Rain Gutter Covers

[7shooter]

I put up gutters on my roof last spring and when I went up to clean the leaves out the gutters had a fair amount of both leaves and mud . Do any of you have experience with the gutter covers that you see advertised ? Do they prevent the build up of crud ? Are there any problems like ice under the shingles in the spring ?

 

[Salty RI]

If you have a leaf problem the leaves will get caught on the cover preventing the rain from going into the gutter, your better off cleaning out the gutter's once or twice a year, they have some caps you can put on the drain pipes to keep the leaves from plugging it up.

 

[absolutevil]

I have the plastic mesh ones, AKA: the cheap ones. I get the mud **** to and yes my gutters always fill up with ice in the winter, although I'm not sure gutter guards are to blame.

 

[doublesharp]

I had 5" gutters with gutter guards and never got water in the basement. Last summer replaced the 5" with 6" gutters and no guards. Getting water in the basement so I'm cleaning gutters today as I expect they are full of pin oak leaves.

The guards I had before would leave black streaks on the face of the gutter that took considerable effort to remove. Clearing gutters should be easy walking the roof with a handheld leaf blower. Five minute job provided I don't end up in the emergency room.

 

[ralph7]

I cleaned out a ton of what I thought was mud from the gutters when I moved in last year.
That "mud" was actually residue from the shingles wearing off, and no, gutter guards didn't stop the gutter clog.
Leaves would have been a lot easier to clean.

 

[6518John]

I put up gutters on my roof last spring and when I went up to clean the leaves out the gutters had a fair amount of both leaves and mud . Do any of you have experience with the gutter covers that you see advertised ? Do they prevent the build up of crud ? Are there any problems like ice under the shingles in the spring ?

These are excellent and what I have on my home:

https://www.leafguard.com/

 

[jimtr6]

I had 5" gutters with gutter guards and never got water in the basement. Last summer replaced the 5" with 6" gutters and no guards. Getting water in the basement so I'm cleaning gutters today as I expect they are full of pin oak leaves.

The guards I had before would leave black streaks on the face of the gutter that took considerable effort to remove. Clearing gutters should be easy walking the roof with a handheld leaf blower. Five minute job provided I don't end up in the emergency room.

Doublesharp, we have gutter guards and the black streaks. The wife bought "Jomax" house cleaner that just sprays on and rinses off. Minimal effort and works great. I don't know where she got it or how much it costs, but it works. (No, I don't work for them) We do have a lot of oak trees on six acres and before the gutter guards I'd have to clean the gutters at least weekly in the fall.
For those who like pictures, here's a snapshot from the driveway camera. Yes, I'm too lazy to get up and go take a picture.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I ran a roofing company for several years (we also provided seamless gutters), and I have seen just about everything that can happen with gutters.

The working premise behind the gutter guards is to prevent leaves and other debris from getting into the gutters, typically accomplished with small perforations to permit water to drain into the gutters while keeping the solid stuff out. Some are better than others but they all share one shortcoming, and that is the fact that the water draining through will carry with it any dust, dirt, and small pieces of decomposing vegetation. Over time this will accumulate in the gutters, particularly in any low spots and around downspout drains. The result is essentially a mulch bed. Depending on actual content the accumulations may be anything from rock hard to loamy soft. On many occasions I have seen vegetation sprouting and growing in gutters.

My point is that the gutters will continue to require regular cleaning, with or without gutter guards, and that cleaning is a lot easier to do without having to remove and replace the gutter guards every time.

At my house the gutters are installed with some pitch to drain to the downspouts, and there is at least one downspout for every 20-25 feet of gutter. I clean them out every fall and every spring, first with a putty knife to remove any debris, then with a pressure hose to flush everything thoroughly and clear the downspouts.

YMMV.

 

[dougb1946]

Gutter helmet solved my problem. Wife pointed out that I don't bounce as well as I once did and that a trip to the hospital in an ambulance would probably cost more than the gutter helmet. Called a known contractor, signed a check.

 

[7shooter]

Thanks all for the information. I think I'll forego the gutter covers and just clean them out when needed.

 

[ladder13]

I ran a roofing company for several years (we also provided seamless gutters), and I have seen just about everything that can happen with gutters.

The working premise behind the gutter guards is to prevent leaves and other debris from getting into the gutters, typically accomplished with small perforations to permit water to drain into the gutters while keeping the solid stuff out. Some are better than others but they all share one shortcoming, and that is the fact that the water draining through will carry with it any dust, dirt, and small pieces of decomposing vegetation. Over time this will accumulate in the gutters, particularly in any low spots and around downspout drains. The result is essentially a mulch bed. Depending on actual content the accumulations may be anything from rock hard to loamy soft. On many occasions I have seen vegetation sprouting and growing in gutters.

My point is that the gutters will continue to require regular cleaning, with or without gutter guards, and that cleaning is a lot easier to do without having to remove and replace the gutter guards every time.

At my house the gutters are installed with some pitch to drain to the downspouts, and there is at least one downspout for every 20-25 feet of gutter. I clean them out every fall and every spring, first with a putty knife to remove any debris, then with a pressure hose to flush everything thoroughly and clear the downspouts.

YMMV.

What Ray said^^^^^. Gutter guards are a waste of money, I've tried a few of them. Better to just clean them.
As far as height goes, I insert the nozzle of my backpack blower to 2 or 2 1/2 lengths of 10' long downspout with a piece of J shaped flex hose on the end, to remove the leaves from the 2nd floor gutters, works great. And I'm standing on the ground the whole time.

 

[federali]

I first tried those open mesh units available from Home Depot. The leaf stems would enter the mesh and eventually it looked like a leaf farm. The gutter guards also blew off in high winds.

I had new leaders and gutters installed by a contractor using a fine mesh cover. So far, nothing blows off, no leaves get caught and the openings appear small enough to prevent the shaded grit from the shingles from entering the gutter. I've had them about three years without issues.

 

[chief38]

When I had new gutters installed a few years back I had some brand or gutter guard installed as well. It is two layers of metal (one upper and one lower) with holes in it. It DOES work well in keeping the leaves out in the Fall HOWEVER in the spring I get tons of those "Pug Noses" or "Helicopters" stuck in the many holes. I do need to get up on a ladder an clean out those, but it greatly helps me in the fall and I do not have to clean them of leaves.

There is no perfect brand or design that doesn't have some type of flaw; some are better than others but the bottom line here is at one point or another, you will need to get the ladder out!

 

[islamoradamark]

i got a couple of rentals i try to cut back trees as far as i can not only for the leaves but the critters also

 

[loutent]

We have this foam stuff on just our "problem" areas and haven't had to clean the gutters in probably 5 years in those spots:

Gutter Guards - GutterStuff Foam Inserts - Rainwater Catchment Harvesting Filters

 

[M&P Freak]

They have GutterStuff at Home Depot. Looks easy to deal with. I'm going to be trying it out this season.

 

[halvenut]

Has anyone tried the product called Gutter Brush?

 

[vytoland]

home depot has gutter guards with a filter bonded to the material. It is designed to keep small debris out of your gutter. This helps eliminate clogs.

they are easy to install. Ive used them for many years and they do a good job of keeping the dirt and leaves out of the gutter. I haven't cleaned a gutter in decades and never have a problem with rain water coming over the top of the gutters......

 

[BigBoy99]

Due to age and health problems, ladders and gutter cleaning are no longer in my realm of activities. We have pine needles collecting in the gutters causing the problems. The thousands of dollars quoted for the gutter covers, we determined that paying someone a $100 each year to clean out the gutters would far cheaper than getting the gutter covers. It will be 28 years before the gutters would be cheaper and by then I'll have been long gone by then!