Gutter Guard question

[Todd.Brock]

We put an addition on the house and I have a small section of gutters that are under trees. They have been packed full already with walnut leaves. There is only about 45 ft of gutters to deal with. I would like to install a gutter guard but don't need a sales call and sales pitch. We have this type on our house already and they seem to work ok. Problem is, I can find the materials to do the install without calling a gutter company.(sales pitch)

This style and 9 variations of it are available in 4 ft sections at Home Depot. Does anyone have any experience with this DIY version?

 

[Fixin'Stuff]

Around these parts Costco carries some nice looking screens that are very fine mesh and look to be made of stainless steel.

I think they are the ones shown on this page: http://costco.com/CatalogSearch?keyword=gutter

 

[Stuart in MN]

The LeafGuard style in your first photo is a one piece assembly, the cover is part of the gutter itself and is formed by the company's gutter machine so you're right - you can't source those parts for DIY install. Having said that I have them on my house and they work great, I think they were well worth the cost.

 

[reader2580]

I paid about $34 a foot for Leafguard last year. Mine might have been a little more due to extra long downspout on one end. I only did one side of house so far due to the $1700 cost.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Thanks for info. This is just for the covered porch so about 18ft on each side. I measured last night. I may have to dust off the Costco member ship. Thanks for the feed back! I presumed there was a reason I couldn't DIY the style in the photo. They are on the rest of the house, but I don't want to spend the $$. I actually purchased a set of tubes to extend into the gutter from your leaf blower. It worked, but the tubes are flimsy and hard to control. May as well just fix this for good.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Around these parts Costco carries some nice looking screens that are very fine mesh and look to be made of stainless steel.

I think they are the ones shown on this page: http://costco.com/CatalogSearch?keyword=gutter

I wholeheartedly recommend the Easyon Gutter Guard. They are made by Gutterglove. It's a lower cost DIY version of their professionally installed product. Gutterglove is possibly the best gutter topper in the industry.

Tommy

 

[woodzy]

I just did my entire house with the Costco "Easy on" gutter guards. I have a few questions and send an email to the owner of "Easy on" and he responded quickly with what I need to do, and set me some stainless screen (out of stock he had) and some screws, glue, and a brush to clean them if needed. I could be happier with the product and service. They have only been up about 3 weeks so maybe next year at this time I can give you my full opinion but I don't see how anything can get in the gutters anymore.

I installed about 340' of the product in one long Saturday with my son on one ladder and me on the other ladder. I think it worked out to about $2 per foot.

http://www.easyongutterguard.com/

 

[58Yeoman]

I went with the Costco gutter guard after all the others failed. I tried a similar plastic diamond shaped guard, but in brown. The sun melted and twisted them. Black plastic rolls did the same thing. The rolled aluminum failed also, I guess from the weight of snow or squirrels running on them. Costco was about $2/foot, but if you register them, they give you a 25 year warranty. No problems so far.

 

[dave*99]

My neighbor has Gutter Helmet. He says noting gets in the gutters since he had that installed. Including the water. It often sheets right over the gutter and onto the ground.
Central NJ climate.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

My neighbor has Gutter Helmet. He says noting gets in the gutters since he had that installed. Including the water. It often sheets right over the gutter and onto the ground.
Central NJ climate.

I have never seen any of those style covers that use surface tension work well.

Tommy

 

[BearsFan315]

with the Costco Guard, do they clog easily with the fine mesh. grit, debris, leaves !?

i installed these on my garage years ago Hinged Gutter Guard they were extremely easy to install, BUT they collect debris in the area of the arc, where it meets the shingles. also they are starting to rust, so had rust spots on the shingles. stops most of the debris but small stuff and leaves still get through !! have to go up once or twice a year flip em and clean the debris out hte gutters, as well as remove the leaves and debris in the crevis !!

 

[redmondjp]

There is no such thing as a zero-maintenance gutter system.

I have the plastic panels with the diamond-shaped holes and plastic screening from Home Depot (pictured above). I am very happy with them, and they have been on the house for 7-8 years now. It cost me under $100 for the entire house, and I figure on replacing them every 10 years or so.

The do clog with the asphalt roofing granules, especially at the valley drain points where the granules are concentrated. So I go up on the roof with a leafblower or kitchen broom a couple of times a year and clean them off.

 

[churd9]

My mom had them and they will get stuff in them


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[LS6 Tommy]

There is no such thing as a zero-maintenance gutter system.

I have the plastic panels with the diamond-shaped holes and plastic screening from Home Depot (pictured above). I am very happy with them, and they have been on the house for 7-8 years now. It cost me under $100 for the entire house, and I figure on replacing them every 10 years or so.

The do clog with the asphalt roofing granules, especially at the valley drain points where the granules are concentrated. So I go up on the roof with a leafblower or kitchen broom a couple of times a year and clean them off.

Gutterglove is zero maintenance. They are certified for rain harvesting, so the stainless steel mesh is so small nothing gets in. Mine are at least 10'years old and I've never had to touch them. They do not clog, not even with grit from the shingles.

Tommy

 

[Todd.Brock]

Thanks for the feedback! My concern with the mesh screens is this - will they just pile up with leaves? have a couple trees feeding the gutters !! I may have to maintain the gutter guards - but hopefully at a reduced frequency during the rest of the year

 

[redmondjp]

Gutterglove is zero maintenance. They are certified for rain harvesting, so the stainless steel mesh is so small nothing gets in. Mine are at least 10'years old and I've never had to touch them. They do not clog, not even with grit from the shingles.

Tommy

That's good to hear - what is the pitch of your roof? One poster above mentioned the water shooting right across the top of the gutter screens in a heavy downpour.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

My house is a Cape. I've never actually measured it, but it's probably between a 12 and 14 pitch. Nothing has ever overshot the gutters even in downpowers of probably 2" per hour. There are seals at the section joints, so there is a drip or two that runs down the seal and off the edge of the guards. IIRC, they're rated at something like 100"+ of rain per hour...

Tommy

 

[CJ7VFR]

My house has the plastic HD diamond hole style white gutter guards you posted about in your original post, only mine are the older ones that do not have the screens in them that cover the holes.

The guards were put there by the previous owner 10 years ago. He left me a few in the garage that he never used. I have a lot of tall trees around my house, and most of them are Oak trees and Maple trees.

The guards work very well keeping leaves and other **** out of the gutters, but not the little helicopter seeds that come off of Maple trees or those long stringy things that Oak trees put out, both in the spring!

I still have to climb up on a ladder every year and remove the gutter guards and take out the helicopter seeds and stringy things. Luckily for me the helicopter seeds come down first and get stuck in the diamond shaped holes of the guards, and then the stringy things come down and get stuck on the helicopter seeds. It is easy to just pull off the guards and scrape everything out in one shot into a bucket.

As much as a pain as that all is, even when the guards seem to be filled up with seeds and stringy things, the water never has a problem getting into the gutters, and I have never seen any water flow over the edge of the gutters and down the side of the house.

If I had to buy a gutter guard system in the future, I would make sure it had some type of screen in it, as others have mentioned, to help keep the seeds and stringy things out!

Jim

 

[72Wagon]

Has anyone tried the "Gutter Brush" that they advertise on the radio lately? They appear to be a round bristle brush that lies in the gutters and does not let the leaves build up in the gutters.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Has anyone tried the "Gutter Brush" that they advertise on the radio lately? They appear to be a round bristle brush that lies in the gutters and does not let the leaves build up in the gutters.

Pure junk, like the open cell foam inserts. Minute organic matter builds up in it and it eventually becomes a great starter garden for any seeds that get into the mix.

Tommy

 

[ColoMid]

House I bought here, Canton, Ga, is surrounded with red oak, white oak and
long leaf pine. Came with "Gutter Guard (Helmet)". The oak leaves are large and stiff and many find a way to get hung in the slot. Acorns also get jammed in the slot. A pain in the posterior to clear all the debri. Pine needles come down the roof sideways right into the slot. Roof gutter elevation is 10 to 17 ft.
Due to a downed oak on the attached garage and a re-roofing job I requested
the crew not replace the guards. I had on hand a large stack of sec hand gutter screens. The cupped galvanized expanded metal type that clips on the outer edge.
I installed a section as an experiment by flattening them, laying on the outer and rear edges and then use piercing (zip) hex head screws on the outer edge.
After one season and success, I continued replacing all the g. guards.
A little trash accumulates, but very easy to sweep off with a corn broom. Acorns roll right on by. Never a need to access the gutter interior in 2 years.
My major need for all the effort is to protect from clogs in my extensive underground drainage system that had to be replaced/redone from previous owners. Major side benefit is a dry basement where my machine shop is located. No more leaks.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

House I bought here, Canton, Ga, is surrounded with red oak, white oak and
long leaf pine. Came with "Gutter Guard (Helmet)". The oak leaves are large and stiff and many find a way to get hung in the slot. Acorns also get jammed in the slot. A pain in the posterior to clear all the debri. Pine needles come down the roof sideways right into the slot. Roof gutter elevation is 10 to 17 ft.
Due to a downed oak on the attached garage and a re-roofing job I requested
the crew not replace the guards. I had on hand a large stack of sec hand gutter screens. The cupped galvanized expanded metal type that clips on the outer edge.
I installed a section as an experiment by flattening them, laying on the outer and rear edges and then use piercing (zip) hex head screws on the outer edge.
After one season and success, I continued replacing all the g. guards.
A little trash accumulates, but very easy to sweep off with a corn broom. Acorns roll right on by. Never a need to access the gutter interior in 2 years.
My major need for all the effort is to protect from clogs in my extensive underground drainage system that had to be replaced/redone from previous owners. Major side benefit is a dry basement where my machine shop is located. No more leaks.

My parents are in Canton. Nice area!

Tommy

 

[redmondjp]

My major need for all the effort is to protect from clogs in my extensive underground drainage system that had to be replaced/redone from previous owners. Major side benefit is a dry basement where my machine shop is located. No more leaks.

True that - you don't want to clog up the drainage system - that happens ALL THE TIME here in the PNW, typically from fir needles and the like. It packs in so tightly inside the buried drain lines that, after decades, you are better off abandoning those lines altogether and installing new ones.

The also make downspout filters that will screen out the debris before it goes into the drainage system:

http://www.downspoutfilters.com/