Aluminum, Steel, Copper: Gutter Materials Compared

Aluminum, the default and usually correct

$15-$20 per foot installed. Will not rust, forms seamlessly on site, 20-30 years in this climate. Choose .032 gauge over .027 where ladders and ice are a fact of life; the upcharge is small.

Galvanized steel

$18-$25 per foot. Stiffer and better at surviving ladder abuse and sliding ice, but the coating eventually fails at cut ends and it rusts. 15-25 years.

Copper

$40-$60 per foot. 50+ years, no coating to fail, and it patinas. Justified on historic homes and on architectural elevations. Theft is a genuine consideration on unoccupied properties.

Vinyl

$5-$9 per foot. It becomes brittle below freezing and sags between hangers. In the Red River Valley it is a false economy on anything but a shed.

Where the expensive choice is the cheap choice

Two places: rooflines that will require staging or a lift to reach again, and short accent runs where the material cost is trivial and the failure is visible from the street.