Gutter guards are marketed as being able to prevent your rain gutters from clogging with leaves, as well as water and debris– hence saving you from what could be a hazardous household job.
Cleaning up rain gutters is no enjoyable at all!
Nevertheless, not everyone agrees that seamless gutter guards deserve the cost, time, and effort to obtain them installed.
Following are the benefits and drawbacks of installing gutter guards (or leaf guards, rain gutter covers, rain gutter screens, etc.) on your home …
Types Of Gutter Guards
The 5 main types of rain gutter guards are:
- Mesh gutter guards— these metal sheets (filled with small holes) connect to the roof shingles and cover the rain gutter.
- Reverse curve gutter guards— these position the water downward while directing the leaves to be up to the ground.
- Bottle brush rain gutter guards— these are made of bristles that face upright inside the rain gutter. The debris rests on top while the water streams away.
- Nylon rain gutter guards— these work exceptionally well in the winter season due to their unique style which avoids snow from developing and freezing.
- Foam seamless gutter guards— these are in fact made of plastic that fits directly into your rain gutter, assisting to block the debris from going into the gutter.
Gutter guards fall into 2 categories: gutter covers and gutter screens. Screens are usually made of wire mesh, nylon or foam, and are simpler and cheaper to install, but usually don’t last as long. Gutter covers sit on top of your gutters, so appearance is something else to consider. Also, they limit the waterflow into your gutters because… well… they cover the gutters. They can be made out of a variety of materials, including copper, aluminum, plastic, wire mesh, nylon and foam.— Heritage Home Inspection Services
Home Professionals Weigh In On Gutter Guards
HGTV says you need to definitely use gutter guards. They give directions on how to install mesh type seamless gutter guards and keep them clean … but I believed the idea was to not need to clean them!
Tom Kraeutler goes over whether or not gutter guards deserve the cost. While seamless gutter guards are not necessarily maintenance free, he feels that they can lessen the amount of labor and potentially prevent unnecessary falls.
According to Tim Carter at Ask The Builder, the effectiveness of gutter guards is questionable at best:
All of the products do an excellent job of prohibiting full sized leaves from entering your gutters. That is a simple task. However, many of the gutter cover products fail to stop tiny tree flower buds, seed pods and evergreen needles from entering gutters. — Tim Carter, Ask The Builder
The bright side is that after 10 years of research and great deals of individual trial and error, he has finally found a gutter guard that he feels comfy advising. His pick for the very best seamless gutter guard system is MasterShield.
Pros & Cons Of Using Gutter Guards
So, what should you do?
If you want to invest less time cleaning up gutters, then yes– seamless gutter guards are certainly something that ought to be thought about.
Just don’t expect that they will be upkeep free.
Some debris will undoubtedly collect on top of the seamless gutter guards themselves. Nevertheless, it should be a lot easier and quicker to clean it off the top than to dig into clogged seamless gutters to get rid of handfuls of leaves, seeds, and branches. That stated, some rain gutter guard systems are harder to clean when they become clogged. So choose your seamless gutter guard system sensibly!
In many cases, the cost of the seamless gutter guard system can cost more than a number of years’ worth of expert rain gutter cleaning. For that reason, depending upon your scenario and the number of trees are around your home, it might make more sense to pay a professional to clean your rain gutters yearly instead of spending for a seamless gutter guard system that might stop working.
Likewise, if you have a house with rain gutters that are 2 or 3 stories tall, you ought to consider employing a seamless gutter cleaning company for one or two times a year cleaning anyway– whether you have rain gutter guards or not. It’s too dangerous to clean seamless gutters that high off the ground.
Pros of using gutter guards:
- They can be added to existing rain gutters.
- Gutter guards avoid birds and rodents from developing nests in the rain gutters.
- They eliminate the have to clean your seamless gutters often.
- Rain gutter guards avoid the build-up of stagnant water in your gutters, which might otherwise support and overflow into your home or work as a breeding ground for pests.
- Your gutters will last longer, since they won’t too soon rust and rot from the moisture and debris being in them.
- Gutter guards enable more effective rain water harvesting by enhancing the flow of water and filtering out some pollutants.
- You can even get heated rain gutter guards that will melt icicles, ice dams, and snow.
Cons of using gutter guards:
- Gutter guard installation can be expensive. They can cost anywhere from $700 to several thousand dollars.
- They are not 100% foolproof. Rain gutter guards still require periodic cleansing.
- Overstated ice issues prevail, given that melting snow and ice accumulation respond in a different way with gutter guards.
- Some rain gutter guard systems are practically ineffective, so you need to shop thoroughly. Be careful of the hype of high-pressure salespeople.
- If you ever lean a ladder against your gutters (when cleaning them or hanging Christmas lights, for instance), the seamless gutter guards will become dented. This will decrease their effectiveness from that point forward.
- The additional weight of gutter guards might cause your gutters to sag in the center.
- If you happen to have a high roof or valleys (where downward-sloping areas of roof meet and water overflow is heavy), the water can overshoot the rain gutter guard itself.
- Tree seeds can get caught in the rain gutter guard slots and sprout, forming rain gutter trees– and some types of tree seeds grow rather quickly!
Best Gutter Guards 2019
| Types | Company | Warranty | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminum (Editor’s Choice Updated) | LeafTek | 35 YEAR (Made In USA) | 4.9 |
| Aluminum (Editor’s Choice) | A-M Gutter Guard | 25 Year | 4.5 |
| Micro Mesh | Raptor | 25 Year | 4.5 |
| Best Installation Company (Professionals Choice) | Leaf Filter | Lifetime | 4.5 |
| Aluminum Mesh | E-Z-GUTTER GUARD | 5 Year | 4.5 |
| Micro Mesh | EasyOn | 10 Year ( Condition Applicable) | 4 |
| Micro Mesh | LeafsOut | 20 Year | 4.3 |
| Aluminum (Best Value) | FlexxPoint | 30 Year | 4.5 |
Why Do We Need Best Gutter Guards in First Place?
If you live in an area susceptible to heavy rains, you do not want to settle for anything less than the very best. It’s essential that you take every measure to protect your home. Assaults of moisture can ruin a building. If rainwater collects on your roofing system, it might cause damage not only to the roof however likewise to the walls, through which water may permeate throughout your home.
Heavy rains can also fill the soil around your home. Rain gutter guard examines assert that this could impact the very structure of the structure– the basement, the walls — and may cause comprehensive damage to your home that might cost a fortune to get fixed.
The scenario becomes all the graver as the moisture-laden soil causes an excess of moisture in the air inside your home, which in turn condenses on different indoor surface areas. Conditions like these foster the advancement of mold in and around your home — on the walls, ceilings, and even the exterior walls. The accumulation of moisture might result in silent decaying of the wood in your attic and other spaces, and that may show to be a really costly affair.
The possibly huge damages to your home and the expenses from fixing those damages is the reason that homeowners in damp, rainy, and damp areas require to get rain gutters set up.
But usually, even houses that have a seamless gutter system installed struggle with wetness damage. This shouldn’t occur with a top seamless gutter guard. If this occurred, it’s most likely since your seamless gutter system failed. Yes, even the very best seamless gutter can fail, and there are several reasons for that.
The Factors Behind Rain Gutter Failures
Many people do not completely understand the value of a properly functioning gutter system, and even then, they don’t always make the effort to do the upkeep.
It’s true that cleansing and taking care of rain gutters is far from interesting, however there are services you can employ and correct maintenance will go a long way in making your rain gutter last. However, seamless gutters do fail, and there a few crucial reasons why.
Disregard
Ignoring this very crucial system is frequently the sole cause of failure. Because rain gutters are installed outdoors, it is all however unavoidable that numerous particles will enter the system. Leaves lodging in the rain gutter and even the build-ups of big quantities of dust or gunk might cause blockages.
According to Gutter guards evaluations, there might be plant growth in the gutters– the outcome of small seeds falling on the roofing of your home and washing into the gutter system. Regular exposure to the aspects makes a routine and comprehensive cleaning of your gutters essential.
Wear and tear
Your rain gutter system may deteriorate due to moisture triggering corrosion of the pipes. This is mostly an issue for systems that use steel pipes. While steel is less expensive than other products and has terrific strength, it is more vulnerable to deterioration and rusting.
To keep the steel gutters from rusting or suffering other sort of rust, you should keep it tidy and devoid of debris of all kinds. This prevents pipes from maintaining water, which will help avoid deterioration for long. However, if you pick a rain gutter made of other products, like the aluminum rain gutter guard, it will be much better able to withstand corrosion.
Seamless gutter Spikes
Many individuals use gutter spikes to set up gutter systems. However, the problem with these spikes is that they might loosen in time. If they are not looked at a regular basis, your whole gutter system might fall off. So, if you utilize rain gutter spikes, make certain that you re-install them at an interval of one to 5 years so that you don’t need to pay heavy gutter-installation costs.
Clogged Gutters
This is among the primary causes of rain gutter failure. Gutters that are obstructed will never ever be able to drain rainwater successfully. Blockages can be triggered by collected debris or rooting plants and seeds from surrounding trees. And if clogged drains pipes weren’t problem enough, the gutter guard reviews suggest that particles might decay with time, resulting in the production an acidic environment that further corrodes the pipes.
Carrying out regular examinations of the rain gutter system will allow you to get away the problems of clogged up drains. It’s particularly crucial to check routinely for decomposing debris and clear it out prior to its acidity triggers lasting harm.
Natural Strain
Weather condition isn’t constant and temperatures vary throughout the year, often exceptionally. These variations stress the material of the gutter system. This may trigger the drains to crack or become weak. Natural wear and tear can be worsened by obstructions. When seamless gutters stay blocked, water may build up. During winters or cold snaps, this water can freeze and apply pressure on the walls of the seamless gutter, causing fractures and potentially the failure of your whole gutter system.
