Box gutters & slate
Box gutter repair in Pittsburgh: built-in and slate-roof gutters
If your house was built between about 1900 and 1930 in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Highland Park, Mt. Lebanon or Dormont, there's a good chance the gutter is built into the roof edge behind the cornice. When it fails, the water goes into the wall. This is the work most gutter crews decline.
What a box gutter is
A box gutter, sometimes called a built-in or Yankee gutter, is a wooden trough at the roof edge, framed as part of the cornice and lined with metal — originally tin or galvanized steel, sometimes copper. From the street you don't see a gutter at all, just a deep cornice. The roof, usually slate, runs into it, and it drains through an outlet to a downspout on the wall. Thousands of Pittsburgh brick homes and rowhouses from the 1900s through the 1920s have them, and they were built well enough that a lot of the original linings lasted seventy years.
They don't last forever. The lining develops pinholes, the soldered seams crack under freeze-thaw, and water gets into the wooden trough and the cornice behind it. The first sign is usually paint peeling on the cornice, a damp stain on the plaster at the top of a second-floor wall, or a stretch of brick that stays dark for days after rain.
What we do about it
Relining. If the wooden trough is sound, the old lining is cleaned and the gutter is relined. For most homes we use EPDM rubber membrane, fully adhered to a new plywood or board base, lapped up under the slate and over the front edge. It's seamless, flexible in cold, and good for 25–30 years. Copper relining costs more, lasts longer, and is the right choice on a house where the cornice and downspouts are already copper. Either way, the outlet and the first section of downspout get replaced at the same time, because that's where box gutters fail first.
Rebuilding the trough. When water has been in the wood for years, the gutter boards and sometimes the ends of the rafters are rotted. We open the gutter, cut out the bad wood, sister or replace the framing, rebuild the trough to its original profile, and then line it. This is carpentry as much as gutter work, and it's why the price is per foot with a range.
Slate roof gutter work. Many of the same houses have hung gutters on a slate roof, or a mix — box gutter on the front, hung half-round on a rear addition. Slate cracks if you walk on it wrong or drive a fastener through it. We use roof hooks and staging, hangers that fasten to the fascia or through the slate with proper flashing, and we replace any slate we break, which is the standard any slate roofer will tell you to expect.
When a box gutter should not be replaced with aluminum
Every year we see a house where a previous crew nailed a K-style aluminum gutter to the face of the cornice and left the failed box gutter behind it. The water still goes into the wall — it just does it out of sight, and the cornice rots from inside. On some homes the box gutter can be properly decommissioned: the trough is filled, sloped and roofed over, the slate is extended, and a hung gutter takes over. That's a legitimate option and we'll quote it where it makes sense. Covering the problem isn't.
What it costs
| Work | Typical Pittsburgh range |
|---|---|
| EPDM relining, sound trough | $35 – $60 per foot |
| Copper relining, sound trough | $90 – $160 per foot |
| Gutter board and framing rebuild | $40 – $120 per foot, added to lining |
| New outlet and downspout connection | $250 – $600 each |
| Decommission and convert to hung gutter | $50 – $90 per foot |
| Hung gutter on slate, half-round aluminum | $14 – $22 per foot |
One side of a typical 30-foot rowhouse front relined in EPDM with a new outlet is usually $1,300–$2,400. A full wraparound on a Squirrel Hill four-square with rot at two corners runs $6,000–$12,000. Those are ranges, not a quote; the wood decides most of it, and we can't see the wood until the gutter is open. We open a section on the inspection visit and show you.
Yankee gutters on other roofs
Some homes in the older suburbs have a Yankee gutter on a shingle roof rather than slate — a trough built up on the roof surface itself, near the edge, lined with metal. Yankee gutter repair Pittsburgh homeowners ask about is the same relining job, and the same rule applies: fix the lining, don't cover it. If the roof is due for replacement, that's the time to decide whether the Yankee gutter stays or goes.
Related
Ice makes all of this worse, because a box gutter holds a lot more ice than a hung one; ice, snow and gutters in Pittsburgh explains why the north side of a Highland Park house is where the cornice fails first. For the hung-gutter side of the same house, see gutter repair, and for what a plain replacement costs, the pricing page.
Other gutter services
Gutter Repair
Leaking corners, sagging runs, ice-dam damage, separated downspouts and soft fascia — fixed in a morning with a written price first.
Gutter Repair →Seamless Gutter Installation
Seamless aluminum formed on site to fit every wall, sized for Pittsburgh rain and snow load, with 3x4 downspouts where the roof needs them.
Seamless Gutter Installation →Gutter Guards
Micro-mesh, screen and reverse-curve guards, with a straight answer on which ones survive maple seeds, oak leaves and a Pittsburgh ice season.
Gutter Guards →Gutter Cleaning
Every run cleared by hand, downspouts flushed, debris bagged, and a ladder look at hangers and fascia — the visit that tells you whether anything needs fixing.
Gutter Cleaning →Questions we get asked
How do I know if my house has box gutters?
Stand across the street. If the roof edge is a deep, flat-faced cornice with no visible gutter hanging from it, and the downspout comes out of the cornice rather than a gutter, it's a box gutter. Most brick homes from 1900–1930 in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Highland Park and Mt. Lebanon have them; 1950s and later homes almost never do.
Is it cheaper to replace a box gutter with aluminum?
Sometimes, if it's done properly — the trough filled and roofed over and a hung gutter installed. It's rarely cheaper than relining a sound trough, and it changes the look of the house. What is never worth doing is nailing an aluminum gutter over a failed box gutter, which hides the leak and lets the cornice rot.
How long does an EPDM box gutter lining last?
Twenty-five to thirty years when it's fully adhered on a sound base and lapped properly under the slate. The rubber stays flexible below freezing, which is the main advantage over the tin and galvanized linings it replaces. Copper lasts longer — fifty years and up — and costs two to three times as much.
Will you walk on my slate roof?
As little as possible, and never without roof hooks or staging that spread the load. Slate breaks when a boot lands on it at the wrong angle. Any slate we crack, we replace with matching salvage slate, and that's written into the estimate.
Need gutter work in Pittsburgh?
Call for a free estimate. Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.