I bought a new construction home 2 years ago. There are huge 100 foot cedars behind my house that clog my gutters with these...


What's good to go and what's a gimmick? I'd like to get this right the first time. I spent the afternoon scooping decomposing branches and needles out of my gutters.

Thanks,
Tony.

I know my mother looked into a variety of them and I did the math. She could hire a handyman to clean her gutters twice a year for the next 30 years (or more if the money was invested) for what they would cost to install.

I replaced my old open gutters with Leaf Guard gutters. They work. They have been in place for several years now with no clogs. Leaf Guard's method of attachment using internal brackets works well. Over time, the rolled edge will get dirty and affect performance to some degree, but it is not a serious issue. I bought them to keep from ever having to climb a ladder again, and I am not about to climb up to scrub the edges of the gutters. Any company's gutter guard will get dirty.

I have the Ez gutter guards that snap in and have been very happy with them as a lot of the leaves simply fall off of it due to the shape of them. The gutter company installed them when they installed the gutters. Once in a while I blow the leaves off of them with the leaf blower.


These:
https://www.amazon.com/Z-GUTTE...ZDM9?ref_=ast_bbp_dp

When I moved into our current home I picked up two new hobbies. Picking up fallen limbs from the roughly 35 trees and monthly gutter cleanings.

I cheeped out and got some expanded metal gutter screens at Lowes.

They just slip up under the shingles. They work but did not stay in place as well as I would like so I spent an afternoon drilling small holes in the top lip of the gutters and I zip tied them in place. I haven't cleaned a gutter in two years. IIRC Cost only about $1 per foot. I do have build up of debris in the inside corners due to the overshoot blockers that has to be cleaned a couple times a year.

I can't find the product online at Lowes but last I looked they still sold it.

I used the more open mesh vs the more closed mesh of some others because I was afraid the tighter mesh would not capture the water in a heave rain off a 6/12 pitch roof fast enough.

The open mesh does catch leaf stems and maple whirly birds some but they eventually work out.

I have tried the plastic guard that looks like expanded metal. It comes in a 25' roll that is about 7 inches wide. You curve them a little and they go up under the edge of the roof and the lip of the gutter. the metal roof makes it a bit more difficult to make some of the guards work.

Jury is still out as to how they work. I am trying them first on the gutters that are closest to the trees before I go all in as I have a little over 1,000 feet of gutter in all and it will get pricey.

I bought and installed Costco gutter guards and am well satisfied. I needed the 6" version.

https://www.costco.com/EasyOn-...oduct.100019377.html

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
and! they are on Sale !

For those that have them two questions. First how do you get asphalt out? Second the friends I know that have them are lazy and don't do any kind of maintenance. Two of my neighbors have them, both have trees growing out of them. Seems pricey to me and not sure how you actually maintain them?

Put on Leaf Filters last year.
A little pricey but very high quality.
Work great.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
For those that have them two questions. First how do you get asphalt out? Second the friends I know that have them are lazy and don't do any kind of maintenance. Two of my neighbors have them, both have trees growing out of them. Seems pricey to me and not sure how you actually maintain them?

I have a 1 story house and the ones with the larger holes that I referenced above, they're humped shaped upwards, so most stuff blows off of them with the wind. Once every 3-4 months when my banyan tree drops a lot of leaves, I'll just stick the leaf blower along it and blow them off. One time in 4-5 years, I took one short section off to clear the drain area of built up debris of asphalt and small leaf particles.

I bought some cheap gutter guards from Lowes for 3 or 4 bucks a 2 ft sheet and they have worked fine for several years now. I'm sure there might be better products but for the price I paid I'm 100% satisfied.

quote:

Originally posted by GaryBF:
I replaced my old open gutters with Leaf Guard gutters. They work. They have been in place for several years now with no clogs. Leaf Guard's method of attachment using internal brackets works well. Over time, the rolled edge will get dirty and affect performance to some degree, but it is not a serious issue. I bought them to keep from ever having to climb a ladder again, and I am not about to climb up to scrub the edges of the gutters. Any company's gutter guard will get dirty.

I considered Leafguard a few years ago and decided I could probably live with the upper guard portion of the Leafguard system staying dirty, but debris clings to the entire outside face of the gutters, and IMO, it makes the house look like crap, which means periodic powerwashing. It also told me that if it rains hard, water is directed outside the gutters, which defeats the purpose. I observed a neighbors house during a heavy rain and witnessed that myself.

I deal with a 60 year old pin oak that drops a gazillion leaves. That is my only tree nearby. The leaves and acorns blow right off and with 6" gutter I'm not going to worry about asphalt or dirt until there is an obvious reason. It is not a big deal to remove them, other than standing on and moving a ladder. 2 hex head self tapping screws are on each piece which are 48" iirc. could be a little shorter. There is an attached tape strip but I did not use it and after 2 years I've had zero issues with wind. Completely solved my problem.

I know of another house with same Costco gguards that has a large white pine close to the house. When the w pine sheds its needles they get lodged and are unsightly. I wouldn't be satisfied with them in that situation.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
I know my mother looked into a variety of them and I did the math. She could hire a handyman to clean her gutters twice a year for the next 30 years (or more if the money was invested) for what they would cost to install.

I did that same math myself and came to that same conclusion. It works as long as you have a reliable gutter service, and I’ve been struggling with that lately. Had to fire my last guy, and unimpressed with the new guy.

quote:

Originally posted by doublesharp:
I bought and installed Costco gutter guards and am well satisfied. I needed the 6" version.

https://www.costco.com/EasyOn-...oduct.100019377.html

Another vote for Costco gutter guard. Installed a year ago. No issues. We have maple trees all around our house, lots of leaves and millions of the small seeds!

I had a leaf guard salesman stop and give me a quote prior to my install of Costco guards. He was worse than any used cars salesman I have ever dealt with. His first quote amount was $22,000! No typo, unbelievable. Then then sign today for the sale price.

We had the 'helmet' type and they did not work well for us. Part of that might have been the combination of hard rain and steep/long roof but in storms the water came so hard it never went into the gutter, just slooshed off and around. Had a lot of rot damage in the soffits, etc.

So when I got new gutters this past year, I put in larger gutters without helmets for now, focusing on prevention (i.e. keeping nearby trees trimmed so they don't dump leaves/acorns/needles.)

When/if that approach fails, I will put on gutter guards of the type with pinholes. Consumer Reports did some testing link to CR video summary of the problems with foam inserts, surface tension-helmet types, and big-hole filters and the small-hole filter types actually let water in and kept the crud out.

Thanks guys! I'll try the costco ones.

Tony.

I have used these on 2 homes that I have owned, as well as recommended to several more. They have performed flawlessly and improve the strength of the gutter during snow/ice season.

Leaf Relief

I was at a gun show in San Antonio a few months ago, and I saw a neato product. It was a block of material that you drop into your gutters that take up the entire space so material can’t fall into it. It is porous so the water flows through. I talked to 5he girl, and I seem to remember the price wasn’t so bad.