Start with conditions, not a product
Roof area, valleys, tree debris, fascia condition, and downspout discharge point matter more than color -- Cincinnati's hilly Ohio River valley terrain and older housing with steep-pitched roofs makes that clear.
Build a complete scope
- Roof area and valleys, and the capacity that actually follows from them
- Condition of century-old fascia, rafter tails and cornice before hanging
- Downspout count and placement rather than a match to what is there
- Where discharge is carried to on a slope, and whose ground it reaches
- Access between closely built houses, cleaning arrangements, and warranty
Cincinnati context
Cincinnati's hillsides turn a routine question -- where does the downspout end -- into the decision that carries the whole job. On a steep lot, water discharged at the uphill side of a house does not soak in and disperse; it runs downhill along the foundation and arrives somewhere with force, which on these grades can mean a neighbor's wall a short distance below. That is why extended and buried discharge lines are far more common here than in flat cities, and why the discharge point deserves as much thought as the gutter specification. The nineteenth-century housing adds two practical constraints. Closely built homes leave narrow side yards with little room to route water away from either structure, and the older masonry stock frequently needs its fascia, rafter tails and cornice detail assessed before anything new is hung on them, since a century-old wood edge is often what actually failed.