Gutter guards

[Donald]

I had the same company that installed my roof last year install gutter guards on existing gutters. They were Atlas brand. We have enough pine needles that we need a mesh.

These gutter guards are at the same angle as the roof which I originally thought was a good idea. Now not sure. And did not need to be screwed into the soffit. (I hate drilling holes in my house (or car or boat)).

So I had a different roofing company inspect my roof and he said shoving the gutter guard lip under the starter shingle is a bad idea. His mesh gutter guards sit flat on the gutter and screw to the gutter.

I asked GAF and they basically said while it's not the best thing but also does not void the warranty.

But if you look in the picture the lip of the gutter guard certainly does lift up the starter shingle.

Starter shingle are nailed 1.5" to 3" above the eave. Not sealed to drip edge of ice & snow shield. (Hopefully).

Considering getting new gutters and gutter guards that will allow the shingles to lay flat. But in the spring. Have the winter to mull it over.

And going to slightly larger gutters - 6".

 

[Rand]

sounds like too much money in wallet problem.. A variety of ways to solve that.

 

[KGMtech]

We live in a heavily forested area with the most leaves in the city, our side split ranch has gutters that would fill quickly from leaves, keys, pine cones, walnuts, twigs, squirrel poop. I've tried, or my neighbours have everything on the market to keep the gutters clear, but there is no perfect solution. Using the Mike Holmes brand from Canadian Tire, they are okay but not perfect in how they install with screws.

 

[tbm5690]

Mine install the same way, except on the gutter edge they just clip instead of screw. No issues with the singles 5+ years later.

 

[Pablo]

My new gutter and roof cleaning guy says most if not all the gutter guard products have issues eventually- in our area.

He saw my inserted brushes and said that’s the way to go.

They aren’t perfect and will need removal and cleaning at end of leaf season but keep the big stuff out

 

[xspeedy]

Gutter guards generally don’t work. Rubbish will collect on top or the media will clog, forcing water over the top of the guard instead of through it. Kind of defeats the point of a gutter. Finer stuff will go through and may accumulate in the gutters, so you have to remove the guards to clean the gutters themselves. If you are going to have to clean the guards, may as well just clean the gutters instead. Matching the roof pitch helps the leaves and other debris roll off instead of collecting above.

 

[dnewton3]

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.

 

[Donald]

Well as I said. I have until the spring to think it over.

 

[Donald]

Maybe it was installed wrong. This is for Gutter Guard. But same scenario. (Bottom two pictures. Right & wrong.)

 

[Nukeman7]

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 the EasyOn Gutter Guards from Costco after getting new 6" wide gutters in 2022. Like dnewton3, I am extremely pleased with their performance, especially factoring in the price and (free) self-installation. Prior to that I had the very expensive LeafGuard brand one piece gutters which were a maintenance nightmare and could not be repaired after minor dent damage caused by falling branches or large pine cones. The only issue I have encountered with the EasyOn gutter guards is that the rainwater will overrun the inside miter corners where two roof surfaces intersect. That problem can be overcome with a sheet metal splash shield riveted to the outer edge of the gutter corner. However, leaves will get trapped by the shield which will require frequent cleaning. If your roofline has no inside corners, the micro mesh style gutter guards work 100%.

 

[Lubener]

I have determined there is no such thing as the perfect gutter guard. They are way overpriced for being as simple as they are. The ones with a fine mesh (leaf guard and leaf filter) are the most common. They eventually get junk built up on top of them keeping water from entering the gutter and water then rolls off them and onto the ground.. The other having a curved solid covering (gutter Helmit) let much water flow over the top of them onto the ground without making it into the gutter.. The gutter brush still needs to be cleaned of debris. No matter which one, they still are better than having nothing.

 

[Donald]

Maybe it was installed wrong. This is for Gutter Guard. But same scenario. (Bottom two pictures. Right & wrong.)

View attachment 316177

After more thought on the issue. The bottom two pictures are drawn incorrectly. The drip edge goes at the outside corner and under that is the plywood decking that is the angle of the roof. There is no horizontal piece of wood up there like the drawing shows.

 

[Donald]

Gutter guards should be installed at 5 to 25 degrees. Otherwise stuff will tend to collect on top of the gutter guard if installed flat.

 

[Donald]

I looked at pictures of some of the gutter guards that are highly advertised. Some looked level or a slight angle from the gutter.

 

[alarmguy]

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.

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.

 

[Lubener]

If you have trees around either yours or your neighbors , you need gutterguards or leaves will always end up in the gutters. They won't all blow off the roof or out of the gutters.

 

[Donald]

The only thing I have seen that gets stuck on gutter guards are the 4" to 6" fuzzball strings from oak trees(??) Does not really clog but they hang off the gutter guards and look messy. They eventually fall apart and disappear.

I think the installed price for gutter guards is high.

If you have pine needles you need mesh gutter guards.

 

[zzyzzx]

Is taking out all the trees on your property an option?

 

[Nessism1]

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.

 

[Donald]

Is taking out all the trees on your property an option?

I like the trees. Not an option.