Francesco Zinghinì
Author and curator of GutterCalcs.
Author and curator · GutterCalcs
Francesco Zinghinì is the author and curator of GutterCalcs. This is a truthful role: I am not a licensed gutter or roofing contractor, a drainage engineer or any trade professional, and I do not claim any such credential.
My relevant, verifiable competence is building deterministic online calculators (open-source Python projects) and electronic-engineering training (Systems Theory, Sapienza University of Rome) — which gives genuine rigor on the drainage geometry and hydraulics arithmetic. Gutter sizing is a flow-vs-capacity problem: effective roof catchment area × rainfall intensity sets the flow a gutter and downspout size must carry — the same reasoning I apply in systems and electronics. Every formula on this site shows its basis, every convention is cited under Sources, and every calculator is numerically self-checked against known values (see Methodology).
Everything here follows one rule: the tools must stay correct with no ongoing maintenance. That is why every cost tool works only on the quantities you measure and the prices you enter from your own quotes and bills — the site keeps no material or labor price list, no regional cost database and no live rates that would silently go stale. The only baked-in numbers are stable identities (linear feet = Σ runs, effective area = footprint × pitch factor, ceil for whole units, 0.6234 gal per ft² per inch) and clearly labeled industry planning typicals (roof-pitch multipliers, rainfall intensity, drainage per gutter size, downspout capacity, hanger spacing, cost bands) you can adjust to your own project.
Gutters are a real spend, so every cost tool is framed as a planning estimate, not a bid; every quantity tool reminds you to measure your eave runs and confirm capacity, spacing and coverage on your product and allow a little extra for corners, waste and slope; and the sizing / reference tools note their values are labeled typicals, not a certified design — follow local code and the manufacturer’s data. The aim is a neutral, free, no-signup reference you can use to sanity-check a contractor’s numbers — nothing that pretends to replace a professional install, an engineer or local code.
Elsewhere
Reach me through the contact page.