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Gutters · Melbourne

Gutters in Melbourne, FL

Melbourne International Airport averages 50.79 inches of rain a year, and NOAA Atlas 14 puts the city's 10-year, 5-minute burst at 10.5 inches an hour. Gutters in Melbourne, FL are sized for that burst rather than the yearly total, because a gutter that cannot keep up overflows in minutes.

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Updated October 2026

Drone view of a two-story home with a brown shingle roof, a red debris container in the driveway and a neighboring home with a dark blue-gray roof.

Local know-how

10.5 inches an hour at a Melbourne roof edge

An older chart can mislead here. One manufacturer's reproduction of an older SMACNA-style table says it is based on records through 1978 and lists 5-minute, 10-year intensities of 8.3 inches an hour for Tampa and 7.7 for Miami. NOAA's current Atlas 14 value at Melbourne's city point is 10.5.

At 10.5 inches an hour, the arithmetic is short. One gallon per minute drains about 9.2 square feet of roof plan area, so a 6-inch half-round gutter at 1/8-inch slope, rated 110 gpm in the plumbing code, covers roughly 1,000 square feet, and a 5-inch at 74 gpm about 680. On the plumbing code's 100-year, 1-hour basis, 4.32 inches an hour here, the same 6-inch covers about 2,450. These are calculations on sourced numbers, not code requirements.

A steep roof counts for more. Sizing charts multiply plan area by 1.05 at 4 to 5 inches of rise per foot, 1.10 at 6 to 8, and up to 1.30 at 12.

Hardware

Hangers, fasteners and fascia near the lagoon

Florida's residential code wants gutters and leaders of metal or approved plastic, with lapped, soldered or caulked joints, fastened with a corrosion-resistant device of a compatible material.

Wind is the other load. One hidden-hanger maker spaces hangers 24 inches apart as standard but recommends 16-inch spacing in coastal and storm-prone areas for added uplift resistance. Melbourne runs from the mainland onto the barrier island, water covers 11.6% of its area, and Milton's gusts reached 80 mph near the coast in 2024.

Soft fascia will not hold a hanger at any spacing. Melbourne's median house dates from 1985, so look at the board before the new gutter goes up.

An old gutter sagging away from a rotted, water-stained fascia board with peeling paint under the eave (illustration)Illustration

Illustration: a gutter pulling loose from a rotted fascia board.

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Rain on your roof

How much water a Melbourne roof sheds

Rain on your roof

Preset: 7.43 inches, the 10-year 24-hour rain (NOAA Atlas 14 at Melbourne).

9,258 gallons run off that roof, all of it toward the gutters and downspouts.

Math: square feet × inches × 0.623 gallons.

Questions

Gutters in Melbourne: questions

How many downspouts does a Melbourne roof need?

Enough to carry the burst. The plumbing code rates a 3-inch round leader at 92 gpm and a 4-inch round at 192. At 10.5 inches an hour, Melbourne's 10-year, 5-minute rate, one 4-inch round downspout handles about 1,760 square feet of roof plan area and a 3-inch about 840, before any pitch factor. Add up the roof areas that drain to each run and size the leaders to match.

Source: FBC-P 2023, §1106.3.

Related: Gutters

Do gutter guards keep up with Melbourne downpours?

Not fully. In Consumer Reports testing, fine-mesh screens beat screens with larger holes, but even the top-scoring screen was only middling at containing a severe downpour, and inserts did poorly. Guards can also need brushing in high-pollen areas. With Melbourne International averaging 50.79 inches of rain a year and bursts of 10.5 inches an hour, plan for some overflow and some cleaning either way.

Source: Consumer Reports, 2010.

Related: Gutters

Do new gutters in Melbourne need a permit?

Ask the city first. The Florida Building Code requires a permit to construct, alter or repair a building and lets the building official approve ordinary minor repairs without one; the sources behind this page found no statewide rule that singles out gutters either way. In Melbourne that call belongs to the City of Melbourne Building Section. If the job includes fascia or roof-edge work, say so, because roof work carries its own permit rules.

Source: FBC-B 2023, §105.

Related: Gutters

Sources for this page(33)
  1. 1.City of Melbourne, About the City of Melbourne. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  2. 2.U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census (TIGERweb tigerWMS_Census2020 MapServer: POP100, HU100, AREALAND, AREAWATER). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  3. 3.Water share of total area: 11.6%. U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census (TIGERweb tigerWMS_Census2020 MapServer: POP100, HU100, AREALAND, AREAWATER). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  4. 4.Hurricane Milton (2024). NWS Melbourne, County Impacts Associated with Milton (2024). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  5. 5.Median year homes were built: 1985. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (acs2024_5yr), via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  6. 6.NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (annual/seasonal), access-data API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  7. 7.Permit office: City of Melbourne Building Section (Code Compliance Division). City of Melbourne Building Section (Code Compliance Division). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  8. 8.NOAA Atlas 14 (HDSC Precipitation Frequency Data Server). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  9. 9.bergerbp.com. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  10. 10.2023 Florida Building Code, Plumbing, 8th ed., Chapter 11 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7). Source URL inherited from COM-20 (the research cites it "as COM-20").
  11. 11.2023 Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th ed., Chapter 9 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7). Source URL inherited from COM-29 (the research cites it "as COM-29").
  12. 12.Gutterall 6K hanger. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  13. 13.consumerreports.org. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  14. 14.FBC-B 2023 Ch. 1. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  15. 15.NWS Melbourne, County Impacts Associated with Milton (2024), NOAA National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  16. 16.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (acs2024_5yr), via Census Reporter API, U.S. Census Bureau. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  17. 17.City of Melbourne Building Section (Code Compliance Division), City of Melbourne. Read Oct 5, 2026. Official page checked 2026-10-05.
  18. 18.NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9, version 2, partial-duration point estimates at Melbourne's 2020 Census internal point (28.1104, -80.6627), NOAA National Weather Service, Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  19. 19.NWS Melbourne, Post Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Matthew (2016), NOAA National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  20. 20.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates (acs2024_5yr), via Census Reporter API, U.S. Census Bureau. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  21. 21.NWS Melbourne, Post Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Ian (2022), NOAA National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  22. 22.NWS Melbourne, Post Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Irma (2017), NOAA National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  23. 23.City of Melbourne, Historic & Architectural Review Board (link on melbourneflorida.org), City of Melbourne. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  24. 24.City of West Melbourne, Building Department, City of West Melbourne. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  25. 25.Town of Melbourne Village, Permits, Town of Melbourne Village. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  26. 26.Brevard County, Building Code Wind Speed Maps, Brevard County. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  27. 27.Brevard County Planning & Development, Building Permits, Brevard County. Read Oct 5, 2026. Official page checked 2026-10-05.
  28. 28.FEMA FL-RA2. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  29. 29.Florida Statutes, section 553.842 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  30. 30.2023 Florida Building Code, Building, 8th ed., Chapter 2 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. Unofficial transcription (UpCodes); verify on floridabuilding.org.
  31. 31.Miami-Dade County RER notice. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  32. 32.FBCR Ch. 9. Read Oct 4, 2026.
  33. 33.NOAA Atlas 14 at Melbourne: 10.5 in/hr (5-minute, 10-year). NOAA Atlas 14 Precipitation Frequency Data Server. Read Oct 5, 2026.

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Gutters in Melbourne

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