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Gutters · Miami-Dade County

Gutters in Miami-Dade County, FL

Miami International Airport averages 67.41 inches of rain a year, with 89.6 days of a tenth of an inch or more, and NOAA Atlas 14 puts Miami's 10-year, 5-minute burst at 10.8 inches an hour. Gutters in Miami-Dade County have to be sized for that burst, not the yearly total, and hung to stay put in hurricane wind.

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High-Velocity Hurricane Zone

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 Miami-Dade, in short

The code requires gutters only where eaves project less than 6 inches, and every downspout must discharge at least 1 foot from the wall. Size on Miami's 10.8-inch-per-hour burst: a 6-inch half-round gutter carries about 49% more water than a 5-inch at the same slope. Fasteners must resist corrosion and match the gutter metal.

Sources for this answer

Rain

67.41 inches a year, three-quarters of it from May to October

At Miami International Airport, 51.64 of the normal 67.41 inches arrive between May and October, and June alone averages 10.51. Gauges elsewhere in the county read lower: 57.18 inches at Miami Beach and 59.90 at the Homestead general aviation airport.

Among the ten Florida stations in NOAA's 1991-2020 normals that our research pulled, Miami International is the wettest, ahead of West Palm Beach at 61.75 and Fort Lauderdale at 60.95.

Sizing

Sizing for the 5-minute burst

Gutter sizing works from short bursts, not yearly totals. NOAA Atlas 14 gives Miami 10.8 inches an hour for the 10-year, 5-minute rate, near the top of the Florida range of 8.71 inches at Orlando to 11.3 at West Palm Beach. An older sizing table still reproduced by a gutter maker, based on records through 1978, lists Miami at 7.7, so a system sized from it can fall short.

The plumbing code's capacity table shows what size buys. On the same 1/8-inch-per-foot fall, the table rates a 5-inch half-round at 74 gallons a minute and a 6-inch at 110, roughly 49% more. A 3-inch round downspout carries 92 gallons a minute and a 4-inch round 192 (FBC-P Tables 1106.3 and 1106.6).

The calculator below starts from Miami's 10-year, 24-hour storm of 8.27 inches; change it to match your own roof.

Rain on your roof

Preset: 8.27 inches, the 10-year 24-hour rain (NOAA Atlas 14 at Miami).

10,304 gallons run off that roof, all of it toward the gutters and downspouts.

Math: square feet × inches × 0.623 gallons.

Code

When gutters are required and where the water goes

Florida's code requires gutters with downspouts on buildings whose eaves project less than 6 inches, except at gable end rakes or on a roof above another roof (FBC-R R318.5). A house with deeper eaves may go without.

Every downspout has to put its water down a foot or more out from the wall, whether through buried pipe, a tail extension or a splash block, a requirement Florida files under termite protection. In parts of the county where Eta left streets impassable for days, the discharge point deserves as much thought as the gutter.

White rectangular downspout on a stucco wall turning out onto a splash block (illustration)Illustration

Illustration: a downspout carrying water away from the wall

Hardware

Hangers and fasteners for hurricane country

The residential code requires gutters and leaders of metal or approved plastic, with lapped, soldered or caulked joints, secured with corrosion-resistant fasteners of a compatible material (FBC-R R903.4.2). One hidden-hanger maker recommends a clip option and 16-inch spacing in coastal, storm-prone areas instead of its standard 24 inches.

Water covers 20.5% of Miami-Dade's total area, and NOAA's soil samples after Irma showed saltwater along Brickell Bay Drive and one block in from the coast on Key Biscayne. Near the bay and the ocean, check fastener metal and hanger spacing closely.

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Questions

Gutters in Miami-Dade County: questions

Do I need a permit to install gutters in Florida?

It depends on the building office, so ask the one that permits your address before work starts. In Miami-Dade that is your city's office in the 34 municipalities, or Miami-Dade RER in unincorporated areas. The Florida Building Code regulates the gutters themselves either way: where they are required (R318.5), what they are made of and how they are fastened (R903.4.2), and how far downspouts must discharge.

Source: FBC-Residential 2023, R318.5.

Related: Gutters

Why do so many Florida homes not have gutters?

Because the code requires them only on buildings whose eaves project less than 6 inches (FBC-R R318.5), so a house with a deep overhang can go without. The water still has to land somewhere: Miami International Airport averages 67.41 inches a year, and without a gutter it falls in a line along the eave, splashing the walls and soaking the soil at the foundation. Gutters with downspouts that discharge at least a foot out move it away.

Source: FBC-Residential 2023, R318.5.

Related: Gutters

Should I choose 5-inch or 6-inch gutters in Miami-Dade?

Price the 6-inch first. At the same 1/8-inch-per-foot slope, a 6-inch half-round carries 110 gallons a minute to a 5-inch's 74, about 49% more (FBC-P Table 1106.6), and Miami's 10-year, 5-minute burst of 10.8 inches an hour sits near the top of Florida's range. Roof area, pitch and the number of downspouts settle the final size; the calculator on this page helps you estimate.

Source: FBC-Plumbing 2023, Table 1106.6.

Related: Gutters

Will gutters stay up in a Miami-Dade hurricane?

Their fastening decides it. Florida's residential code requires gutters to be securely fastened with corrosion-resistant fasteners compatible with the gutter metal, and a hanger maker's coastal advice is a clip option with hangers 16 inches apart rather than 24. A gust like Irma's 74 knots at Opa-locka Airport loads every hanger at once. After a storm, look for sagging runs, pulled hangers and joints that drip.

Source: FBC-Residential 2023, R903.4.2.

Related: Gutters

Miami-Dade County

More in Miami-Dade County

Sources for this page(49)
  1. 1.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (access data service). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  2. 2.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (access data service). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  3. 3.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Irma (AL112017). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  4. 4.Hurricane Irma (2017). NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Irma (AL112017). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  5. 5.Tropical Storm Eta (2020). NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Eta (AL292020). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  6. 6.Water share of total area: 1,900 sq mi land; 489 sq mi water (20.5% of total). U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census counts (POP100, HU100) via TIGERweb tigerWMS_Census2020 layer 82 (Counties). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  7. 7.Incorporated municipalities: 34. Wikipedia, 'List of municipalities in Florida' (cross-checked against Census 2020 TIGER incorporated places). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  8. 8.Permit office: Miami-Dade County Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) - Building & Permits. Miami-Dade County Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) - Building & Permits. Read Oct 5, 2026.
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  10. 10.2023 Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th ed., Chapter 8 (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 NC-2 (the research cites it "as NC-2").
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  15. 15.2023 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").
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  31. 31.Wikipedia, 'Bal Harbour, Florida' (revision 1375200056). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Bal Harbour only.
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  33. 33.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25004, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Aventura only.
  34. 34.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25004, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Surfside only.
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  38. 38.Wikipedia, 'Doral, Florida' (revision 1378436857). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Doral only.
  39. 39.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25034, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Doral only.
  40. 40.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25034, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Princeton only.
  41. 41.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25034, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Naranja only.
  42. 42.Wikipedia, 'Homestead, Florida' (revision 1371633130). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Homestead only.
  43. 43.Wikipedia, 'Florida City, Florida' (revision 1374685437). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Florida City only.
  44. 44.Wikipedia, 'Cutler Bay, Florida' (revision 1374300867). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Cutler Bay only.
  45. 45.Wikipedia, 'Palmetto Bay, Florida' (revision 1377349077). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Palmetto Bay only.
  46. 46.Wikipedia, 'Pinecrest, Florida' (revision 1368463289). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Pinecrest only.
  47. 47.Wikipedia, 'Kendall, Florida' (revision 1374451126). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Kendall only.
  48. 48.Wikipedia, 'Country Walk, Florida' (revision 1374299913). Read Oct 5, 2026. Describes Country Walk only.
  49. 49.NOAA Atlas 14 at Miami: 10.8 in/hr (5-minute, 10-year). NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9 (Southeastern States) version 2, partial-duration series point estimates, via the HDSC PFDS endpoint (ops/research/v3/services/data/noaa-atlas14-florida-rainfall.tsv). Read Oct 5, 2026.

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Gutters in Miami-Dade County

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