Gutters: DIY or Nah?

We closed on our first home in late October. We’ve discovered that the lack of gutters leads to some water retention in areas of our yard that also don’t drain quickly. We are considering rain barrels to address the water retention (and water the plants). But, we learned that we need gutters to feed the rain barrels. So, we’ve decided we probably need to install gutters.

We’re on a budget (read: poor!). My partner is a mechanic and knows his way around a toolbox. We are slowly gaining confidence around our shared ability to do home maintenance (caulking, AC vent clean out, etc.) but we haven’t done any major projects.

H&G board, my questions for you are these:

• what’s the feasibility of DIY gutters? Is gutter installation something that folks of average intelligence and skill can do? Our philosophy so far has been to balance the cost of a potential screw up against the cost savings and sense of ownership that DIY gives. Can we do serious and costly damage if we mess up the gutters?

• what’s the cost of pro installation? DIY will still require us to purchase a not insignificant amount of materials. We’ll even need a ladder. If it’s only going to save us a marginal amount to DIY, I might lean more toward professional. For context: home is on the Westbank of Jefferson Parish. I would appreciate any referrals for professional installation services as well.