Gutter Guards

[Gui]

I'm sure this has been discussed in the past, but I could not find a recent thread through the search feature.

Are folks that installed, happy with it? Why, why not? Any brand recommendations? Any maintenance required after installation?

Thanks in advance for the input!

[Herb G]

The best ones I've seen are called Gutter Brush.
They look like a big bottle brush.
Here's the LINKY .

[fredhargis]

Our last house was in the woods, lots of overhanging oaks and hickories, a near by maple and some type of conifers close to the house. We had constant problems with the leaves, and when I had the gutters replaced (6" gutters help, easier to clean) I also had Hallet Gutter Guard installed....this is a lot like the more popular Gutter Helmut. That solved our problem for the next 7 years or so that we lived in the house and I was quite happy with it. The only problem i had was that even though the tried to "seal" the ends from critters getting in, house wrens still managed to get in and build a nest right over the downspout on occasion. This caused the mess you might imagine and I had to go out and evict them. There was another product at the time I like better, called Waterloov but at the time they had a lock on the design, and just the Waterloov guard would have cost more than the gutters/downspouts/guard I wound up buying. Since then they lost the patent and there are competitors at a lower price. None of these are perfect, with the one I had leaves could snake down over the guard and get in the gutters...but they still do a good job, if not great. The other to pay attention to is the pitch of your roof, mine was pitched 4/12, and I really don't know what impact a steeper roof would have had on them. I would think if the water was coming too fast, it might shoot over the guard and the gutter...which wouldn't be good.

[K. L. McReynolds]

these

Have maple tree, two pin oaks and neighbors have elms and sycamores. I spray the guards off(in place) once a year.

[Woodenfish]

I've never heard of or seen a product that works in all seasons under any weather condition without some regular maintenance. Leaves, pine needles, twigs, dirt, silt, shingle debris will eventually mat and clog all of the various designs causing overflow or backup. There is just too many variables to say use product "C" and you will never have problems. They all have had complaints from unrealistic homeowners who fail to perform required servicing depending upon the needs of their property. You have to keep them clean so they can perform better.

I'm not a fan of anything like brushes that stay inside the gutter. Anything that can catch debris and slow water drain is a bad idea. The Gutter Helmet is probably among the better options, yet still needs maintenance and proper installation. From what I've heard it's not cheap.

[arthropod98]

we've only got a small section where i've got these, but i'm pretty happy with 'em:

HD gutter guard

[rwe2156]

Never had good luck with those. The leaves just pile up and create a dam.

I've also tried the plastic ones that lay flat, the leaves still accumulate the water just runs over the top of the gutter.

Even with gutter guards you still have to get up there and wash or blow off the leaves!!

[arthropod98]

yeah, we don't get TONS of leaves, but for the amount we get, they work well for us.

[Gary G™]

Our most successful guards are the inexpensive rolls from Lowe's.

[Snipe Hunter]

I have gutter guards and I've removed some of them also. Unfortunately mine were installed when the roof was installed so they are nailed on under the shingles.

My biggest issues with them is that in a heavy rain, they shed too much water, rendering the gutters useless and they freeze over in the winter causing ice damming and massive icicles. I have maple trees all around the house and obviously that's why they were installed in the first place....

I'd rather clean my gutters a couple times a year. They just cause me too many problems. I'm sure someone payed an awful lot for them.

Mine look exactly like this. They also look like this when the maples are sloughing.