Gutter Guards

[frank]

I have the 3 foot plastic gutter guards that you can buy at menard's on sale for about 99 cents a section. they slide under the edge of the shingle and lock over the edge of the gutter. I have had them on for about 10 years. they have been great. I have oak trees on 2 sides of my house and used to have to clean my gutters almost continuously in the fall. if some debris or pine needles from my neighbors pine tree get in, you can slide the end piece out and clean where the downspout leave the gutter or you can take each individual section. I bought them and put them on myself in about an hour, the only tools where a good pair of heavy scissors to trim the end piece flush with the gutter.

 

[jonat]

I found that with the solid guards, not enough debris got in to make a difference. You can try flushing the gutter with a lot of water, but unless you find that the gutter is clogged I wouldn't bother. Maybe check at the downspout opening to make sure it isn't blocked.

For the micromesh guards, pine needles tend to stay on top and don't affect performance much.

 

[Ronstar]

I have the 3 foot plastic gutter guards that you can buy at menard's on sale for about 99 cents a section. they slide under the edge of the shingle and lock over the edge of the gutter. I have had them on for about 10 years. they have been great. I have oak trees on 2 sides of my house and used to have to clean my gutters almost continuously in the fall. if some debris or pine needles from my neighbors pine tree get in, you can slide the end piece out and clean where the downspout leave the gutter or you can take each individual section. I bought them and put them on myself in about an hour, the only tools where a good pair of heavy scissors to trim the end piece flush with the gutter.

I think I'll do this. But only on one side of the house that gets 90% of the leaves.

 

[MBAustin]

After having a forest grow in our gutters this spring and realizing I'm no longer secure cleaning them myself, I went with Gutter Glove Pro this summer. The installer found that the gutters were in good shape (we replaced them when we bought the house 7 years ago) but had not been installed properly, so it was about $4K to remove and reinstall the gutters, clean them, and install the guards. We haven't had leaf drop yet, or a lot of rain, so don't know how well they work yet. They did give us a long handled stiff brush with the bristles pointed toward the handle to clean them off periodically.

 

[RockyMtn]

No more gutters for me here in Az. Used to have to some very high gutters in Denver. Paid about $100 to have them cleaned every year. Never tried the gutter guards.

 

[KingB]

If you go to a local gutter company, they'll simply charge you a fortune for new gutters and gutter guards. And I'm talking $ thousands.

They're much more reasonably priced online and can be installed on your present gutters if they're in good condition.

My last house had 200' of gutter on a hip roof--and 6 sixty foot pine trees. It would take a live in gutter cleaner to keep my gutters clean. I finally took down the gutters.

I no longer am allowed to deal with gutters and installing gutter guards. I fell off a ladder one Fall day 6 year ago and broke both legs. I have no more falls left in me.

I used to pay $100 twice a year for some outfit to clean my gutters. In 2004, I had Leafguard install a new gutter for $2700. It is working good and it is almost paid for by itself. Money well spent in my opinion.

I have a friend who broke his legs too cleaning his gutters and he spent more than what he could have paid for a new self-cleaning gutter.

 

[JoeWras]

I installed the cheap $3 segments and find that after about 12 months, the pine needles get stuck in them and start interfering with the operation.

The good news is a quick run on the roof with a blower fixes it, versus bending down and scooping out the gutters 2x or 3x per year.

The bad news is it still means at least a once a year trip up to the roof.

The cost was almost nothing, so it was worth a shot.

 

[gauss]

I have the 3 foot plastic gutter guards that you can buy at menard's on sale for about 99 cents a section. they slide under the edge of the shingle and lock over the edge of the gutter. I have had them on for about 10 years. they have been great. I have oak trees on 2 sides of my house and used to have to clean my gutters almost continuously in the fall. if some debris or pine needles from my neighbors pine tree get in, you can slide the end piece out and clean where the downspout leave the gutter or you can take each individual section. I bought them and put them on myself in about an hour, the only tools where a good pair of heavy scissors to trim the end piece flush with the gutter.

Frank - JoeWras

Can you confirm that this is the Menards product that you purchased that seemed to work? Note these ones show holes in them.


Menards 3' Vinyl Gutter Cover link


The price today seemed pretty good although the "Rebate" is in store credit.

-gauss

 

[MooreBonds]

Frank - JoeWras

Can you confirm that this is the Menards product that you purchased that seemed to work? Note these ones show holes in them.


Menards 3' Vinyl Gutter Cover link


The price today seemed pretty good although the "Rebate" is in store credit.

-gauss

About 6 years ago, I installed a type similar to this that I purchased from Home Depot. After a few strong winds over the years, a few have been blown off, but not a large number. Will be building a new house next year, and will likely go with ones that are solid/integral to the gutter.

 

[braumeister]

Can you confirm that this is the Menards product that you purchased that seemed to work? Note these ones show holes in them.

I have used those (bought from Home Depot, but the same thing).

It's not visible in the photo, but underneath those diamond-shaped holes is a fine mesh screen material.

 

[JoeWras]

Frank - JoeWras

Can you confirm that this is the Menards product that you purchased that seemed to work? Note these ones show holes in them.


Menards 3' Vinyl Gutter Cover link


The price today seemed pretty good although the "Rebate" is in store credit.

-gauss

Hi gauss,

Here's what I used: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Amerimax-Snap-in-Gutter-Filter-PVC-Gutter-Screen/50040810

They look very similar to the Menards version. At Lowe's, they had two types, one with screen, one without. I've tried both and decided the screen causes more issues than not, over time. The screen catches the needles, but more importantly grit, which clogs it. Supposedly, the "pro" screen versions are microfine screen which allow stuff to roll off better.

For my product, I found it went on really easy. We've had a few storms in the following years, including a tropical storm and some serious downbursts. Nothing has shifted.

 

[gauss]

Thanks everyone,

I bought 60 of them in the local Menards for .99 each. The ones at this price did not have a screen at all and from what JoeWras shares above, this may be a good thing.

Hopefully the installation will be smooth. I have a single-story ranch so at least I will not be working high in the air.

Thanks again for the ideas on this. I have been dealing with this problem for 15 years.

-gauss

 

[JoeWras]

Thanks everyone,

I bought 60 of them in the local Menards for .99 each. The ones at these price did not have a screen at all and from what JoeWras shares above, this may be a good thing.

Good luck! I found that very little got in through the holes. And pine needles that did catch the holes either slipped in the gutter (and eventually rotted) or slipped in, then flipped out on a windy, dry day. The screens, however, grabbed the needles and would not let go. These then became a substrate to start grabbing other debris, and the whole mess built up just on those pesky pine needles. Without the screen, the flexibility of the debris would result in it eventually blowing off.

It isn't perfect. But for a cheap solution, surprisingly effective.

 

[frank]

gaus: the ones you chose are the correct ones that I use and the other ones with the microscreen do indeed catch small particles and in the end plug up. the ones without screens let the very small particles through but it gets washed away easily by rainfall. good luck. If I had it to do over I would use these and I do recommend them to all my neighbors who are still cleaning gutters.

 

[brucethebroker]

If you go to a local gutter company, they'll simply charge you a fortune for new gutters and gutter guards. And I'm talking $ thousands.

They're much more reasonably priced online and can be installed on your present gutters if they're in good condition.

My last house had 200' of gutter on a hip roof--and 6 sixty foot pine trees. It would take a live in gutter cleaner to keep my gutters clean. I finally took down the gutters.

I no longer am allowed to deal with gutters and installing gutter guards. I fell off a ladder one Fall day 6 year ago and broke both legs. I have no more falls left in me.

Smart move giving up ladders. I stopped climbing ladders about 3 years ago (at 62), because of knowing too many who have fallen.

Last week, at a wedding, I met up with an old friend (age 67). He fell off his 2 story ladder last spring and was impaled on a wrought iron fence. If not for neighbor (who happened to be outside at the same time) who was a quick responding police officer, he might not be alive today.

 

[brucethebroker]

We had new gutters installed by Lowes about a year ago. Gutter "helmets"-their all in one gutter system, were about 20% more ($1000+). We decided to pay $100 each year (late fall) to get them cleaned instead.

There is a good chance we will be relocating before the 10-11 year break even point-so it seemed like a good option.