Start with conditions, not a product
Roof area, valleys, tree debris, fascia condition, downspout placement, and where water ultimately discharges outweigh color, given some of the heaviest annual rainfall in the eastern U.S. and steep, forested mountain terrain.
Build a complete scope
- Roof area and valley layout, and the capacity intense mountain rain requires
- Fascia and rafter tail condition on older overhangs, checked before anything is hung
- Downspout count and placement, not just the profile quoted
- Where the water is finally discharged, and what it crosses on the way downhill
- Debris handling, access for maintenance, and warranty terms
Asheville context
Grade and rainfall together decide this work. Intense mountain downpours deliver a great deal of water in a short time, so capacity and downspout count determine whether a system performs at all during the events that matter -- and slope means whatever the system discharges keeps traveling under gravity rather than soaking in where it lands. Clay sheds concentrated flow instead of absorbing it and erodes readily beneath it, so a downspout ending at grade on a hillside cuts a channel and undermines what it crosses, which on these lots can mean a retaining wall or the cut face itself. Freeze-thaw then works on any standing water in a trough or a blocked downspout through the winter.