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Quad, half-round or box gutters: which does your house have?

Quad gutters hang off the eaves of brick and timber houses alike; half-round, square-line and fascia gutters suit other rooflines, and box gutters sit inside the roof. Here’s how to tell them apart, the sizes sold in Queensland, and what each costs per metre.

  • Quad: 115, 150 and 175 mm in Queensland
  • Box gutters: designed to AS/NZS 3500.3
  • Prices per metre by gutter profile

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Gutter types, Brisbane: roofer fixing a gutter bracket to the fascia of a weatherboard house, half-round verandah gutter beside him

Published

The short answer

Look at the front of the gutter from the ground. Quad has a flat face with a curved, moulded front edge, and Lysaght sells it for “both contemporary and traditional homes”. Half-round is a semicircle hung from brackets. Square-line has a plain square face. A fascia gutter is a tall steel face that replaces the timber fascia board. A box gutter can’t be seen from the street at all: it sits inside the roof, between two roof sections or behind a parapet, and when it overflows the water comes inside. The building code’s standard gutter rules exclude box gutters, so they’re custom made and designed to AS/NZS 3500.3. A national cost guide puts Colorbond quad at $45 to $85 per metre installed and custom box gutters at $150 to $350 per metre.

Gutter types: how to tell quad, half-round, square-line, fascia and box gutters apart

The main gutter profiles on Brisbane houses

GutterWhat it looks likeWhere you see it
QuadFlat back, flat base, and a front face with a moulded curve along the top edgeEaves of brick and timber houses; Lysaght’s Queenslander range shows only quad
Half-roundA semicircular trough on brackets, open at the topLysaght sells it for “modern style houses”; a national cost guide says it “is often specified in heritage areas”
Square-lineA plain, square front faceLysaght sells its square-fronted gutter for “houses, patios, carports & sheds”
Fascia gutterA tall steel face that is the fascia and the gutter in oneRenovations replacing rotten timber fascia
Box gutter (concealed)Not visible from the ground: a flat-bottomed channel inside the roof lineBetween two roof sections or behind a parapet; a national cost guide says terraces and some architect-designed homes

Checked 5 November 2026. Descriptions from Lysaght’s product pages and Yakka Labour’s gutter guide. “Quad” is a common profile name; HALF ROUND and the other Lysaght names are its trade marks.

If you’re not sure, a photo of the gutter end, taken from the side, shows the profile clearly. Matching an existing profile matters when only one run is being replaced.

Quad gutters: sizes and high-front or low-front

Lysaght describes its quad gutter as suiting “both contemporary and traditional homes” and “both steel and tile roofs”. In Queensland it sells four quad sizes: 115 Hi-Front, 150 Hi-Front, 150 Lo-Front and 175, which has “larger capacity for water management”. Its 115 Lo-Front and 125 sizes are not sold in Queensland.

A high front hides the lower edge of the tiles or roof sheets. Lysaght’s Queensland brochure says high-fronted gutters are “a popular aesthetic choice”, but that where they’re installed the building code “requires that provision must be made to avoid any overflow back into the roof or building structure”. That usually means slots or another overflow along the front, and the overflowing gutters guide explains why Brisbane storms make it matter.

How much water each Lysaght quad gutter carries (effective cross-section)

GutterUnslottedSlotted
Quad Hi-Front 1155,809 mm²5,225 mm²
Quad Hi-Front 1507,430 mm²6,700 mm²
Quad 1508,631 mm²Not listed
Quad 17514,500 mm²Not listed

Lysaght Rainwater Solutions Queensland brochure (12/2025), values it says are “calculated in accordance with AS/NZS 3500.3”, checked 5 November 2026. By our arithmetic, slotting takes about 10% off a Quad Hi-Front 115.

A bigger section only helps if there are enough downpipes to empty it. Ask the roofer to size the gutter and the number of downpipes together.

Half-round, square-line and fascia gutters

Half-round gutters

Lysaght says its half-round has “a high rainfall carrying capacity, and a curved base for improved self-cleaning and minimal build-up of water and dirt”. Its Queensland version is the Half Round 150. A related profile, Flat Back, has the same curved base with a flat rear face.

Square-line gutters

A square-fronted gutter, sold in Queensland as Lysaght’s Trimline, suits houses, patios and carports with plain, modern lines.

Fascia gutters and steel fascia

A fascia gutter combines the fascia and the gutter in one steel section. Yakka Labour says these systems are used “replacing timber fascia boards that rot”. A steel fascia on its own, such as Lysaght’s Novaline, “Replaces traditional timber fascia”, so there’s no fascia to paint. If old timber fascia is found rotten when the gutters come off, ask for both options priced.

Box gutters and concealed gutters: what’s different

A box gutter is a flat-bottomed gutter built inside the roof line, so it has no outside edge to overflow from. The building code treats it differently. NCC 2022 lets gutters follow the simpler rules in the ABCB Housing Provisions only if the system “excludes box gutters”; a box gutter is designed to AS/NZS 3500.3, the plumbing Standard for roof drainage, or as an engineered performance solution. Lysaght’s Queensland brochure recommends designing box gutters for a 100-year storm, against a minimum of 20 years for an ordinary eaves gutter, because an overflow is likely to damage the building.

Box gutters are made to order: folded to fit the roof, with a sump or rain head at the outlet and an overflow that sends water outside. That makes replacement a measure-and-price job. Why box gutters leak, the warning signs and the overflow fixes are in the overflowing gutters guide.

  • Ask how the new box gutter will be sized and what Standard it’s designed to.
  • Ask what overflow it will have, and where that water goes.
  • Ask whether the roof sheets or flashings beside it need to come up, and whether that’s in the price.

Gutters on Queenslanders and character houses

No Brisbane City Council guide says which gutter profile a character house should have. Council’s painting guide for traditional timber houses covers colour: “Trims such as gutters, downpipes, front doors and handrails were typically painted dark colours like deep red, deep green and charcoal grey.” Lysaght’s Queenslander look book shows only quad gutters, in high-front and low-front versions.

If the house is in a character overlay, matching the existing gutter profile and colour keeps the look. The guide to re-roofing a Queenslander covers the overlay and when to check with Council.

Gutter prices per metre by profile, including box gutters

Only one publisher prices gutter profiles separately: a national cost guide. Brisbane contractors publish a single per-metre rate whatever the profile; those, with whole-house, downpipe and fascia prices, are in the gutter replacement cost guide.

Installed gutter prices per metre, by profile (national)

GutterPublished priceWho publishes it
Zincalume quad$40 – $70 per metreYakka Labour
Colorbond quad or OG$45 – $85 per metreYakka Labour
Colorbond half-round or square line$55 – $95 per metreYakka Labour
Aluminium (quad or half-round)$55 – $100 per metreYakka Labour
Fascia-integrated steel system$80 – $140 per metreYakka Labour
Copper half-round$150 – $300 per metreYakka Labour
Box gutter, custom folded$150 – $350 per metreYakka Labour

Checked 5 November 2026. Yakka Labour is a labour-hire company’s national cost guide (published 1 October 2026); it gives these as “Installed cost per metre (incl. GST)” and says they “include removing the old gutter, new brackets, stop ends, outlets and installation at single-storey height”. Downpipes are extra. No Brisbane contractor publishes separate rates for quad, half-round or box gutters.

Yakka Labour adds: “Expect a box gutter replacement to cost several times more per metre than an eaves gutter.” Height, access, the number of corners and any rain heads or sumps add to a box gutter job.

Common questions

What’s the difference between a box gutter and a concealed gutter?

The terms are used loosely, and no gutter manufacturer we checked defines “concealed”. Both usually mean a gutter you can’t see from the street because it sits inside or behind the roof line, such as a box gutter between two roof sections or behind a parapet, rather than an eaves gutter hanging off the fascia.

Can I swap half-round gutters for quad, or the other way round?

Yes, when the gutters are replaced. Change whole runs rather than part of one, so the profiles meet cleanly at the corners, and size the new gutter for the roof it drains. On a character house in an overlay, keep the existing look.

Who can replace a box gutter in Queensland?

The QBCC roof and wall cladding class covers fabricating and installing “rainwater goods” and designing “roof drainage components”, and the metal fascias and gutters class covers rainwater goods too. A licence is needed for building work valued over $3,300. Check any roofer’s class on the QBCC licensee register.

Where this information comes from

The prices, rules and advice on this page come from these published pages, checked on 5 November 2026.

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