Seamless gutters in Tulsa

Tulsa is a midcentury city: of its 194,104 homes, 94,744 went up between 1950 and 1979, the 1970s alone account for 39,711, and the median house dates to 1973, so the typical set of gutters here hangs on a house 45 to 75 years old. Another 29,181 homes predate 1950, and the documented 1910s to 1930s districts are in Midtown: Maple Ridge, Florence Park, Kendall-Whittier. At the other end, 29,038 homes have been built since 2000.

The city sits on both sides of the Arkansas River at the eastern edge of the Cross Timbers, heavily wooded, with tree canopy over about 26 percent of it, which is why the June 18, 2023 storm, with winds reported near 100 mph, dropped thousands of trees, worst in the south Tulsa neighborhoods with the largest and oldest ones. Under all of it is clay. OSU Extension's downspout fact sheet, written around Tulsa, says soil high in clay absorbs little water and runs off, and that every downspout has to drain away from the foundation, which makes where the water lets out as important as the gutter that catches it.

What Tulsa throws at a gutter

Rain, first: the 1991 to 2020 normal is 40.96 inches a year, May alone averages 5.73 inches, most of it in thunderstorms the Weather Service counts at about 50 days a year, and hail comes two to three times a year at any given address, peaking from mid-April to mid-May. When it rains hard, the question is whether the water reaches the downspout before it goes over the front lip. On steep pitches, long runs, valleys and two-story homes Jose moves up to 6 inch gutter, which carries about 40 percent more water than 5 inch.

Then the trees: leaves in fall, limbs after every wind event, shingle grit settling in the bottom of the trough. OSU Extension's advice is to clear gutters at least twice a year and more often when the house sits under trees, which describes the older neighborhoods of south Tulsa and much of Midtown, and it is where gutter guards earn their place. Jose Valdez started AquaOut in 2020, runs a crew of three, carries insurance, works in Spanish and English, and the number on this site is his cell.

• Heavy spring rain. Tulsa's 1991 to 2020 normal is 40.96 inches of rain a year, May is the wettest month at 5.73 inches, and the National Weather Service counts about 50 thunderstorm days a year. The 1984 Memorial Day storm put some 15 inches on the Mingo Creek basin overnight and damaged or destroyed nearly 7,000 buildings.
• Leaves, limbs and shingle grit from a big canopy. Tree canopy covers about 26 percent of the city, the urban forest master plan aims for 30 percent, and Tulsa sits at the eastern edge of the Cross Timbers oak country. OSU Extension says gutters need clearing at least twice a year and more often when the house is surrounded by trees, and the June 18, 2023 wind storm damaged thousands of trees across the metro.
• Clay soil that sends water straight at the foundation. OSU Extension's Tulsa-area downspout fact sheet (BAE-1534) says high-clay Group D soils absorb little water and run off instead, and that every downspout around a house must drain away from the foundation, at least 6 feet from any basement wall. The ASCE homeowner guide on shrink-swell clay says even soil moisture around the foundation is the single best protection, with downspouts discharging at least 3 feet out and the grade falling 3 inches in the first 5 feet.

What Jose installs in Tulsa

• Seamless gutters Aluminum coil run through the machine at your house, one piece per run, no seams to leak.
• Downspouts Sized and placed so water leaves the house, with elbows and splash blocks where they belong.
• Gutter guards Keeps leaves and shingle grit out so the gutters keep draining through fall.
• Gutter repair Sagging, pulling away, leaking at the corners. Rehung, resealed, re-pitched.
• Gutter cleaning Cleared and flushed, downspouts checked, before the next storm fills them.
• Gutter replacement Old gutters down and hauled off, new seamless runs up the same day.