Gutter guards- what works best?

[Kernopelli]

I am on a mission to stop gutter cleaning! My primary issue tends to be oak leaves, followed by small limb and shingle sediment. In researching online I have quickly become less confident that any product continues to work over time, ie: several years after being installed. It appears that micro screens, "foam filters", anything PVC and any product that lays flat on top of the gutter gets bad reviews over time. So......is there really such a thing as a maintenance free gutter guard?

 

[dalola]

Good question. I've had good luck with the simple, cheap, & easy clip-on screens. The kind that are arced up, with ~1/4" holes in a mesh pattern. They are aluminum w/SS clips. Fines wash through, bigger stuff stays out. Occasionally, in high winds, a corner screen will blow off, and I'll have to reattach. Otherwise, I've had no issues with mine, had them for close to 10 years now. I'm also surrounded by deciduous trees, spruce trees, and white pines, so we get it all. I've tried quite a few different styles of gutter protection, and these have performed the best, and are cheap & easy to install.

 

[Mendonsy]

Good question. I've had good luck with the simple, cheap, & easy clip-on screens. The kind that are arced up, with ~1/4" holes in a mesh pattern. They are aluminum w/SS clips. Fines wash through, bigger stuff stays out. Occasionally, in high winds, a corner screen will blow off, and I'll have to reattach. Otherwise, I've had no issues with mine, had them for close to 10 years now. I'm also surrounded by deciduous trees, spruce trees, and white pines, so we get it all. I've tried quite a few different styles of gutter protection, and these have performed the best, and are cheap & easy to install.

^^^ +1
My trees are mostly red oak and black walnut. Those screens work well and they don't become a home for yellow jackets and wasps.

 

[weathda]

I installed the Easy On Gutter Guard system over a year ago. We moved to a house with a big Oak tree right next to the house and several other decorative trees. The gutters would stop up and over-flow which would cause some moist basement walls. Ever since I installed the gutter guards, problem solved.

No system is 100% maintenance free. There are sections where the roof aggregate builds up. This still has to be cleaned every so often, but it's isolated spots that need cleaning as opposed to walking the whole gutter run.

Time will tell if I stay happy, but I see no reason why I wouldn't. I've been very pleased.

EasyOn Gutterguard: Installing on asphalt shingle roof - YouTube

 

[ChiefBodie]

I installed the simple ones that push under the shingles on one side and clip to the rain gutter on the other. They work great and are almost maintenance free.

I was advised against the foam. It can apparently grow mold or have other problems in non-rainy periods.

 

[oldballs]

After forty some years without any gutter guards, I had installed the gutter guard with BB sized holes (along with a new roof). Over the forty yeas, the Sycamores, White Pines, Soft Maple and Walnuts grew to approx 60 feet with lots of crap that falls out. So after two years of the guards, my conclusion is "They are better than nothing".

At least the leaves do not clog up in the bottom of the gutter where they are really hard to remove even with a blower.. Many of the white pine needles still drop thru the holes and start to build up.....ARG-G-G.

I can get on this shallow roof and blow off most of the leaves that do not blow off in the wind, which is a good thing, but I still have to raised the guards now and then to remove the pine needle build up. AH chit....I'm getting too old for this.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm a huge fan of the simple metal screen gutter guards that you get at Home Depot and Lowes. They are 3 feet long and you can either snap them into place, or screw them down. The goal is to keep the large leaves out of the gutters, but allow maximum water flow into them. It is not to keep 100 percent of everything out of the gutters, so if something really tiny gets through the screen, it's no big deal because the rain water will flush them clean.

One of the big mistakes that I've seen people do is buy those expensive gutter guards sold by gutter companies with super tiny holes in them. On a heavy rain, the water just washes right over the tops of those things and in a valley, will cause the water to back up into the soffits. I've had multiple clients have them installed and had water damage to their soffits, and even the sheetrock inside their house. The company denies that their product causes this, but by just removing their gutter guards, the problem goes away.

 

[jfh28]

I live in the woods so gutter guards are an absolute necessity......I've had the solid water flow type on my gutters for over 10 years now without any trouble......we get some pretty good thunderstorms rolling through in the summer and I've never had a problem with water bypassing the gutter and shooting over the edge.....you do need splash guards at the valleys......for me anything with a hole in the surface is a place for mold and moss to grow.......mine are pvc and I do wish I had gotten the metal instead as pvc gets very brittle with freezing weather and will crack if a limb falls on it in the winter......Jack

 

[KennyG]

I've had good luck with the simple plastic snap in place screens. I have the foam inserts on my pole barn because the geometry precludes use of the screens. The foam works but builds up dirt and lets weeds start to grow in the gutter. It's easier to "weed" the gutter than clean leaves out but is not ideal.

 

[Industrial Toys]

In a down pour, the water will just pour over those micro screens. However, in a downpour, your gutters may be overwhelmed anyway, so is it an issue?

Do the screens help keep your gutters from becoming filled solid with ice?

 

[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