Sounds reasonable to me. Copper is EXPENSIVE, and so is the labor to solder it cleanly. Most plumbers can't solder neatly enough.

And you can expect your insurance premiums to skyrocket ... that's a very tempting amount of copper hanging out there in plain sight for the copper thieves. Your front elevation would POP right out at them.

Many folks want to conceal gutters and downspouts, feeling that they detract from a house. Accordingly, some architects and designers have individual design solutions to minimize their appearance.

Some even go to the extent to omit gutters and downspouts entirely, which may mean long-term foundation damage in areas of high rainfall and expansive soils.

Interesting to see someone who likes the look of gutters and downspouts. You must be very detail oriented.

My roofers tell me that there is an entire industry built around collecting copper scraps from construction sites and selling the scraps back for recycling!

For the $14K upcharge, perhaps you could offset that by omitting the garage and simply erecting the gutters and downspouts alone? Just a humorous thought!

Good luck on your project.

We have copper half round gutters on a +/- 6k sf house. The entire cost was less than your $14K upgrade. Look up half round copper gutter, etc prices online - they can be purchased online. I think you'll find them for way less. I'd also get another quote, if you only have one.

fwiw, we did copper on front and sides of the house. Our roof pitch is steep and both companies that priced said we did not want to do half round on the back - that the water would go right over the gutters. So on the back we have bronze gutters (blend in with the house/trim) and round bronze downspouts.

We had some copper round gutter pieces left over. I was going to use them out in the yard, where the underground downspout water exits - they were the ONLY things taken from our job site. Yes, I was ticked.

Actually here, there is a whole industry here of illegally stripping the copper pipes out of houses.

I think that copper prices have gone up significantly recently. Half round does require more fabrication and fitting of parts compared to K (?) gutters.

Well we don't have copper, just regular gutters but we switched to round spout with no additional charge.

Can you post elevation(s)?

Have you considered the half-round in other materials and finishes? What type of material, shape, and finish had you picked initially?

K style gutters made from copper are likely to be a little lower.

The correct grade of copper coil can even be run trough a seamless gutter forming setup.

Copper half round in my area is $35/ft.
Plus downspouts, collector boxes, etc.
Casey

It used to be around $1 a foot fr regular K-style seamless.

how much did the car elevator cost, Mitt?

Car elevator??

You can get an idea of the price here......

http://www.bing.com/search?q=copper+half+round+gutters&qs=AS&form=QBLH&pq=copper+half+round+gutter&sc=5-24&sp=2&sk=AS1

allison - copper has gone WAY up since you built. Metals are at a historic all time high. We did copper half rounds on a larger house for around 10-12 k. However, we used a combo of copper and coated copper gutters. If I remember correctly the downspouts were not available in the coated copper material, but the half round gutters were. Or vice versa ;). At any rate, it saved us several thousand dollars. Whatever the copper coated material was it has been in use for 50 plus years and ages just like copper. That seems to be the case - can't tell a difference in the way they age. Copper gutters made a HUGE difference on our house and I am very glad we bit the bullet and did it. Plus they will last as long as we own the place ;)

I am attaching a link where this has been discussed before with more information about what we did.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/build/msg0810325831303.html

Also, here is a picture of our copper gutters.

Excuse the too small, half dead planters. Those have since been replaced!

I am attaching a link where this has been discussed before with more information about what we did.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/build/msg0810325831303.html

Also, here is a picture of our copper gutters.

Excuse the too small, half dead planters. Those have since been replaced!

To my eye, half round gutters are the opposite of pop. They create a light gradient that makes the roof lines appear dull and blended. The K-style develop contrasting lines of highlight and shadow along the profile--and even more so in a darker finish.

I'd have to see your elevation and finish materials to make a definitive statement, but you might consider an aluminum K gutter in dark bronze finish.

Supposedly there are also aluminum gutters with an applied copper finish that patinas similar to solid copper. I have no personal experience with these, but they are on the market.

I love copper in a kitchen . . . but in this application, not so much. No way I'd pay that upcharge.

Half round gutters are specced by the purist architects. No need for them to be copper. There are lots of clad options, where you still get the beauty of the half round and the round downspout (some don't appreciate but I really am not a fan of crimped gutters or K style at all!). If you fall into that category, investigate half round in other claddings. They are very pretty, and I have a friend who used half round galvanized gutters on her white farmhouse and they were perfect! We looked at them seriously and they don't have much upcharge from the K style/crimped but a much more custom look but none of the standard colors worked for us. We didn't want to get into painting gutters - going for low maintenance - so we ruled it out.

Copper is SO expensive now and we have some prominent gutters unfortunately due to our simplified roof lines, and with our painted brick I just couldn't seen the painted gutters on it. I am so very glad we did it and we only could do it because we had saved a lot in other areas. I would totally do the half round gutters and I think the copper is less important from an aesthetic standpoint if you can find a color that works for you.

To me the upcharge from crimped gutters to half round is very much worth it. The copper upcharge may not be - I love copper gutters and there was no cheaper alternative for us but yowza it was expensive!!! No regrets though!

What is you roof material? No to copper gutters with asphalt shingles. Slate, cedar...go for it.

taxed enuff alreddy

I'm with you FmrQuahog!

Half round gutters must be of a heavier gauge and wider to hold the same amount of water. This makes them expensive whatever the material used.

bump

Yup - definitely a great find for copper thieves. It's worth so much these days people are stealing it from power substations and killing themselves trying to steal it.