Gutter guards- what works best?

[Deerherd]

The best gutter guard I have purchased looks like a chainsaw. Cut down every tree close enough to drop a leaf, branch or trunk on the house and never clean a gutter again! (Not to mention less storm damage, mold, ice etc)

 

[oldballs]

The best gutter guard I have purchased looks like a chainsaw. Cut down every tree close enough to drop a leaf, branch or trunk on the house and never clean a gutter again! (Not to mention less storm damage, mold, ice etc)

You know, Deerherd, I really have considered that.........but it will have to be in my next life.....too late now.:laughing:

 

[Big Chief]

Leaf relief brand is what I have. Surrounded by oaks. Once they were installed 5 yrs ago I have never had a problem.
Before that my gutterers were always clogging up

 

[ultrarunner]

I've installed the copper half-pipe euro style gutters without any guards... being a half-pipe they flow freely and the downspouts are also larger... plus being smooth inside without ridges or top mounted brackets make them almost self cleaning...

Just put 42' on the 1860 barn here in California... time will tell but unless they get stolen by thieves... I think I'm done with gutter maintenance.

 

[charlton289]

Or one others thing just don't use any gutters problem solved you just have run to get past the edge of the roof where it runs off.

 

[tjkubota93]

I put on Shur flo where I can reach it reasonably. The 1 part of the house that takes my 28' all the way out got Leaf Guard installed by the leaf guard gutter man.

 

[bcp]

My area gets 40-60 inches of rain a year, and fir needles plug up any cover. Driving around, I see some people are changing to "Rainhandler" diverters instead of gutters.

I don't know how successful they have been.

Bruce

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I've installed the copper half-pipe euro style gutters without any guards... being a half-pipe they flow freely and the downspouts are also larger... plus being smooth inside without ridges or top mounted brackets make them almost self cleaning...

Just put 42' on the 1860 barn here in California... time will tell but unless they get stolen by thieves... I think I'm done with gutter maintenance.

It seems like standard gutters are poorly designed from the perspective of minimizing cleaning. When plumbers put in sewer pipes, they have some basic principles to minimize clogging -- all pipes have to be either horizontal or vertical, horizontal pipes are exactly 1/4" drop per foot, and you never reduce the diameter of a pipe. Gutters rarely have a consistent pitch, and it's very common for the joint with the downspout to be a lot smaller than either the gutter or the downspout. What I'd like to try would be gutters designed to convey the leaf litter, and then a catch basin on the ground. That way you can clean it out on the ground rather than hanging off of a ladder. Maybe some sort of cover to keep the biggest stuff out but accept that the cover isn't going to be perfect and design for it.

Or one others thing just don't use any gutters problem solved you just have run to get past the edge of the roof where it runs off.

No gutters or gutters with no downspouts? I've seen gutters without downspouts and no end-caps, it just runs out the end of the gutter. I can see circumstances where that would work.

 

[ultrarunner]

This is what I have been using...

euro copper gutters - Bing

 

[Gunny]

I've been using GutterBrush for five years now. We've got a lot of maples around the house and the gutters were always clogging up, usually at the downspout drop. Since I've put the brushes in I haven't had any problems with clogging. Very easy to install, just drop them in the gutter, slide it down towards the end, drop another one in