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Eavestrough Installation Cost in Ontario (2026): Continuous Aluminum 5 in. and 6 in. Per Foot, Downspouts, Guards, Removal, and a Bungalow and a Two-Storey Priced to the HST
Exterior Finishes
What Eavestroughs Cost in Ontario, What You Get for $13 a Foot, and Why the Downspouts Are the Part of the Quote to Read Twice
An eavestrough job on an ordinary house is $2,500 to $3,500 before HST, and most of that is $13 a foot of continuous aluminum trough run off a coil in a machine on the back of a truck in your driveway. The trough itself is the easy part to price. The downspouts, how many, where they drop, and where the water goes when it gets to the ground, are where the quotes differ and where the basement gets wet or stays dry. Here is every line, what the 5 in. and 6 in. sizes are for, and two houses priced the way I would price them.
The numbers
$135 in. aluminum trough, per lf
$166 in. aluminum trough, per lf
$12downspout, per lf
$3,187a 156 lf bungalow, 5 in., with HST
| Line | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous aluminum eavestrough, 5 in. K-style | $13 per lf | Run to length on site, hidden hangers every 24 in. or closer, end caps, outlets, corners, sealed. |
| Continuous aluminum eavestrough, 6 in. K-style | $16 per lf | Carries about twice the roof per downspout and holds ice better. Needs a fascia at least 6 in. deep to look right. |
| Downspouts, 2×3 in. or 3×4 in. aluminum | $12 per lf | Per foot of pipe from the outlet to the ground, elbows and straps included in the run. |
| Extra downspout beyond the base layout | $85 each | The outlet cut, two elbows and the straps for an added drop; the pipe is on top at $12 a foot. |
| Gutter guards, aluminum mesh or perforated cover | $9 per lf | Fitted under the drip edge over the trough. When they pay. |
| Leaf screens, snap-in plastic or aluminum | $4 per lf | The cheap version. Keeps maple leaves out, lets needles and keys in. |
| Removal and disposal of the old eaves | $2 per lf | Old trough, old spikes, old downspouts off and gone. Not optional on a replacement. |
Minimum job $900. The rates assume the fascia is sound and straight; if the eaves are going on with new soffit and fascia, price that first on the soffit and fascia page, and the rot line lives there too.
What continuous aluminum is and why it is the only thing to buy
Sectional eavestrough is the 10 ft lengths from the building supply, joined with slip connectors and sealant every 10 ft. Every joint is a leak waiting for its third winter. Continuous trough is formed on site from a coil of flat aluminum fed through a roll-forming machine, and the run comes out of the machine in one piece, 40 ft or 60 ft or whatever the wall is. The only joints are at the corners and the outlets, which are riveted and sealed. That is the whole difference.
K-style is the profile, the one with the flat back and the moulded front that looks like a crown moulding from the street. 5 in. is the standard residential size. 6 in. is what goes on a steep roof, a long run, a roof with a valley dumping into it, or a house where the owner is tired of ice ripping the trough off. The sizing page has the roof-area arithmetic; the short version is 5 in. handles about 600 sq ft of roof per downspout and 6 in. about 1,200.
Hangers matter more than the trough. Hidden hangers screwed through the back into the fascia every 24 in., closer where snow slides, hold a trough full of ice. The old spike-and-ferrule, a 7 in. nail through the front of the trough, pulls out of a wet fascia in a few winters and leaves the holes. If a quote does not say hidden hangers, ask.
A bungalow, priced
The 40 x 38 ft hip-roof bungalow from the soffit page: eavestrough on every side, 156 lf. Roof footprint about 1,520 sq ft, so at 5 in. it needs at least three downspouts for the area (1,520 divided by 600 is 2.5) and at least four for the run length (156 divided by 40 is 3.9), so four it is, one near each corner. A bungalow downspout is about 10 ft from outlet to ground.
Trough 156 at $13 is $2,028. Downspouts 4 at 10 lf, 40 lf at $12, $480. Remove the old eaves 156 at $2, $312. Total $2,820 before HST, $366.60 of HST, $3,186.60. The same house in 6 in. is 156 at $16, $2,496, which is $468 more for the trough and the same everything else: $3,288 before HST. Guards on top, 156 at $9, add $1,404; screens, 156 at $4, add $624.
If the valley on the back dumps into one spot and you want a fifth drop there, that is $85 for the outlet and elbows plus 10 lf of pipe at $12, $205. Cheap next to a trough that overflows at that corner every spring and feeds the window well below it.
A two-storey with a porch, priced
The 30 x 40 ft gable two-storey, 8/12 pitch, with the 24 ft porch roof. Eavestrough goes on eaves, not rakes, so the trough is the two 40 ft sides and the porch: 104 lf. The roof surface is the footprint, 1,200 sq ft, times the pitch factor for 8/12, about 1.2, so about 1,440 sq ft, and each 40 ft eave takes half of it, 720 sq ft. That is more than a 5 in. trough with one downspout is meant to carry, so the choice is two downspouts on each long side in 5 in., or one on each side in 6 in. On a two-storey, where every downspout is 22 ft of pipe down the wall, 6 in. is the cheaper answer and the better-looking one.
Trough 104 at $16 is $1,664. Downspouts: two at 22 lf on the main roof and one at 10 lf on the porch, 54 lf at $12, $648. Removal 104 at $2, $208. Total $2,520 before HST, $327.60 of HST, $2,847.60. In 5 in. with four main downspouts it would be 104 at $13, $1,352, plus 98 lf of pipe at $12, $1,176, plus $208: $2,736, more than the 6 in. job and with two more pipes on the front of the house.
The whole-house budget on the exterior renovation hub carries 150 lf of eavestrough at $1,950 as its trough line, which is the 5 in. rate; add the downspouts for your storey count to it.
Where it goes wrong
- The water stops at the bottom of the downspout. A downspout that ends at a splash block against the foundation puts 700 sq ft of roof into the backfill beside the basement wall every storm. Six feet from the wall, or into a drain. The sizing page covers the discharge rule, and the basement pages on this site cover what happens when it is ignored.
- No slope, or slope the wrong way. About 1/16 in. per foot toward the outlet, set with a level and a string before the hangers go in. A trough set dead level holds an inch of water forever and freezes solid in December.
- Trough behind the drip edge instead of under it. The roof drip edge has to lap into the trough. If the back of the trough is behind it, water runs down the fascia, which is how fascia rots, and the rotten fascia page is the bill.
- Spikes. If the quote says spike and ferrule, it is the 1990 method on a 2026 price. Hidden hangers, screwed.
- Guards sold before the trough is sized. A 5 in. trough that overflows at the valley does not need $1,400 of guards; it needs a 6 in. trough or another downspout. Size first, guard second, if at all.
Ice is the other thing. A trough full of ice is a symptom, not a cause, and the cause is an attic that is warm enough to melt the roof from underneath. That is the ice dam page, and attic ventilation is the fix; no eavestrough on the price list changes it.
Questions people ask
How much do eavestroughs cost per foot in Ontario?
$13 a linear foot for 5 in. continuous aluminum and $16 for 6 in., installed with hidden hangers, before downspouts at $12 a foot, removal of the old eaves at $2 a foot, and HST.
How much to replace eavestroughs on a whole house?
A 156 ft bungalow with four downspouts is about $2,820 before HST in 5 in.; a two-storey with 104 ft of eave and three long downspouts is about $2,520 in 6 in. Guards add $9 a foot on top.
Should I get 5 in. or 6 in. eavestroughs?
5 in. for a bungalow with a plain roof and a downspout every 40 ft. 6 in. for a steep roof, a long run, a valley dumping into the trough, a two-storey where you want fewer downspouts, or anywhere ice has torn the old trough off. It is $3 a foot more.
Do I need to remove the old eavestroughs first?
Yes, and it is $2 a foot. The old trough comes off so the fascia can be looked at, the old spike holes filled or covered, and the new hangers screwed into sound wood. Nobody hangs new trough over old.
How many downspouts does a house need?
At least one per 40 ft of trough, and one per 600 sq ft of roof in 5 in. or 1,200 sq ft in 6 in., whichever gives more. A plain bungalow usually lands at four; a two-storey in 6 in. at two or three. Each added drop is $85 plus the pipe.
Get your own number
The soffit, fascia and eavestrough calculator takes the eave length, the roof area and the storey count, picks the trough size and the downspout count by the rules on this page, and prices the removal and the guards as separate lines. If you have quotes already and none of them say how many downspouts or where they discharge, the $99 review reads them against this list.
Sources and further reading
- Alu-Rex: seamless eavestrough and gutter-guard systems made for Canadian snow and ice; sizing and installation notes.
- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: the Canadian wall-assembly and moisture research behind rainscreens and the second plane of protection.
- Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs: Ontario government: the 10-day cooling-off period on a contract signed at your door, the written contract rule, estimates, and the door-to-door rules.
