Need advice for gutter guards

I love my new seamless gutters but I've alreadyhad to clean the leaves out after only a month. I should have had gutter guards installed when the gutter guy was here knowing how close teh trees are to my house. Stupid me.

I see Lowes sells two main styles - solid and screened. Anybody think one style is superior than the other?

Also - it looks to me like leaves will still collect on top of the guter guards given the slope of the roof and the ledge the gutters will not create. Will I still have to brush them off periodically? Or will the wind take care of that?

Thanks!

Man , I been thinking about the same thing. Any experiences out there??

How about cutting any trees close to your house back?

It seems the wind takes care of cleaning the leaves off as long as they can dry. It's when they get wet that they pack down and won't move. I've gpt the screen style guards on some of our gutters and some flat plastic panels w/ slots in them on others, can't see that it makes much difference as they both seem to work pretty well.

Gooserider

I found some inexpensive screened plastic guards at Lowes. They are about 3 feet long by 6 or 8 inches wide, very thin. They slide up under the shingles and snap securely onto the leading edge of the gutter. They are less than $2 each. I bought one, tried it out and it works great. Going back for the rest soon.

I put on seamless 6 inch and 3x4 downspouts only to find out they are just a bigger basket for leaves. Let me know if you find a solution...

I know someone who paid $2000 for gutter helmet...

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/repair/msg0907050224523.html

is a good thread talking about these with a LOT of input. I have intended to check out the Alcoa "leaf relief" system that is widely liked - seems to be fairly well regarded and a fraction of the cost of other options. I can think of SO many more fun things to do with $2000 than install gutter guards.

-Colin

Some will find the screens helpful. I prefer the solid type with slots. The screens used in my area always get the stems of leaves stuck in em, and the lil maple whilybird saplings go through them. I bought some solid types at a building supply house, made a lil sturdier. Its all I would ever install when I was still roofing.
The leaves usually shuck off on their own with the help of wind and heavier rains. Just my opinion, but the screens are junk. The blow out unless fastened, and then when the crap does get under there anyways, you have to unfasten & pullem out to clean the gutters. Gutter helmet works, but is expensive. Cheaper just to clean the gutters out in spring & fall as needed. As already suggested, maybe not cut near trees down, but trim the branches near the house back away from the roof.

I just did a two week search on the good and bad of all gutter guards I could find, the link below pretty well sums it all up for me.

http://www.askthebuilder.com/541_Gutter_Guard_Truth.shtml

However, there is a new type now mentioned you might want to look at,

http://www.askthebuilder.com/692_Gutter_Guard.shtml


Robbie

This also looks quite similar to the Alcoa leaf relief system. Rather than the "reverse curve" designs that are supposed to magically shed leaves, it's very small perforations/mesh on a flat metal support that lets stuff dry out and be blown away, or easily brushed aside when the weather is dry.

This further encourages me to check out the Alcoa system. I'm very skeptical of companies that have specialized dealers that only do gutter work vs. a commodity building supply that I can buy anywhere - if your only business is installing gutter guards, then I can see how you have to charge $20/foot.

-Colin

I installed Hallett gutter covers on our house and have been quite pleased with the results over the last three years. Have had one blockage due to Maple seeds. You can check them out at www.hallettent.com/. If you can't find a dealer, it's quite easy to become one yourself.

One thing that I did, which isn't a cure, but does help some, is to leave the end caps out of the gutter runs (or remove them) At least that way if / when the downspout clogs up, or you get such a deluge that the downspout capacity is exceeded, the rain goes out the end of the gutter instead of overflowing it.... At least that way it minimizes the harm.

Gooserider

i went to germany this past summer and noticed their downspouts are huge--at least 6 inch--my first thought no leaf is going to plug that up---i was impressed with alot of what they do---they do something once and make sure they don't have to come back and do it again---not like me ---over and over again

I had the "Gutter Helmet" brand gutter guards installed a few years back. Although pricey, they were one of the best investments I've made in my house to date. They perform very well and catch probably 95% of the rain water coming off the roof. There is very little maintenance (if you can call it that)...I basically take a stiff broom and clean any dirt off the front of the guards a couple time per year. I was cleaning my gutters 6-7 times per year before the helmets. And you all know that by the time you realize the gutters are clogged, the water is already rotting your house.
IMO a good investment. I initially balked at the price, but I haven't had to fool with the gutters since the install. In fact I still go out when it's raining just to watch how well they work.