I am in the process of getting my old 70+ year old gutters replaced with larger capacity gutters and downspouts due an issue with the old ones getting completely overwhelmed in the back of my house and dumping tons of water right at my foundation and it gets into my basement.

I went out and watched the one run on my second floor during a big downpour this weekend and saw that it's got a gutter guard type cover but the water seems to be running OVER it and cascading right off the roof into the problem area below. Could this be clogged/blocked up? I can't really see it from the ground well but I can tell it's there and it looks very old.

Should I even get gutter guards for the new ones? Now reading all sorts of information that in a lot of cases they cause more problems than they solve? We do have a large tree nearby that tends to shed a lot of twigs and nuts as well as leaves.

On mine, my main issue is pine needles.
But, mine are like a metal mesh, so they trap the pine needles.
I'd imagine the ones that are a solid top, that the rain is supposed to run over & wrap into the gutters would be better in my case.

I clean a clog in my gutter every year. Same place.

The only solution in my experience is to have a larger diameter downspout. I think it's 1-2" diameter. I want 4" diameter or 3x5" rectangle. Something that won't clog with small leaves and twigs.

Not that I've needed them but I've heard gutter guards are not effective. Crap still gets inside and/or pooling happens on top of the guard and/or you get runoff from the gutters instead of water being directed toward downspout. YMMV.

I’m assuming your gutter guards are clogged if the water is just running over them…hard to say without direct visual inspection but certainly could be the case if they are as old as you say.
I have them on my gutters, they work great and I do have quite a bit of tree cover over the house, leaves/sticks are not a problem in my experience.
LeafFilter or some such name advertised a lot in my area and I replaced my gutters two years ago….a piece of advice, DO NOT use them….I had them out for a quote, they gave me a quote of $9300…the guy said if I sign the contract that day he would knock 1500 off the price…I told him he was entertaining…thanks, but I’m not signing shit!
I had a local gutter contractor come out and give me a quote on the same job…same gutters and guards…his quote…1800!! Needless to say, he got the job, showed up the next week and was done in 1/2 day! Stay away from the national chains that advertise like crazy….

Hey come on Man, you gotta pay for those expensive ads somehow.

Got any friends with a drone? No, Seriously.

When we bought the house, it came with solid metal 'helmet' style gutter guards. They were solid and completely covered the tops of the gutters, and were designed to leave a little gap at the edge. The idea being, the solid cover deflected everything and water was supposed to cling to the guard via surface tension, then get carried over the edge and keep going on the bottom surface, and then drip off into the gutter.

That theory works better in a lab than here in the field, where at least in this part of NC about a third of the time, our rain comes in gully-washer strength, and the volume and our roof lengths would give rainwater too much speed and inertia, and when it hit the helmet it just gushed off the edge and never got into the gutters at all. No junk got in but neither did a lot of the water.

When we replaced the gutters in 2019 and doing a bunch of research, we had Gutter Gloves put in.



The only downside of these for us is that occasionally we need to brush off pine needles if they get stuck in the tiny gaps. But overall we're quite happy with them.

Costco and Sam's sell a diy gutter guard that is very similar to what joel posted. I installed them seven years ago and they completely solved my problem which was similar to PASG's

The type of gutter guard that has a solid cover with a curve on the edge relies on water tension to pull the rainwater into the gutter. A heavy rain or large/steep roof can overwhelm this and allow the rainwater to cascade over the edge. I suspect this is what the OP is experiencing. The mesh or slotted gutter guard types tend to clog and lose their effectiveness even in a single season. Finally, the lower flow rate in the gutters allows accumulation of silt and other heavy debris, reducing their water-carrying capacity.

Given how expensive they are, I'm inclined to avoid them, and spend my money on regular cleaning of the gutters (by someone else, not me). In fact, my neighbor has gutter guards on an almost identical house, and he has to clean his gutters twice as often than I do. Oh yeah, the guards make manual cleaning somewhat more difficult as well.

I wish someone would show me what works for doug fir needles. Lots of needles. Enough needles to fill my gutters in a few months...

Mine are similar to what joel has posted above. But mine have a larger grid, so they trap a lot more leaf debris

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:
I wish someone would show me what works for doug fir needles. Lots of needles. Enough needles to fill my gutters in a few months...

Chainsaw?

So after reading all this, I'm more inclined to just skip them with the new ones and have them cleaned out or clean them out myself?

I use foam inserts from Home Depot. About $8 per four foot piece. Easy to replace. Effective.

I tried the foam type that 4mul8r described and they make a great seed starting medium. Full of maple saplings in a season. I’m just going nude and cleaning after the buds then after the leaves

Last time I had to replace gutters I went to a larger size cross section (6 inch vs 5), just an inch larger in each direction.
The difference is amazing until you realize the cross section is 25 sq/in vs 36 sq/in. They didn't cost much more and also look a lot better on the house.
The next part is having the downspouts feed into a buried pipe to get the water well away from the foundation.

My gutter guy suggested large downspouts on standard gutters which creates a faster flow rate thus washing out the debris with the water. The larger downspouts do not clog as easily, thus taking the debris without issue.

We did this at my mothers house where she deals with pine needles and those little helicopters. She had tried at least two types of gutter guards previously with mild success, but the new gutters without any guard is working better.

A neighbor had new gutters put on three years ago.
She
Got talked into putting dual down spouts on each of the four corners of her house.


$300.00 extra dollars , but she's glad she did it.

So 8 down spouts,total
One gutter on the north , one on the south.

But everyone's roofs are different.

quote:

Originally posted by gjgalligan:

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:
I wish someone would show me what works for doug fir needles. Lots of needles. Enough needles to fill my gutters in a few months...

Chainsaw?

Can't. Trees are next to "habitat zone"

quote:

I am in the process of getting my old 70+ year old gutters replaced with larger capacity gutters and downspouts due an issue with the old ones getting completely overwhelmed in the back of my house and dumping tons of water right at my foundation and it gets into my basement.

I went out and watched the one run on my second floor during a big downpour this weekend and saw that it's got a gutter guard type cover but the water seems to be running OVER it and cascading right off the roof into the problem area below. Could this be clogged/blocked up? I can't really see it from the ground well but I can tell it's there and it looks very old.

Should I even get gutter guards for the new ones? Now reading all sorts of information that in a lot of cases they cause more problems than they solve? We do have a large tree nearby that tends to shed a lot of twigs and nuts as well as leaves.

Given your situation with old gutters causing water overflow issues and concerns about the effectiveness of gutter guards, I recommend considering professional gutter cleaning services ) That's what I did and it was life-changing. They can assess the condition of your current gutter guards and recommend whether cleaning, replacement or a different type of guard would be beneficial. Given the nearby tree-shedding debris, proactive maintenance is crucial to prevent future clogs and ensure your new gutters function effectively. I got help from experienced gutter cleaners serving Epsom and Surrey and I recommend them with all my heart. They did wonders for me!

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