Guide
Aluminum vs Copper Gutters — A Florida Buyer's Guide
Cost, lifespan, salt-air resistance, and resale impact compared honestly.
Quick comparison
Aluminum: $5.75–$8.50 per linear foot installed across regular 5/6/7-inch sizes ($375 install minimum), 20-year warranty, 25+ baked-enamel colors. Copper: $25–$45 per linear foot installed, 50–80 year lifespan, develops protective patina. Most Central Florida homes are aluminum; copper is for estates, historic homes, and architecture that demands the look.
Salt-air considerations
If your home is within five miles of the Atlantic — Daytona Beach, Titusville, Cape Canaveral, Melbourne Beach — salt-bearing humidity changes the calculus. Bare aluminum oxidizes visibly within five to eight years on the coast; the surface gets that chalky white film and the paint adhesion fails from underneath. Painted aluminum with a baked-enamel finish holds up much longer because the paint is the moisture barrier; we use marine-grade stainless fasteners on every coastal install for the same reason. Copper actually thrives in salt air — the patina that takes 8–12 years to develop inland forms in 4–6 years on the coast and is genuinely protective: that green-blue verdigris layer is a stable copper carbonate that resists further corrosion, which is why copper roofs and gutters on Atlantic-coast historic homes are still on the building 80 years later. Galvanized steel and bare aluminum we will not install within five miles of the beach. If budget rules out copper, we use heavy-gauge painted aluminum (0.032 minimum, 0.040 on commercial) with stainless fasteners and an extended sealant warranty.