MY EXPERIENCE WITH GUTTER GUARDS

     Tv commercials, sales associates and installers have become quite good at convincing homeowners the need for many products that are designed to improve the quality, increase the protection and add value to their home. One of these products is gutter guards. Gutter guards come in many different styles and names but are all designed with the same purpose in mind; to prevent cleaning of your gutters while allowing the gutters to work as intended. The three pictures below show you what you will see in commercials, salesperson demonstrations or see in a brochure. Please continue down the page to see what is likely to eventually happen. 

     In fairness, gutter guards generally do not fail upon initial installation. It takes some time and can even take years to happen. However, I can assure you that it has been my experience that gutter guards will eventually fail. I will also add this. It's not usually leaves that cause the problems. The problems are usually created by pine needles, tree pollen and dirt/dust in the air.    

     Let me start with the different types. There are many types of perforated guards that are either made out of plastic/vinyl or metal. Some of these perforated gutter guards (pictured on the below left) will also have a wire or screen type mesh attached to it. These types of perforated guards will get pine needles, pollen and dirt/dust in the perforations and will eventually clog up. Think of sink drain strainer. Over time it gets clogged up and it needs to be cleaned out. Same thing with perforated gutter guards. Some of the really cheap perforated gutter guards also collapse under the weight of snow and ice and the backside of them will slide down into the gutter. I've even seen some get blown off by heavy wind. Perforated metal gutter guards tend to be a great place for pollen and twigs to lay. Over time this pollen and twig combo covers up the perforations and renders the gutter guard useless. Another thing that happens is during heavy downpours the little perforations can't handle the volume of water and the water goes either behind the gutter or over it. There is more but hopefully I have made my point.    

     Ok, now let's get to the high dollar gutter helmet/slot type gutter guards. These are usually seamless gutters with the guard built into the gutter (pictured in the middle). The big issue with this type is over time pollen and dust and other small debris will stick or get stuck in the slotted area. All it takes is a little rain moisture, humidity or morning dew and icky sticky there you go. I can tell you right now during heavy downpours the rain water WILL NOT roll into the slot properly if the slot is not completely clean and clear. These gutter guards are very hard to deal with if they get a clog in them.    

     Lastly, the foam inserts (pictured on the right). Complete junk. These types of inserts collect dust inside and throughout the foam quickly and can become useless in no time.    

     Let me share one more thing about gutter guards and why they fail. Poor installation. Eventually all gutter guard systems will fail but that failure can be accelerated due to improper installation. I think this is an easy one to understand so I will not go into a lengthy detailed explanation of all the ways gutter guards can be improperly installed. I will say this, though. By the time a homeowner realizes the gutter guards they purchased have been improperly installed its usually to late. Not to mention improperly installed gutter guard systems can void your roof warranty.  

     If at any time you want to learn more about my experience with gutter guard system failures, please feel free to CONTACT ME. Thank you.