that corridor your gutters work in a different environment from a house in a 1990s subdivision on the same tax roll: heavy spring seed drop, a full autumn load, and enough overhang that a gutter goes from clear to packed in a fortnight. That is where leaf guards genuinely pay. On the open interior subdivisions the same guards are money better spent on another downspout — one of the few places where the honest answer depends on the lot, not the town.
Shelby has grown steadily rather than explosively: 65,159 people in 2000, 73,804 in 2010, 79,408 in 2020 — about 22 per cent over two decades. It sits between its neighbours chronologically as well as geographically, older than Macomb Township and newer than Sterling Heights, so the fair characterisation is a broad middle: substantial 1970s and 80s subdivision growth with a large layer of 1990s and 2000s construction on top. Older names still on the map — Disco, platted in 1849, plus Preston Corners, Shelby Village and Yates — are reminders that the Territorial Legislature organised this township in April 1827.
That means two jobs under one township name. A 1978 tri-level has fifty-year-old fascia, hangers that have been through decades of ice, and an outlet layout drawn to a minimum. A 2004 two-storey has sound fascia but a taller elevation, steeper pitch and gutter sized for a subdivision rather than that roof.
Macomb County is set at a 25 psf ground snow load in the state code tables, and the Great Lakes region averages about 42 freeze-thaw cycles a year according to the University of Michigan’s GLISA program. On a shaded lot near the river, snow on a north elevation lingers and refreezes more often, and the gutter carries that load repeatedly — so hanger type and spacing matter more here than on an open lot.
Runs formed on site with no joints between corners — worth more on a shaded lot, where a seam holding damp debris fails first.
Full replacement where hangers have loosened or the back edge corroded, and on newer houses where builder sizing never matched the roof.
Re-pitching, resealed corners, new hangers and added outlets. One added downspout solves a lot of problems blamed on the trees.
Five inch on straightforward runs; six inch with a 3×4 downspout where a valley concentrates flow. A larger outlet also clogs less on the wooded lots.
The strongest case in the county is along the Clinton River corridor, near Stony Creek Metropark and Riverbend Park. In the open interior subdivisions we often say skip them.
On 1970s and 80s houses the fascia is usually what failed. We replace board, wrap fascia and fit vented soffit so the gutter hangs on something solid.
On a lot with real grade, aiming a downspout at a neighbour or back at the house are both easy mistakes. Buried pipe puts water where you chose.
We look at what overhangs the roof, read the fall of the lot, measure the runs and check fascia by hand.
Footage, size, hanger type and spacing, downspouts, any guard recommendation with its reason, fascia work and drainage.
Where your scope needs a permit we pull it with the township, confirming current requirements with the building department first.
Old gutter down, rotted board replaced, runs formed on site and hung to a consistent pitch, outlets cut where water needs to leave.
We do the whole roofline in house — useful where one street holds a 1979 tri-level and a 2004 colonial.
Shaded north elevations near the river corridor stay damp and show it first. See vinyl siding and trim.
We run up from 31097 Fraser Dr, and have as a family-owned company since 2011.
A house under mature growth near the river and one on an open subdivision get different answers — including no.
A 1970s tri-level starts with the fascia board; a 2000s two-storey starts with capacity and downspout placement. Both exist here.
On the highest ground in this part of the county, where the downspout points has consequences.
Itemized run by run, including hanger type and any fascia repair.
Reviews come straight from our Google Business Profile, so you are reading what homeowners around Shelby Township actually wrote.
Shelby runs from the Utica end up toward Stony Creek, all of it on our route north from Fraser.
More often here than anywhere else we work, but it depends on the lot. Stony Creek Metropark, the 600-acre Riverbend Park and Yates Cider Mill are all inside the township, and the river corridor carries mature tree cover. Houses near it fill fast; those on open interior subdivisions frequently need no guards at all.
Different ones. The fascia is generally sound; what is wrong is capacity and outlet placement on a taller, steeper roof with more valleys. The conversation there is six-inch trough with 3×4 downspouts on the hardest-working runs, not rot.
It changes where they should discharge, the half of the job people forget. Shelby is the high ground at 679 feet, against 610 in Fraser and 577 at the river mouth. A lot with real fall can carry water away or send it back at the house, depending on where the downspout ends.
Snow on a shaded north elevation lingers, and the Great Lakes region averages about 42 freeze-thaw cycles a year according to the University of Michigan’s GLISA program. Every cycle refreezes meltwater in the trough, on top of Macomb County’s 25 psf ground snow load. That side carries weight for longer.
The fascia. On stock of that era the board behind the gutter has carried fifty years of ice load, and once it softens the hangers have nothing to bite into. Replacing the trough alone resets the clock on the same failure.
Where the work requires one, yes. Requirements and fees are set by the township and change, so we confirm the current position with the building department for your scope.
We measure the runs, check the fascia and deck edge, look at the canopy overhead and write down exactly what we would do and what it costs.
