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Gutters · Marion County

Gutters in Marion County, FL

NOAA's Atlas 14 gives Ocala a 10-year, 5-minute rain burst of 9.71 inches an hour, and Hurricane Irma dropped 8.63 inches just southeast of Ocala in 2017. Gutter installation in Marion County is sized from bursts like those rather than the yearly total, because a gutter has to carry a storm's heaviest few minutes.

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Updated October 2026

Drone view of a single-story home with a brown-gray shingle roof and box vents under large oak trees, a metal carport roof in the corner and a street behind.

Gutters in Marion County, in short

Florida's code requires gutters only where eaves project less than 6 inches, and downspouts must discharge at least a foot from the wall. On Ocala's burst rate, a 6-inch half-round gutter at a 1/8-inch-per-foot slope handles about 1,090 square feet of roof by our arithmetic, roughly 49% more than a 5-inch. Under oaks and pines, clean them at least twice a year.

Sources for this answer

Marion County figures

The Marion County numbers behind this page

People (2020 Census)
375,908
Housing units (2020 Census)
177,380
Population estimate (ACS 5-year)
400,078
Median age
47.9yrs

Rain

How hard it rains at Ocala

  • 5-minute burst: 9.71 inches an hour in a 10-year storm, 11.3 in a 25-year storm and 13.7 in a 100-year storm.
  • One full hour: 2.08 inches in a 2-year storm, 2.83 in a 10-year and 4.04 in a 100-year.
  • One day: 6.26 inches in a 10-year storm and 10.8 in a 100-year storm.

Those are NOAA Atlas 14 point estimates for Ocala. Across the ten Florida points pulled for this site, the 10-year, 5-minute rate runs from 8.71 inches an hour at Orlando to 11.3 at West Palm Beach, which puts Ocala near the middle of the state's range.

The season stacks the water up. Ocala's normal June-through-August rain is 21.42 inches of a 51.64-inch year, and Milton alone left 9.68 inches south of the city in 2024.

Rain on your roof

Preset: 6.26 inches, the 10-year 24-hour rain (NOAA Atlas 14 at Ocala).

7,800 gallons run off that roof, all of it toward the gutters and downspouts.

Math: square feet × inches × 0.623 gallons.

Sizing

Five-inch or six-inch gutters: the math

Florida's plumbing code lists gutter capacity by size and slope. At 1/8 inch of fall per foot, a 5-inch half-round carries 74 gallons a minute and a 6-inch carries 110, about 49% more (FBC-P Table 1106.6).

A sizing guide used by gutter makers converts that to roof area: 1 gallon a minute matches 96.15 square feet of roof at 1 inch of rain an hour. On Ocala's 9.71-inch burst, that arithmetic gives a 6-inch half-round about 1,090 square feet of roof plan area and a 5-inch about 730. On the plumbing code's 100-year hourly basis of 4.04 inches, the 6-inch serves about 2,620 square feet.

Steeper roofs count as more area: the same guide multiplies plan area by 1.10 for slopes of 6 to 8 inches per foot. Downspouts have limits as well, with a 3-inch round leader rated at 92 gallons a minute and a 4-inch round at 192 (Table 1106.3). These figures are arithmetic on sourced numbers, not a code requirement.

Trees

Oaks, pines and a cleaning calendar

Live oaks drop leaves and fruit that UF/IFAS calls a litter problem, and a mature one spreads 60 to 120 feet wide. Pollen season runs January to June and peaks in March and April, and pine needles fall heaviest from September through November.

A Florida home insurer recommends cleaning gutters at least twice a year, more often under overhanging trees. If your house sits under oaks or pines, a workable rhythm is late April or May after the spring drop, again before the June-to-September storm season, and late November or December after the needle peak.

Code

Where Florida's code sends the water

Gutters with downspouts are required on buildings whose eaves project less than 6 inches, except at gable rakes or a roof above another roof (FBC-R R318.5). Where there are downspouts, they must discharge at least 1 foot from the wall, by underground pipe, extension or splash block; the rule sits in the code's termite-protection section.

Gutters and leaders must be metal or plastic rated for outdoor exposure, with lapped, soldered or caulked joints and corrosion-resistant fasteners of a compatible material (R903.4.2).

A white downspout running down a stucco wall and turning at an elbow onto a splash block that carries water away from the wall (illustration)Illustration

Illustration: downspout onto a splash block

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Gutters by town in Marion County

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Questions

Gutters in Marion County: questions

Do Florida houses need gutters, and does mine in Marion County?

The code requires them only where the eaves are shorter than 6 inches, so a house with wider eaves can legally have none. That is a code minimum, not a rain plan. Ocala's station averages 21.42 inches in June, July and August alone, and runoff from an edge with no gutter lands right beside the foundation. If you add gutters, the downspouts must discharge at least a foot from the wall.

Related: Gutters

Do I want 5 or 6 inch gutters on an Ocala-area roof?

For large or steep roof planes, the 6-inch. At a 1/8-inch-per-foot slope the code table gives a 6-inch half-round 110 gallons a minute against 74 for a 5-inch. Against Ocala's 9.71-inch-an-hour burst, that works out to about 1,090 versus 730 square feet of roof per gutter run in our arithmetic. Where a valley dumps onto one corner, the bigger gutter and an extra downspout give the water somewhere to go.

Related: Gutters

Do I need a permit to install gutters in Marion County?

We did not find a Marion County rule on gutter-only permits, so ask the building office for your address before work starts: Marion County Building Safety for unincorporated areas, or the city office in Ocala, Belleview or Dunnellon. Licensing for gutter-only work is also unsettled in our research. A state rule places gutters inside a specialty contractor scope, but local practice differs from county to county.

Related: FAQ

How do gutters hold up in Marion County storms?

Fastening decides it. The residential code calls for corrosion-resistant fasteners compatible with the gutter, and a hidden-hanger maker suggests 16-inch spacing instead of 24 where storms are common. Ocala's airport saw gusts of 36 knots in Nicole and 35 in Milton, and rain bursts there reach 9.71 inches an hour, so hangers carry wind load and water weight together. Fix a sagging run or a pulled hanger before the next storm finds it.

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Marion County

More in Marion County

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Gutters in Marion County

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