If you bought new around Austin, you probably have gutters on the front and bare roof edges everywhere else — here's why builders do that. The upside of starting from bare is that you get to spec the system right the first time. Here's what right looks like.
Cover the whole roof, sides and back first
The front run the builder installed protects the entry. The sides and back — usually the largest roof planes on the house — are where the water volume actually is, and where the drip-line trench, the splash-stained siding, and the fence mildew line come from. If budget forces phasing, the back of the house is the priority, not the finish line.
Size to the roof, not the default
The default 5-inch spec with 2×3 downspouts fits many homes. The two-story, steep-pitch builds common in the newer neighborhoods often shed more water than that spec swallows in a Texas cloudburst, and those runs want 6-inch with 3×4 downspouts. Which runs need which is a measurement, not a guess — and a mixed spec (6-inch on the big back run, 5-inch elsewhere) is often the honest answer.
Downspout placement is half the system
A gutter that drains to a downspout dumping at the slab edge has moved the problem, not solved it. On Central Texas clay — which swells and shrinks against the foundation with every wet-dry cycle — discharge should land past the beds and away from the slab and fence lines. This is layout work done standing at the house, and it's where a measured estimate earns its keep.
Guards: decide by the trees, not the brochure
New neighborhoods usually mean young trees, and young trees usually mean guards can wait. If you backed up to preserved live oaks or a greenbelt, that math flips, and adding the right guard during the initial install is cheaper than retrofitting later.
One visit settles all of it
Every question above is answered by measuring your actual roof. Larsen or Jeff does that in 30 to 45 minutes, samples in hand, and leaves an exact written price — the visit is free.