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Gutters · West Palm Beach

Gutters in West Palm Beach, FL

NOAA Atlas 14 puts a 10-year, 5-minute downpour at 10.9 inches an hour in the middle of West Palm Beach, and at 11.3 at the West Palm Beach point in our statewide table, the highest of its ten Florida points. Gutters here are sized for that burst, not for the average day.

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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.

Local know-how

Sizing gutters for 10.9 inches an hour

The yearly numbers back that up. West Palm Beach International Airport averages 61.75 inches of rain a year, with 86.1 days of a tenth of an inch or more, and 67.3% of it falls from May through October.

Gutter size in Florida is a flow question: section 1106.6 of the plumbing code ties it to how much water the roof sheds. Its table rates a 5-inch half-round gutter at 74 gallons a minute and a 6-inch at 110, both at a 1/8-inch-per-foot slope, so the larger size carries about 49% more. The design rate changes the answer: research arithmetic at The Villages' Atlas 14 rates shows a 6-inch half-round serving about 2,671 square feet of roof on the code's 100-year, 1-hour rate, but only about 1,107 square feet in the 5-minute burst. Both of West Palm Beach's rates are higher, so the same gutter serves less roof here.

Where the water goes is code too. When eaves project less than 6 inches, gutters and downspouts are required, and downspouts must discharge at least 1 foot from the wall by pipe, extension or splash block (FBC-R R318.5).

Wind and salt

Hangers, fascia and fasteners near the lagoon

Gutters and leaders must be metal or plastic accepted for outdoor exposure, with lapped, soldered or caulked joints, fastened with corrosion-resistant hardware that matches the gutter (FBC-R R903.4.2). In a city that grew up on the Lake Worth Lagoon, salt exposure is part of that choice; FEMA finds metal corrosion is most pronounced within 3,000 feet of the ocean.

Hanger spacing matters in wind. One hidden-hanger maker lists 24 inches on center as standard and recommends 16 inches with clips in coastal and storm-prone areas.

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Rain on your roof

How much water a West Palm Beach roof sheds

Rain on your roof

Preset: 9.18 inches, the 10-year 24-hour rain (NOAA Atlas 14 at West Palm Beach).

11,438 gallons run off that roof, all of it toward the gutters and downspouts.

Math: square feet × inches × 0.623 gallons.

Questions

Gutters in West Palm Beach: questions

Do West Palm Beach homes need gutters?

The code requires them only where eaves project less than 6 inches, with exceptions for gable-end rakes and a roof above another roof (FBC-R R318.5). Even on wider eaves, gutters move water away from the walls and foundation, and West Palm Beach has plenty to move: 61.75 inches in a normal year at the airport, most of it from May through October. If you do have gutters, the downspouts must discharge at least 1 foot from the house.

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Do I need a permit to install gutters in West Palm Beach?

Ask the city first. The Florida Building Code requires a permit to construct, alter or repair a building and lets the building official waive it for ordinary minor repairs (FBC-B 105.2.2), so whether a gutter job needs one is the building official's call. In West Palm Beach that is the Building Division in Development Services; outside city limits it is Palm Beach County's Building Division. Ask before work starts, and keep the answer with your house records.

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What size gutter handles a West Palm Beach downpour?

Bigger than the average day suggests. At 10.9 inches an hour for 5 minutes, each gallon a minute of gutter capacity drains about 8.8 square feet of roof, using the published conversion of 96.15 square feet per gallon a minute at 1 inch an hour. A 6-inch half-round at 110 gallons a minute covers about 970 square feet of roof plan area in that burst; a 5-inch at 74, about 650. Steeper roofs need more, since pitch factors raise the design area. Treat these as arithmetic on published figures, not a code requirement.

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When should gutters be cleaned in West Palm Beach?

At least twice a year, spring and fall, and more often under trees or after storms, as Tower Hill, a Florida home insurer, advises. In West Palm Beach, aim for one cleaning before the wet season builds toward August, the wettest month at 8.68 inches, and another after hurricane season ends on November 30. Clogged gutters overflow at corners and can push water toward the fascia, the walls and the foundation.

Related: Gutters

Sources for this page(55)
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  5. 5.Single-family detached share of housing units: 38.4%. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25024, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  6. 6.Permit office: City of West Palm Beach - Development Services - Building Division. City of West Palm Beach - Development Services - Building Division. Read Oct 5, 2026.
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  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").
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  23. 23.NOAA Atlas 14 arithmetic at The Villages-area rates (6-inch half-round gutter: about 2,671 sq ft at 3.96 in/hr vs about 1,107 sq ft at 9.55 in/hr), NOAA Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center (research arithmetic). Read Oct 5, 2026.
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  26. 26.FEMA P-499 Technical Fact Sheet 1.7, Coastal Building Materials (metal corrosion within 3,000 feet of the ocean), FEMA (mirror copy). Read Oct 5, 2026.
  27. 27.6K hidden hanger: 24 in on center standard; 16 in with clip for coastal and storm-prone areas, Hanger manufacturer. Read Oct 5, 2026.
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  49. 49.Official website: City of West Palm Beach, Historic Preservation, Official website: City of West Palm Beach. Read Oct 5, 2026.
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  52. 52.Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning & Building - Building Division, Palm Beach County. Read Oct 5, 2026.
  53. 53.Palm Beach County PZB - Building Division, Self-Issued Reroof Applications, Palm Beach County PZB - Building Division. Read Oct 5, 2026.
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  55. 55.NOAA Atlas 14 at West Palm Beach: 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 West Palm Beach

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