Has anyone used Gutter Helmet?

[58Yeoman]

Again, I'm replacing the gutter guards on my gutters, this time using the rolls of plastic mesh. BTW, there are different grades of this mesh; I'm using the better stuff this time.

I've tried the 3' sections of brown plastic mesh that clicks into the gutters, but the sun heats them up and they end up in the gutters, all deformed. The stuff I'm using now is black, and it too will probably melt.

I know that gutter helmet is expensive, so one time I tried a couple sections of the generic stuff from the big box store, but it didn't seem to work well, so I removed them. Is there a trick to this stuff?

 

[Stuart in MN]

There are several similar gutter products out there. I have LeafGuard gutters on my house and they work great - they stay perfectly clean. https://www.leafguard.com/

 

[ccrrar]

I had gutter helmet on a house that backed up to the woods and it worked great.

 

[58Yeoman]

There are several similar gutter products out there. I have LeafGuard gutters on my house and they work great - they stay perfectly clean. https://www.leafguard.com/

I saw that system on This Old House, but my gutters were all replace about 5/6 years ago with seamless gutters. A tree had fallen onto my house, and the company was supposed to replace just the front gutters. My wife went out to check on the progress, and they had already ripped off ALL the gutters (hip roof), so the installer told her that we got three side for free.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Yes, the LeafGuard gutters are integral with the covers, but there are other brands that can be retrofitted to existing conventional gutters. I think they all work pretty much the same.

 

[shoot summ]

I have some sort of gutter/leaf shield, not sure of the brand. They are a cap of sorts that the water follows into the gutter, yet there isn't room for leaves to enter. They work great, occasionally I get some flow over in a really heavy rain, but most of the time there isn't any. And I never have to clean them...

Great this time of year as well when the oak trees, maples, and birch trees are dropping all sorts of ****.

 

[CNGsaves]

Now I want Gutter Helmet . . . . but can't afford the real thing !!

Found full box of clip-in plastic gutter covers at garage sale last year that I'll be trying this year. They are white and blend it well with white gutters.

Friend's house in AR has the steel mesh type and have held up well with lots of leaves and acorns. Installation is more cumbersome as 2 holes need drilled for each piece for sheet metal screws to hold down the steel mesh cover permanently. They do click in outer edge, but screws still needed.

 

[58Yeoman]

Now I want Gutter Helmet . . . . but can't afford the real thing !!

Found full box of clip-in plastic gutter covers at garage sale last year that I'll be trying this year. They are white and blend it well with white gutters.

Friend's house in AR has the steel mesh type and have held up well with lots of leaves and acorns. Installation is more cumbersome as 2 holes need drilled for each piece for sheet metal screws to hold down the steel mesh cover permanently. They do click in outer edge, but screws still needed.

Yeah, when I tried the ones from HD or Lowe's, all they had was white, and my trim is brown. I'm going to look again, as it's been a few years.

 

[TommyD]

We've got an expanded metal type gutter topper that works for the rain but still causes dams. The guy that installed them said the gutter helmet and those types are good for roofs that don't have a steep pitch likes ours, the pitch would cause the rain to just run over the edge and onto the ground below. I don't know f it's true but it does make sense.

 

[Stuart in MN]

We've got an expanded metal type gutter topper that works for the rain but still causes dams. The guy that installed them said the gutter helmet and those types are good for roofs that don't have a steep pitch likes ours, the pitch would cause the rain to just run over the edge and onto the ground below. I don't know f it's true but it does make sense.

My roof has a 10/12 pitch, and I've had no issues with heavy rain - it all goes into the gutter.

 

[Jackfre]

I bought the Expensive stuff for the back of the house, the less expensive metal for the front. We are installing the gutters on the new garage today and my GC suggested the material available at Costco. It comes in a 100' lot each piece being 4'. It looks good.

 

[kd3pc]

I was called out to see why a gutter with a guard was over flowing on even the lightest rain showers.

When I got there and up on the ladder, I see a decent looking gutter guard product, no names or anything on it, and it appeared to have done a great job on leaves and big stuff.

The problem was pollen, shingle gravel and tons of small things had filled the entire length about 3/4 with sediment. Part of the problem was whomever installed the product knocked the gutter out of flow with their ladders, leaving several low spots that filled, and that eliminated the needed overall slope of the gutter.

The downspouts were clogged as well. I was able to clean it out with a hose, and re-slope the gutter to the correct down spouts and things worked well after that.

Gutter guarded gutters still need maintenance. The gutter needs to be sized and sloped correctly. Downspouts and drains need to be maintained.

 

[01f1502wd]

I thought about getting a set of these, but for a couple handfuls of leafs it may not be worth the cost. my biggest issue is after heavy rain storms I see a bunch of little black rocks from the roof that go into the gutters and out the spout, so I have a pile of rocks. Would these leaf guards keep those little rocks out as well?

 

[Top_Fuel]

...my biggest issue is after heavy rain storms I see a bunch of little black rocks from the roof that go into the gutters and out the spout, so I have a pile of rocks. Would these leaf guards keep those little rocks out as well?

The only covering that will keep out absolutely anything (like shingle grit) is something with a micro-screen, like...

Leaf Filter
Master Shield
Gutter Glove

But hold onto your wallet. Some of these solutions are insanely expensive at nearly $25 a foot.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I was initially concerned about stuff like pollen, seeds or grit from the shingles getting inside the gutters (I have a lot of trees and a big roof) but it turned out that wasn't a problem - I've periodically peeked inside the gutters and they've stayed very clean, and they've been in place for probably ten years now with zero maintenance.

 

[kd3pc]

I thought about getting a set of these, but for a couple handfuls of leafs it may not be worth the cost. my biggest issue is after heavy rain storms I see a bunch of little black rocks from the roof that go into the gutters and out the spout, so I have a pile of rocks. Would these leaf guards keep those little rocks out as well?

over the years this becomes the sediment that I mentioned above, in one house where we added a back porch, the gutter we removed had sagged and when we removed it to tie in the new porch, there was 40 or 50 pounds of sediment in the 38' of gutter we took down. That one had the 4' HD sections as a guard.

 

[reader2580]

I had Leafguard gutters on the house I sold last year. They did get some granules from the shingles in them, but they still performed just fine. (I had organic shingles that lost a lot of granules.) I also had a lot of granules below the downspouts.

I badly need gutters on my house and I am trying to decide if I really need Leafguard gutters this time around. I have way less trees at this house. Leafguard would be over $2,000 easily and ordinary seamless gutters are about 30% of the cost of Leafguard.

 

[Top_Fuel]

Another option is Leaf Relief by Alcoa. A lot of roofing and gutter contractors install this product. There's no marketing, middleman or glossy brochures involved, so the cost is generally reasonable.

 

[Kevin54]

This is what we are putting up http://lbplastics.com/products/sweers-home-products/quick-snap-gutter-screen/default.php Last year I put them on the wifes building, and they worked great. This year we are going to finish the house with them. I lucked out though and they had brand new boxes over at our local ReStore and they sold them for $1.00 each for a 3' section.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Gutter Helmet style covers are fine. For leaves. If you have pine trees it will not do as well for needles. I have a system called Gutter Glove Icebreaker. Extruded aluminum with stainless steel micron mesh screen on top. It also has self regulating heat cable built in. I don't have snow from the gutter 4" up my roof. Made in the USA to boot.





It's not the cheapest on the market, but it's REALLY good. Maybe the best. They also have less expensive models. BTW, LeafFilter is a vinyl knock off.

http://www.gutterglove.com/

Tommy

 

[58Yeoman]

I checked Costco's site, and can buy 100' of aluminum/SS covers for $220, and 24' for $60. I have 216' of gutter, so it would cost me about $500 delivered.

 

[steve911]

I checked Costco's site, and can buy 100' of aluminum/SS covers for $220, and 24' for $60. I have 216' of gutter, so it would cost me about $500 delivered.

what is product called on the Costco site?

Thanks

 

[58Yeoman]

what is product called on the Costco site?

Thanks

Easy On Gutter Guard.

http://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch...=10701&langId=-1&refine=&keyword=gutter+guard

 

[Hpozzuoli]

I have actual gutter helmet brand guards on the new house. I haven't had a chance to see how much sediment build up is in them yet, but I can say they keep the leaves out. I have a trees everywhere and the gutters have yet to retain any stray leaves.

The plastic covers kevin showed are good. I have installed them on a few homes. I did have one call back to fix because they only came in short runs and a branch knocked them loose.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I checked Costco's site, and can buy 100' of aluminum/SS covers for $220, and 24' for $60. I have 216' of gutter, so it would cost me about $500 delivered.

what is product called on the Costco site?

Thanks

Easy On Gutter Guard.

http://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch...=10701&langId=-1&refine=&keyword=gutter+guard

That's the DIY version of the less expensive model made by Gutter Glove in the link I posted...

Tommy