Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Gutter Guards

I'm looking into gutter guards for my house. We have trees close, and it's just not leaves to deal with. In the spring the buds fall off, blossoms fall off, the maple has the winglet seeds, always some thing. I'm getting to old to mess with this as much as I have to now. I've been using the gas leaf blower and it does a fairly good job, but even that I would like to reduce.

The screen covers are two varieties. One is installed under the shingle edge and connects to the outer gutter lip. This follows the slope of the roof. Supposedly it self cleans debris but lets water fall through. Another brand is installed level with the gutter, which would seem water would be more captured, but it can't clean debris out very well.

Those that have them, what's you pros and cons?

I have the first ones you mentioned, recently I had some roof work done and the roofer said that is the best you can buy. Glad they came with the house. I only have one section where gutters meet on the corner where I am having debris get in. My old house had them too. No issues.

With you putting guard on existing gutter is makes good sense to find some product like you're looking for.

We're building a new house and I'm interested if anyone has used this type of product. https://www.rainhandler.com It would avoid the whole leaf/seed issue as well as clogged downspouts and such.

Screens get clogged up and collapse, and cap-types make nice nesting boxes for grackles.

This time of year our television commercials lean heavily to gutter guards. The incentives and the financing availability mentioned make me think that they must be awfully expensive.

Let me clarify a little. The first type I mentioned would be the stainless steel mesh with aluminum mounting pieces that get screwed to the gutter lip and another aluminum piece that hems the edge of the mesh under the shingles. I don't believe the stainless mesh would collaps since it's only spanning 5". I would not use these plastic open mesh things.

I looked at all kinds of solutions when we built our home.

After seeing the quotes and the various systems, I decided to do it myself. I got everything I needed from ABC Supply and installation was a breeze. It's been 7 years since I've installed the system (with most of the same debris challenges you face) and no clogging to speak of.

I don't remember what I saved by doing it myself but I know it was at least 3-4k.

I went with the stainless steel screen mainly due to my issue with pine needles. They work great to keep out debris but I have an issue with the screens freezing over given the right weather condition. The company that made my guards was aware of the issue and make a broom that you drag across and clear the snow. The ice doesn't last long if exposed to sunlight. For how seldom my screens freeze over I don't see it as an issue. I didn't broom them a single time this season. I also installed mine myself and it was a very easy process once I got my tools all lined out.

The screen I added was taken out with a severe hail storm, it also took out my roof. The screen did not fail, there were not collapse, it was dented and my insurance company wanted to change it along with the roof. I insisted on stainless mess replacement.

I put heavy aluminum Gutter RX (same thing that Scott used and bought at the same ABC Supply place) on the top of my gutters over the last two years, because like you, I'm getting too old to blow the stuff out of the gutters much longer. The cottage had those black foam pieces that went in the gutters and they disintegrated and filled up with seeds and debris: junk. I put the Gutter RX panels over those gutters and they work well. Lots of pine needles and they still need to be blown off, but the gutters still flow and the downspouts don't clog. Then here at the house the downspouts were clogging from those maple seed windmill things. Leaves not so much, but the maple seeds were the worst. Gutter RX all around last year solved any problem here and I haven't needed to do anything since I put those on and never had another clogged downspout. I'm considering adding those 6' sections for my rental property, but as a stopgap I bought a bunch of the green wedge shaped things that go over the downspout holes and so far it has been a cheap way of preventing the downspouts from clogging up. Those roofs are shallow enough that blowing out the gutters with my leaf blower is a 5 minute job. Taking apart clogged downspouts is the worst and if those $4.00 each green wedge things prevent that, I'm almost good with that on my other places.

The neighbors all have the lip things professionally installed, but they pay big bucks to get them and a lot of their houses are two story. I talked with one neighbor and he was quoted 7k for those lip guards. He kept after them and finally got the price down to about 4k, so there must be a big markup on them. I only dropped about $500.00 for my Gutter RX toppers that I screwed down myself. $28.00 for 7 of those green wedge things that have prevented any downspout clogging problem so far, but I'll still need to blow out the gutters themselves. It probably comes down to the type of trees you have, how steep your roof is, whether you still are okay to clean gutters a little once in a while.

Those damn oak long stringy "flowers" in the spring and acorns in the fall are my problem at another place, but there too a bunch of those green wedge things over the downspout holes have kept things flowing.

Nothing plastic.
No arched screens
No open type screens they will let leaf stems and pine needles etc. enter and stand up like little flags, [the coarse screen that runs in a diamonds pattern].
No foam types they fill up with debris over time and stop filtering
No under the shingle types they ramp water over the gutter and you never want the starter strip of your shingles broke loose, gives high winds a place to start to peel your roof off.

These shur-flo screens are low profile, they have a flange on the back so the screen is fastened front and back. Don't cheap-out and try to do 'only the problem areas' leaves/debris will blow into the non problem areas. < Seen it a hunnerd times.
There's no place for birds/ rodents to enter.

Pugs >NO.

Once Shur-Flo is completely installed you'll never clean you gutters again.



https://www.theshurflo.com/

I'm a slow typer and was cooking while typing, Skane for the win, great looking install.

Where can you buy them?

I was a roofing contractor for 15 years

A lot of the products are gimmicks and garbage, it was painful to listen to homeowners say they hired and paid a van full of potheads $ 3,000 to slide in $75 worth of plastic perforated panel or flimsy aluminum mesh.

Much of the time, the gutters still have 3/4” worth of shingle sand, algae slime, oak tassels, broken ends of maple seed ‘helicopters’, pine needles would still get in.

I decided for my home, I installed 6” commercial seamless guttering. No covers. 4x6 downspout drops, *most* crap carries good and down through that big spout drop.

On 5” guttering, most times they die punch that is about 1-1/2” and that is where it starts. one fat sweetgum spikey ball or a sycamore puffer will stopper it up

The sum up, I run fat gutters with no screen covers.

I’ve been systematically cutting a couple dozen trees last 2 years away from house. I’m sick of leaves in my outdoor pavillion.

"The ice doesn't last long if exposed to sunlight." Do you have any north-facing roof?

.

This is the only way to go. Regarding the rainhandler, forget them they are also overpriced and don't work worth a damn.

Definitely nothing vinyl or plastic or arched.

I got them at Gulf Coast Building Products in Pensacola, Fl..
Odd that their website doesn't have contact info..

http://www.gcbp.com/

Allen, one of the primary purposes of gutters is to channel water away from your foundation. That system won't do it.

I guess Allen is Pugs?
Agree

Yep, I was thinking they'd work on a down-hill slope like the front of the new house. I watched a video on them and they recommended a french drain for level areas.