Please share your experience with leaf / gutter guards

BruceRPA

BruceRPA

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
This fall I will be replacing the original gutters and downspouts on our house that we built in 1980. We will have seamless gutters installed. At 67, I am not looking forward to climbing a ladder or climbing onto the roof to clean the leaves and debris out of the gutters for very many more years. I am struggling to find a decent leaf / gutter guard to (hopefully) eliminate that chore. I also understand that they all seem to be a compromise in one way or another. I have looked as many variations on a theme as I can find on websites and elsewhere that I can find. My sister had the solid metal Gutter Helmut on her gutters for about five years but they performed poorly and became so clogged that she had them replaced last year rather than having the gutters cleaned out again. She has a low pitched roof and water still overshoots the gutters while allowing leaves, debris and seeds into the gutters. They actually had clogged gutters with trees and weeds growing in them. She has a perforated metal kind right now but it is too early to see how well they will work over time. I am very interested to see how they handle the snow and ice this winter.

The pitch on my roof is not steep. I can’t provide the numbers the house is a raised ranch design if that helps. There are several tall trees close to the house. At this point I am intrigued by the perforated metal kind but am concerned about leaf and debris buildup on top of the leaf guard itself. Some of the reviews that I have seen show that the leaf pile is simply relocated from the bottom of the gutter to the top of the gutter with essentially the same results, or worse. The worse part comes in the winter in the form of ice dams that cause real damage.

So, I am seeking suggestions and advice, both pro and con, based on your experience with whatever style of leaf / gutter guards that you have. I do appreciate your help, especially if it keeps me from making a bad choice and making a bad situation worse.
 
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I understand the ones that cover the gutter and have a rounded front to allow water to flow under it into the gutters are the best way to go. The foam plastic not so much. The metal mesh still traps 'helicopters' and when their blades rot off the seeds end up in your gutters. I an trying a new plastic style with small holes about every 1/8th" and a plastic mesh on top to slow the water but still let the debris flow over the edge. They are flat so I decided to use a blow torch to soften the pieces so I can bend them over to block debris from the sides. Also, I removed ALL the trees on my property.
 
I have tried the plastic slide in type and, as with your descriptions, the detritus fit through the holes, the leaves matted on the top. The leaves became part of the roof and the water rolled right off them onto the ground. They were a waste of time. I removed the gutters entirely.
 
A problem I've seen with all gutter guards, when it rains heavily the water rolls right off onto the ground defeating purpose of gutters.

I took mine off I had the screen type.
 
I have the Leafguard gutters - never had a problem and I have a lot of trees. No, I do not work for them.

GUARANTEE

THE ONLY 100% NO-CLOG GUARANTEE. NO EXCLUSIONS. What more can we say? If for some freaky reason your gutters do clog, we will zip out and clean them, free. Your gutters are 100% guaranteed for as long as you own your home. And if you sell your home, you can transfer the warranty to the new owner
 
I have a ranch-style house surrounded by oak trees.
I purchased this:
https://www.stihlusa.com/products/blowers-and-shredder-vacs/blower-accessories/gutterkit/
for my blower. It allows you to blow out the gutters from the ground with your leaf blower.
It is made for a Stihl blower, but I easily adapted it to fit my non-Stihl blower.
It works well for dry leaves but you do have to climb up occasionally and check where the downspouts attach to the gutters for clogs.
I have thought about gutter guards but question their effectiveness...
 
The perforated metal ones have worked well for us. There's generally enough wind around here to keep leaves from accumulating on top. Eventually enough fine debris may get through to require cleaning, but that takes years.
 
I have to agree with Kenwood on this one. We have a metal roof and put on new gutters with the rounded front. With the rate of rainfall and the metal roof, water shot over those things like a ski jump. I ripped them off and went with the perforated metal ones and have no problems anymore.
 
hdewees said:
I have the Leafguard gutters - never had a problem and I have a lot of trees. No, I do not work for them.

GUARANTEE

THE ONLY 100% NO-CLOG GUARANTEE. NO EXCLUSIONS. What more can we say? If for some freaky reason your gutters do clog, we will zip out and clean them, free. Your gutters are 100% guaranteed for as long as you own your home. And if you sell your home, you can transfer the warranty to the new owner
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I looked at these and was high pressured and insulted when I wouldn’t sign a work order after the presentation. Went with a local small business that did gutter guards and paid 1/3 what the LeafGuard people wanted. It’s been 5 years and haven’t climbed a ladder yet. I just did a review search on the company I hired and it was all good, so I went with them. No insults, and a very fair price.
 
I live in an area with lots of trees ( and many are pines ). I've had Leafguard gutters for about 10 years and they've worked pretty good. They will eventually get clogged from pine needles but since there's a lifetime guarantee against clogged cutters I only have to call and they come out and unclog them. I'd say leaves aren't much of a problem but pine needles over several years will clog them or any system for that matter.

I'd go with Leafguard rather than some fly-by-night as they are an established company not likely to go out of business and they seriously back their guarantee.
 
Thanks for the info folks. I do appreciate it. Don’t stop now though! I am inclined to go with the perforated metal kind but I have not committed to anything yet.

Thanks for the heads up and the idea about the Stihl blower attachment OBMG74. Since I am in the market for a new leaf blower anyway, that Stihl thing should work fine for the lower half of the house where the gutters are only nine or ten feet above the ground level. The upper half of the house is another story. HA! I Made a pun! Actually, it is another story. The gutters are twenty feet above the ground level. I just may have to fabricate something to reach that high. There is an idea brewing.
 
If you don't have pines the perforated metal ones might work. The LG's have holes in the L channel and mine get plugged with needles.
 
I haven't read all the posts but have you heard of the pipe you attach to your garden hose? It's like a 8 foot long aluminum pipe that has a U bend at one end. You turn the water on and put the hooked end into the eve trough then work it down the length of the trough TRYING to flush everything down the downspout :dunno:
 
I have/had (took them down) trees hanging right over my large, low pitch roof section. Previous house had dang maples over it ...yucky annual earwig & goop removal!:(
I researched it a bit, and found most of the 'guarantees' are backed only by the local installer/franchisee - so beware.
I also have many tiny leaves (as well as the 'helicopter' things) that I was concerned would glide past the curved type, so ended up with
https://mastershield.com/
It's been about 10years now, and no complaints. In torrential rains they do get overflowed a bit, but still better than gutters clogged with leaves. What I like about the MS things is that it is a really fine mesh, and kind of corrugated, so not much of anything accumulates or clogs it - I got up there and blew them 'out' with a leaf blower last year (when I took the worst offending trees down), and concluded that it really wasn't necessary to have done.
Also, it's reduced ice damming that tended to build up a little bit with the un-guarded gutters.
My nextdoor neighbor went with LeafGuard, and in really heavy rains I can see it just sheeting off his roof...so I'm thinking I made the better decision?
YMMV....
 
After years of fighting the battle with open gutters, we went with one of the types that covers the majority of the top and then curls over to direct the water in. I think they work OK for what they are, but they are still way overpriced and don’t stand up to torrential downpours as well as traditional open gutters. The thing I dislike most about them is that they are not easily removed if you want to check one section or another to see if there is build-up.

My belief is that most all of these things still require some maintenance, but hopefully it can be done from the ground with a long brush or a water hose, or maybe a blower from the deck or porch.

The main point I would make to anyone who is considering any of these types of guards is this; leaves are only one type of debris that a tree drops. And stems, twigs, seeds, nuts, branches, limbs and tassels all behave differently. Wet, matted debris is also different than dry and fluffy, and the leaves don’t ever fall as perfectly as they do in the ads and commercials. The reality is that the biggest improvement we have made over the years is eliminating the trees closest to the house.
 
BruceRPA said:
Thanks for the info folks. I do appreciate it. Don’t stop now though! I am inclined to go with the perforated metal kind but I have not committed to anything yet.

Thanks for the heads up and the idea about the Stihl blower attachment OBMG74. Since I am in the market for a new leaf blower anyway, that Stihl thing should work fine for the lower half of the house where the gutters are only nine or ten feet above the ground level. The upper half of the house is another story. HA! I Made a pun! Actually, it is another story. The gutters are twenty feet above the ground level. I just may have to fabricate something to reach that high. There is an idea brewing.
Click to expand...

Stihl doesn't miss marketing opportunities. They have a second story pipe you can buy too.
 
2N697 said:
The main point I would make to anyone who is considering any of these types of guards is this; leaves are only one type of debris that a tree drops. And stems, twigs, seeds, nuts, branches, limbs and tassels all behave differently. Wet, matted debris is also different than dry and fluffy, and the leaves don’t ever fall as perfectly as they do in the ads and commercials. The reality is that the biggest improvement we have made over the years is eliminating the trees closest to the house.
Click to expand...
Another one to watch for - we put a new comp roof on our house a few years back. The first heavy rain, all of the loose little specks of roofing materials ran down and filled the gutters. Talk about HEAVY!!!
 
Yes, the 'grit' will come off new shingles for years.
And, on the blower with a u-tube thing - I tried one of those on my last house...and ended up with indescribably yucky yuck splattered all over the place, and all over my head and face! Bleah.
Same thing with 'u-turn' hose attachments - just made bigger messes.
I finally just got used to digging 'em out by hand with a long handled trowel....and very glad when I sold that house!
 
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