Gutter repair in Southfield
A seam that drips, a run that has pulled away, a downspout hanging off its strap. These are priced per item, and two or three of them together still cost less than replacing the lot.
A referral service for Southfield homeowners. An automated assistant answers; calls are recorded.
Typical cost: Seamless aluminum replacement, $6 – $12 per foot installed; $900 – $2,400 for a typical house (three Metro Detroit contractors’ posted 2026 ranges)
- Cost to call
- Nothing
- Answered by
- Automated assistant
- Hours
- Any hour
Priced per item
Ask which items your house actually needs.
The itemized list and the replacement figure come from the same contractor’s price guide, so the comparison is like for like. Neither is a Southfield price. Every range on the site.
In Southfield, working gutters are a rule, not a preference.
The code the city adopted requires roof drains, gutters and downspouts to be kept in good repair and free from obstructions, and says roof water must not be discharged so that it creates a public nuisance. the city’s adopting ordinance · the code’s own wording
It binds whoever owns the house, whether you live in it or rent it out. A sag is not cosmetic.
When repair stops being the cheaper answer
No published rule decides this. Here is the arithmetic.
- Count the items. Four repairs at the top of their ranges — $150 reseal, $200 re-hang, $400 section, $200 downspout — is $950, which is already inside the $900 to $2,400 replacement band (the same contractor’s list).
- Ask what the hangers are going into. If the fascia is soft, re-hanging puts new screws into the same wood. That is a carpentry line, not a gutter line, and it should be priced separately. Why a 1969 house raises this.
- Ask where the water is going. A run that has been overflowing for a season has been putting water somewhere. Where roof water is supposed to go here.
Questions
Checked October 10, 2026
The city sent me a notice about my gutters. Is that real?
- It can be: the code the city adopted requires gutters and downspouts to be kept in good repair and free from obstructions (the adopting ordinance (PDF)). We cannot tell you what any particular notice means — the department that sent it can, and the building department is at 248-796-4100 (building department).
Does a repair need a permit?
- No city page states whether gutter work of any kind needs a building permit on its own — gutters appear in the permit paperwork with a $50 bond and excluded from plan review, and never in a sentence (the bond sheet). What the city does say.
Does a repair contractor have to be licensed?
- If the job passes $600 of labor and materials, yes — Michigan lists gutters by name among the trades, and the city repeats the threshold in its own words (the state’s trade list · the city’s FAQ). You can check any license yourself at the state license lookup.
Will I be charged for the visit?
- Calling us costs nothing. Some contractors charge to come out or to get up on the roof. Ask before they come, and get the price in writing.