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Gutters · Hialeah

Gutters in Hialeah, FL

Hialeah was built on a large prairie between Biscayne Bay and the Everglades, and NOAA Atlas 14 puts its 10-year, 5-minute downpour at 10.9 inches an hour. Gutters in Hialeah earn their keep in that burst, carrying water off the roof edge and, by code, at least a foot clear of the wall.

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Updated October 2026

View down a gray shingle roof slope with pipe boots and a roof vent, neighboring homes and a screened pool enclosure below.

Local know-how

Downspouts first: moving Hialeah's water off the wall

Florida's gutter rule sits in a termite-protection section of the residential code, and it is mostly about where the water lands: downspouts must discharge at least 1 foot from the building's sidewall, by underground pipe, tail extension or splash block (R318.5). The same rule appears in FBC-Building 1503.7.

Downspout size sets how much roof one outlet can drain. In the plumbing code's leader table, a 3-inch round downspout is good for 92 gallons a minute and a 4-inch round for 192. At Hialeah's 10.9-inch burst, with 96.15 square feet of roof per gallon a minute at 1 inch an hour, a 3-inch round drains about 810 square feet of roof footprint and a 4-inch about 1,690.

Rarer storms run higher at the same point: 12.8 inches an hour for a 25-year burst and 15.7 for a 100-year one.

Rain

Hialeah's wet months and the cleaning calendar

At Miami International Airport, normal rain is 67.41 inches a year, and 76.6% of it falls from May through October; June alone brings 10.51 inches. That is the season a clogged outlet shows itself.

A Florida home insurer advises cleaning gutters at least twice a year and more often under trees or after storms. University of Florida researchers put the state's pollen season from January to June, peaking in March and April, with oaks among the heaviest producers, so a spring cleaning before June catches both.

Where the code requires gutters at all: on buildings whose eaves project less than 6 inches, except at gable rakes or a roof above another roof. About 38% of Hialeah's homes are detached houses, each with its own eaves to measure.

White downspout turning onto a splash block that carries water away from a stucco wall (illustration)Illustration

Illustration: a downspout discharging onto a splash block.

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Rain on your roof

How much water a Hialeah roof sheds

Rain on your roof

Preset: 8.41 inches, the 10-year 24-hour rain (NOAA Atlas 14 at Hialeah).

10,479 gallons run off that roof, all of it toward the gutters and downspouts.

Math: square feet × inches × 0.623 gallons.

Questions

Gutters in Hialeah: questions

How far from the house must a Hialeah downspout discharge?

At least 1 foot from the building's sidewall, through underground pipe, a tail extension or a splash block. The rule is FBC-R R318.5, repeated in FBC-Building 1503.7, and it sits among the code's termite protections. On Hialeah's old prairie ground between Biscayne Bay and the Everglades, a longer run away from the slab does no harm. Splash blocks shift, so check them after heavy rain.

Source: FBC-R R318.5.

Related: Gutters

What size downspout does a Hialeah roof need?

Enough to carry the burst, not the average. At NOAA's 10.9-inch-an-hour rate for Hialeah, a 3-inch round downspout drains roughly 810 square feet of roof footprint and a 4-inch round about 1,690, using the plumbing code's 92 and 192 gallon-a-minute ratings. Hialeah's 79,130 homes run from small houses to large buildings, so the number of outlets matters as much as their size.

Source: FBC-P Table 1106.3.

Related: Gutters

Are gutters required on Hialeah homes?

Only where the eaves are short. The residential code requires gutters and downspouts on buildings whose eaves project less than 6 inches, except at gable end rakes or a roof that sheds onto another roof. Everywhere else they are the owner's choice, and with 67.41 inches of rain a year at Miami International Airport, they keep a lot of water off walls and entries.

Source: FBC-R R318.5.

Related: Gutters

Sources for this page(22)
  1. 1.Wikipedia, 'Hialeah, Florida' (revision 1376234072). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  2. 2.U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25035, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  3. 3.Housing units (ACS 5-year): 79,130. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25001, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  4. 4.Single-family detached share of housing units: 38%. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25024, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  5. 5.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (access data service). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  6. 6.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (access data service). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  7. 7.2023 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").
  8. 8.2023 Florida Building Code, Residential, 8th ed., R318.5 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription); FBC-Building 1503.7. Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7).
  9. 9.2023 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").
  10. 10.bergerbp.com. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  11. 11.NOAA Atlas 14 (HDSC Precipitation Frequency Data Server). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  12. 12.NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  13. 13.blogs.ifas.ufl.edu. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  14. 14.thig.com. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  15. 15.NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9 version 2, point precipitation frequency estimate at Hialeah's 2020 Census internal point, NOAA Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  16. 16.City of Hialeah, Building Department, City of Hialeah. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  17. 17.2023 Florida Building Code, Building, 8th ed., Chapter 15 (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 C-14 (the research cites it "as C-14").
  18. 18.miamidade.gov. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  19. 19.Florida Statutes, section 553.844 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  20. 20.Florida Statutes, section 627.7011 (2026). Read Oct 4, 2026.
  21. 21.FBC-Building 2023 Chapter 2 definitions. Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7).
  22. 22.NOAA Atlas 14 at Hialeah: 10.9 in/hr (5-minute, 10-year). NOAA Atlas 14 Precipitation Frequency Data Server. Read Oct 5, 2026.

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Gutters in Hialeah

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