Gutter Warranties: What the "Lifetime" Paper Actually Covers

A gutter warranty is one of those things everybody says they have and almost nobody has read. The installer said "lifetime," the brochure had a shield on it, and that was the end of the conversation. Then a corner starts dripping, or the paint on the south side goes chalky, and the question turns practical: who actually pays, and for what?

We install and repair seamless gutters across the north and northwest Chicago suburbs, and we get this question often enough that we sat down and read two real gutter-coil warranties end to end: the Custom-Bilt Metals Limited Lifetime Coating Warranty for Metal Rain Gutter Products and the ALSCO aluminum building products lifetime warranty, issued from Elk Grove Village, right here in Cook County. What follows is what those documents say, in plain English, and what to ask for so you are not relying on a sales pitch.

What does a gutter warranty actually cover?

Most homes have two separate gutter warranties. The company that made the painted aluminum coil warrants the finish: it will not peel, crack or flake, and it will not fade or chalk past a measured limit. The company that formed and hung the gutter warrants its own labor, if it put that promise in writing. Storm damage belongs to neither.

Seamless gutters are rolled on site from a coil of pre-painted aluminum. The coil maker never sees your house, so its warranty is about the one thing it controls: the paint on the metal. Everything that happens after the coil leaves the truck, including the corners, the end caps, the hangers and the pitch, is the installer's work. If you have gutter guards, those usually come with a third warranty from the guard maker.

What does "lifetime" mean on gutter coil paint?

On gutter coil, "lifetime" is measured against the owner, not the metal. The Custom-Bilt warranty runs "during the lifetime of Owner, and as long as Owner owns the building," and it is non-transferable. ALSCO's lifetime coverage is transferable, but the second owner gets 50 years from the original installation date, with costs shared. Neither pays full value forever.

The Custom-Bilt document is the clearer example of how the money shrinks. Its total liability is capped at the original purchase price of the material paid to the company. For claims after the tenth year from the date of shipment, that cap drops on a schedule printed in the warranty itself:

Notice what that percentage is a percentage of: the price of the coil, which is a small slice of what a gutter job costs. The same warranty says replacement "does not include labor costs of Material removal, fabrication or installation." ALSCO's certificate works differently for a second owner: its share of the cost begins to shrink in the sixth year and falls by 10 points a year from 90% through the thirteenth year. Both companies keep the right to repair or replace only the part that actually failed.

What do the fade and chalk numbers in the warranty mean?

They are lab measurements, so "it looks faded to me" is not a claim. Custom-Bilt warrants the paint will not fade more than 5 units of color difference under ASTM D2244, compared against unexposed coil, or chalk worse than a rating of 8. ALSCO measures fade and chalk with the same ASTM test methods. Some weathering is expected.

Chalk is the powdery film that rubs off on your finger when paint breaks down in the sun. The chalk test rates it on a 10-point scale, where 10 means none at all, so a rating of 8 allows a light film before the warranty kicks in. The fade figure is a color-difference number from an instrument reading. Custom-Bilt adds that color change "may not be uniform," and it does not warrant that it will be. In practice that means the south and west runs on your house can look lighter than the north side while still being inside the warranty.

The useful thing to keep is a scrap of the original coil or the color name and invoice. Custom-Bilt compares the weathered surface against "the original or unexposed coated surface," and its claim notice has to include enough to establish the invoice number, the date and the address of installation.

What will the coil maker refuse to pay for?

The exclusion list is long. The Custom-Bilt warranty excludes damage from sealant or fastener contact, overdriven fasteners, runoff from copper, lead or pressure-treated lumber, poor drainage, high-pressure washing, improper installation, and hail or winds over 55 mph. ALSCO excludes dissimilar-metal contact such as copper, zinc and steel. Several of these happen on ordinary Chicago-area houses.

Custom-Bilt's warranty is also conditioned on maintenance: cleaning with plain tap water, or a mild detergent with less than 0.5% phosphate followed by a clear rinse, and never abrasive or chemical cleaners. That is one more reason a proper gutter cleaning is done by hand and hose, not with a pressure washer.

Then there is the paperwork. Custom-Bilt's coverage does not start until the registration form reaches the company within 150 days of purchase, and the coil has to be installed within six months of purchase. A claim is waived unless written notice reaches the company within 30 days of discovering the defect, and the company gets to inspect and take a sample first. ALSCO asks for a $50 payment with each claim, and says corrective work may not be started until ALSCO gives permission. If you fix it first and ask later, you may have paid for it yourself.

Who covers a leaking corner or a sagging gutter?

The installer, and only if the installer's warranty is written down. Joints, outlets, hanger spacing and pitch are all decisions made on your house on install day, and neither coil warranty we read covers them. Ask for a workmanship warranty with a stated length and a list of what it covers, written into the contract before work starts.

Illinois already gives you the hook for this. Under the Home Repair and Remodeling Act, 815 ILCS 513/15, a job over $1,000 needs a written contract stating the total cost, "including parts and materials listed with reasonable particularity." For gutters, reasonable particularity is a good place to ask for the coil maker, the gauge, the color, the hanger type and the downspout size, which is also exactly the information a coil warranty claim will need later.

A useful workmanship warranty answers five questions: how long it lasts, whether it covers leaking joints and outlets, whether it covers hangers pulling loose, whether it transfers if you sell, and what voids it (for example, another company adding guards or re-hanging a section). The installers who tell you "lifetime, guaranteed" at the door on a Saturday and cannot show you any of that on paper are offering a feeling, and feelings are hard to file a claim against. Hold every bid for seamless gutter installation to the same five answers, ours included.

If the problem is a corner or end cap dripping, our guide to seamless gutters leaking at the corners walks through what can be resealed and what needs rebuilding. If the whole run is dropping, why gutters sag or pull away covers the hanger and fascia side.

Is it a warranty claim or an insurance claim?

If the damage came from weather, it is an insurance question. Both coating warranties exclude natural forces, and Custom-Bilt names hail, wind-blown debris and winds over 55 mph. If the damage came from time, sun or the installation, it is a warranty question. Getting that right first saves a wasted claim on either side.

Hail-dented gutters are worth more to a claim than most homeowners expect, because soft aluminum records the size and direction of the hail. We explain that in hail damage to gutters and downspouts. One Illinois rule to know: a roofing or gutter contractor may not negotiate your insurance claim. We document the damage and build the estimate; our affiliated licensed public adjuster, State Adjusting Services, can represent you on the storm insurance claim itself if you want that help.

Why does every gutter warranty say "limited"?

Because the federal warranty rules require a written warranty to be titled either "full" or "limited," and a full one has strict conditions. According to the FTC's guide to federal warranty law, a full warranty must be free of charge, follow the product to any owner during the warranty period, and cannot require a registration card. Gutter-coil warranties don't meet that.

That is why the word "lifetime" and the word "limited" sit side by side on the same certificate. The FTC guide says outright that requiring customers to return a registration card "is an unreasonable duty that is not allowed in a full warranty." A warranty that caps payment at the coil price, excludes labor, or stops at the first owner is, by definition, limited. None of that makes it worthless. It just means the details in the fine print are the warranty, and the word on the cover is marketing.

What should be in your gutter warranty folder?

Five pieces of paper settle nearly every gutter warranty question later: the signed contract, the final invoice, the coil maker's warranty for your specific coil, the registration confirmation, and the installer's workmanship warranty. Add dated photos of the finished job, and keep the whole set with your roof paperwork so a buyer or adjuster can see both at once.

If you are selling, check transferability before you promise anything in the listing. Our guide to roof warranties, manufacturer vs workmanship covers the same two-paper split on the roof side.

Related reading: 5-inch vs 6-inch gutters · Do you really need gutter guards?

Frequently asked questions

Does a gutter warranty cover leaks?

Usually not the metal maker's warranty. A gutter-coil warranty covers the paint finish: peeling, chipping, cracking, and fading or chalking past a measured limit. A leaking corner, end cap or outlet is a workmanship problem, so it falls under the installer's own written warranty, if the installer gave you one.

Is a gutter warranty transferable when I sell my house?

It depends on the paper. The Custom-Bilt Metals coating warranty is non-transferable and lasts only while the original owner owns the building. The ALSCO lifetime warranty is transferable, but for the second owner it becomes 50 years from the original installation date, with repair costs shared on a sliding schedule. Read the certificate for your own coil.

Does a gutter warranty cover hail damage?

No. The coating warranties we read exclude natural forces; the Custom-Bilt document names hail, wind-blown debris and winds over 55 mph outright. Dented or split gutters after a storm belong to your homeowners insurance, and in Illinois a licensed public adjuster, not a roofer, may negotiate that claim for you.

Do I have to register a gutter warranty?

Check the certificate. The Custom-Bilt coating warranty does not take effect until the registration form reaches the company within 150 days of purchase. The ALSCO certificate asks for a card signed by the original owner within 30 days of installation and says registration helps confirm the purchase date on a claim. Keep a copy either way.

Not sure whose problem your gutters are? Book a free inspection or contact us at (866) 992-2982. We will tell you whether it is paint, workmanship or storm damage, and we serve the north and northwest Chicago suburbs.