**Not always — but if your gutters are more than about 15 years old, doing both at once is almost always cheaper.**
Why the two jobs are linked:
– **Tear-off is hard on gutters.** Old shingles get shoveled off the eave, and aluminum already brittle from UV exposure often bends or pulls loose.
– **Drip edge gets replaced regardless,** and new flashing has to tuck correctly behind the gutter.
– **One mobilization instead of two.** Doing gutters six months later means paying again for setup, ladders, and a crew day.
**Keep your gutters** if they’re under ten years old, still pitched correctly, firmly attached, and free of rust or seam separation. No reason to replace working gutters.
**Replace together** if you’re seeing water spilling over the front edge in rain, separation at corners or seams, rust streaks, sagging between hangers, or detachment.
One Houston-specific note: our rainfall intensity overwhelms the standard 5-inch builder-grade gutter on most homes. **Upsizing to 6-inch with 3×4 downspouts** handles our storms far better, and the incremental cost is small while the roof is already open. Worth asking about.