Gutter guards

[Donald]

I recently had gutters installed 360 degrees around both my house and separate garage. Mind you, I'm in So. Calif., where it doesn't rain all that much. When it does rain, though, like right now, it dumps! We do get fog and moisture dripping many mornings, and having the fascias wet is not a good thing for rot.

There is only one section, the front of my garage, where some sort of gutter guard is needed. I recently took down all the old gutters myself, and the one on the garage was packed tight with leaves. No way I'm going to shoot anything under the shingles, my roof was way too expensive to risk anything like that. The brush type guard may be the play here for a place like mine. Going to investigate...

Edit: and BTW, I love this place! I wasn't even thinking about gutter guards, but this thread triggered my mind, highlighting the need. And I didn't even know that those brush jobbies existed! They will be perfect for my use case, and cheap enough to make it a no brainer for me.

The people getting gutter guards may be old like me. I have some gutters 2 stories up. Not climbing up that high to clean a gutter.

Gutter guards do not need to go under the shingle. That's just one install option. The flange that can go under the gutter can also be bent up or down and screwed to the facia.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

Take your gutters down and modify landscaping around your foundation to improve runoff and mitigate splashing. I've seen this work quite well.

 

[Lubener]

Take your gutters down and modify landscaping around your foundation to improve runoff and mitigate splashing. I've seen this work quite well.

No gutters at all? Makes little sense to me. Best to send roof water to the storm sewers or a splash block. There's plenty of water running off the siding so your statement is half correct regarding proper grading away from the foundation.

 

[B6_Dolphin]

Ok, fair warning, LeafGuard fan-boy.

Here in the PNW, my house backs up to green space, which contains Maples, Cedar, Fir, Pine and the worst, Alders. The Maples shed big leaves and the seed helicopters, the Firs shed short needles and branches, the Pine shed "V" long needles and cones, and the Alders shed leaves, small acorns, and lots of branches.

Before we moved into our house in 2017, the previous owners installed LeafGuard gutters in 2015, which have a hood with a continuous slot underneath. The downspouts are extra wide (vs std) and have removeable traps, as all the downspouts empty into drain tile.

Short clip of how they work:



In 2015, it cost the previous owners $6,700 USD to install the gutters. For curiousity (thought about a color change from Beige to White), I inquired what the replacement cost would be back in 2022, and it was not quite double, or $11,500 (we opted to stay with the same house paint scheme). Would it be worth it if it was a new install? Yes. Aside from some moss/mildew that can build-up on the lip of the hood (which is not unusual in the damp PNW weather), and periodic clean-out of the downspout traps, these gutters don't clog, and the winds in the Fall and early Winter sure try like h**l to blow all the tree debris from the green space onto my roof.

It just plain works, and I have neighbors that either have open gutters, snap-on gutter guards, etc., and while they have to periodically clean-out their gutters, I've yet to have to substantially clean-out my gutters in the 8 years living in this house.

 

[4wd]

I never understood, even my new community why people feel gutters are required on homes. They are not. If you can properly grade your property for runoff depending on style house, one can find not having gutters as an easy maintenance free feature if you have trees nearby that blow stuff on your roof all the time.

Our last home of 16 years that we moved from had none and I was sooooo glad it didnt. Pine trees in our yard and other yards would clog up other peoples gutters on a regular basis leading water backing up and flowing over. I had proper drainage away from the home and the southern rainstorms the water would run off the roof like a raging rapid, safely away from the home.

Our new home does not have trees (other than palms) so Im not concerned that the builder did include gutters in our phase and honestly glad we have them on the new house as the property does not have as much of a slope and honestly the community is build on swamp mud.

Nothing in a building code that requires them. Though this is a big country, so let me rephrase that. Nothing in NY, SC or NC.

Last home below, no gutters, no problems keeping them clean, no problems with pine needles. Yet my neighbor, every rainstorm, backed up gutters with pine needles overflowing. She would have them cleaned regularly but every big windy rain storm would cover her roof with pine needles again. Actually I was thrilled, during storms, watching the water rush away from the home.
View attachment 316421

Ps, Im not saying gutters are a bad thing if one wants them but in some cases can be worse than nothing at all if you have to maintain them. I lived here 16 years with no concerns. However I do not think our new home is as conducive to not having them.

Technically - my house never had gutters - I did install one run on the patio roof bcs of splash between pool/patio …
I had one other problem area - fixed with bull rock and jasmine ground cover …
I am being bombarded with red oak leafs right now …

 

[Pablo]

Ok, fair warning, LeafGuard fan-boy.

Here in the PNW, my house backs up to green space, which contains Maples, Cedar, Fir, Pine and the worst, Alders. The Maples shed big leaves and the seed helicopters, the Firs shed short needles and branches, the Pine shed "V" long needles and cones, and the Alders shed leaves, small acorns, and lots of branches.

Before we moved into our house in 2017, the previous owners installed LeafGuard gutters in 2015, which have a hood with a continuous slot underneath. The downspouts are extra wide (vs std) and have removeable traps, as all the downspouts empty into drain tile.

Short clip of how they work:



In 2015, it cost the previous owners $6,700 USD to install the gutters. For curiousity (thought about a color change from Beige to White), I inquired what the replacement cost would be back in 2022, and it was not quite double, or $11,500 (we opted to stay with the same house paint scheme). Would it be worth it if it was a new install? Yes. Aside from some moss/mildew that can build-up on the lip of the hood (which is not unusual in the damp PNW weather), and periodic clean-out of the downspout traps, these gutters don't clog, and the winds in the Fall and early Winter sure try like h**l to blow all the tree debris from the green space onto my roof.

It just plain works, and I have neighbors that either have open gutters, snap-on gutter guards, etc., and while they have to periodically clean-out their gutters, I've yet to have to substantially clean-out my gutters in the 8 years living in this house.

Nice but my gutters cleaned well, around $300. The round brushes stop the big chunks from going into the drain field, $50 or so. We are upper 60's in age, max 7-8 years in this house. To me, doesn't make sense. But lifetime, sure.

 

[pbm]

I've had a similar product (got them from Costco).
I've been super happy with them. I live in a heavily wooded area, and leaves are a constant issue in fall.
In the spring, I have to wipe the tree pollen off of them. But for the bulk of the year they are super low maintenance.

I installed those Costco GG's on my roof myself and have been very happy with them. I only did the front of the house because I get very little leaves, pine needles etc...on the rear and can do the rear from my garage roof.

 

[Arc]

I never understood, even my new community why people feel gutters are required on homes. They are not. If you can properly grade your property for runoff depending on style house, one can find not having gutters as an easy maintenance free feature if you have trees nearby that blow stuff on your roof all the time.

Our last home of 16 years that we moved from had none and I was sooooo glad it didnt. Pine trees in our yard and other yards would clog up other peoples gutters on a regular basis leading water backing up and flowing over. I had proper drainage away from the home and the southern rainstorms the water would run off the roof like a raging rapid, safely away from the home.

Our new home does not have trees (other than palms) so Im not concerned that the builder did include gutters in our phase and honestly glad we have them on the new house as the property does not have as much of a slope and honestly the community is build on swamp mud.

Nothing in a building code that requires them. Though this is a big country, so let me rephrase that. Nothing in NY, SC or NC.

Last home below, no gutters, no problems keeping them clean, no problems with pine needles. Yet my neighbor, every rainstorm, backed up gutters with pine needles overflowing. She would have them cleaned regularly but every big windy rain storm would cover her roof with pine needles again. Actually I was thrilled, during storms, watching the water rush away from the home.
View attachment 316421

Ps, Im not saying gutters are a bad thing if one wants them but in some cases can be worse than nothing at all if you have to maintain them. I lived here 16 years with no concerns. However I do not think our new home is as conducive to not having them.

I didn't put any on my garage when I had it built now when I stand there unlocking the door I get soaked. All they really do is keep water from plashing back on a house and causing water damage to wood.

 

[alarmguy]

I didn't put any on my garage when I had it built now when I stand there unlocking the door I get soaked. All they really do is keep water from plashing back on a house and causing water damage to wood.

I think proper runoff is key with or without.
For sure if you have a door affected by rain a gutter is needed!

 

[Nessism1]

I didn't put any on my garage when I had it built now when I stand there unlocking the door I get soaked. All they really do is keep water from plashing back on a house and causing water damage to wood.

House protection is high on my lists of reasons for adding gutters. Previous to the new full installation on my house, there were only two sections of house with them: the front door area, and over the front of the garage (the area that clogged with leaves). The front door area gutters either sagged, or were not installed correctly, because they didn't drain right, and water would pool. That cause more rot issues than they solved, so execution and maintenance still needs to be attended to.

 

[Donald]

Ok, fair warning, LeafGuard fan-boy.

Here in the PNW, my house backs up to green space, which contains Maples, Cedar, Fir, Pine and the worst, Alders. The Maples shed big leaves and the seed helicopters, the Firs shed short needles and branches, the Pine shed "V" long needles and cones, and the Alders shed leaves, small acorns, and lots of branches.

Before we moved into our house in 2017, the previous owners installed LeafGuard gutters in 2015, which have a hood with a continuous slot underneath. The downspouts are extra wide (vs std) and have removeable traps, as all the downspouts empty into drain tile.

Short clip of how they work:



In 2015, it cost the previous owners $6,700 USD to install the gutters. For curiousity (thought about a color change from Beige to White), I inquired what the replacement cost would be back in 2022, and it was not quite double, or $11,500 (we opted to stay with the same house paint scheme). Would it be worth it if it was a new install? Yes. Aside from some moss/mildew that can build-up on the lip of the hood (which is not unusual in the damp PNW weather), and periodic clean-out of the downspout traps, these gutters don't clog, and the winds in the Fall and early Winter sure try like h**l to blow all the tree debris from the green space onto my roof.

It just plain works, and I have neighbors that either have open gutters, snap-on gutter guards, etc., and while they have to periodically clean-out their gutters, I've yet to have to substantially clean-out my gutters in the 8 years living in this house.

My house had similar ones called Gutter Helmet (I think). Installed in the early 2000s. They work in light to medium rain. In medium to heavy rain the water just blasts off the Gutter Helmet onto the ground next to the house. Several were removed by previous homeowner and replaced with the white plastic gutter guards you can buy at Home Depot.

If you tell me they might work on low pitch roofs but not high pitch roofs I could believe that.

 

[B6_Dolphin]

If you tell me they might work on low pitch roofs but not high pitch roofs I could believe that.

I would consider my roof to have medium-pitch throughout.

The only problem area in heavy rains for my gutters was the hip roof channels for either side of the garage roof. The collected rain in those metal channels would become a waterfall when it reached the gutter tops, which have multiple, small holes to allow water through, so a couple of years ago I had a roofer install a deflector at end of each channel on the hood of the gutter. Now with even heavy rains, the water diverts into the gutters, which eliminated the waterfall effect.

 

[Arc]

House protection is high on my lists of reasons for adding gutters. Previous to the new full installation on my house, there were only two sections of house with them: the front door area, and over the front of the garage (the area that clogged with leaves). The front door area gutters either sagged, or were not installed correctly, because they didn't drain right, and water would pool. That cause more rot issues than they solved, so execution and maintenance still needs to be attended to.

I bought a roll of gutter guard years ago but never installed it. My gutters always clog up and run over right where my sliding glass door is and it rotted the wood out around the bottom. I just replaced all the wood last summer. Yet I still haven't put that plastic cover on the gutters yet.