Evaluating Gutter Leaf Protection Systems
I've spent a lot of time lately attempting to find the best solution for keeping leaves and plant material out of our gutters. We currently have *no* gutters on the house due to the renovation. I don't simply want to install open gutters and leave it at that, because the house is so tall now that I have no way to reach the gutters for cleaning.
So I've been investigating solutions. There are TONS of them. Everyone seems to either love or hate any one particular solution. And most people agree that none of them work perfectly... and some don't work at all. Here are a few that I have looked at.
Leaf Guard
Gutter Maxx
Leaf Filter
Gutter Filter
Gutter Stuff
Gutter Brush
Alcoa Leaf Relief
DIY options
We had Gutter Maxx come out and give us an estimate. GutterMaxx is like the next generation of LeafGuard. It looks like a quality product, but the price is ridiculous. For the ~100 feet of gutters (with all the pipes, downspouts, etc.) and the GutterMaxx topper, they wanted $4500. We talked them down to $3600, but that is still way more than our original open-gutter-only complete quote of $1200.
Today I had the local representative for Alcoa Leaf Relief come out to give an estimate. I wasn't please by his unprofessional appearance and the fact that he seemed to work out of a station wagon packed with work stuff. I think that the Alcoa product is exactly what we need, but I'm wary about working with this particular guy.
No estimate back yet, but he indicated that Leaf Relief "isn't the cheapest solution on the market." Great. According to many other sources, this product *should* cost about $5-7 per linear foot, bringing us to $700 for installation on top of $1200 for the gutters themselves... for a total of $1900. Let's see what he comes back with. I predict that it will be in the $3000 range. If so, I will laugh in his face.
Oh, and I did some research regarding the Alcoa 10-year No-Clog guarantee. It's basically useless because it only kicks in if the INTERIOR of the gutters clog. If you've seen the product, it will be obvious that this isn't its weak point. I have no doubt that the interiors will stay clear. The potential failure point of Leaf Relief is debris piling up on top of the perforation such that water runs off the top of the gutters. Sure they aren't clogged, but they aren't working either! There is NO guarantee that this won't happen.
=== UPDATE ===
1.5 years after posting my thoughts on gutter leaf protection I went to Home Depot and paid $50 for a stack of Do-it-Yourself gutter guards. I installed them in about 1 hour and here it is, a month later, and they are working absolutely fine.
The bottom line is that the gutter protection "industry" is not worth your time and money. Just do it yourself.
I am not sure where you live but they provide installation services in Central Ohio. Pricing is $2.75/lineal foot if you install your self. So, in order to cover your whole house you could get away with a much better product than the home improvement stores offer for $275.00.
I installed this product on my home myself and it was pretty painless. I have a standard 2 story split level home and installed 170 feet of it with a helper in about 3 hours on a Saturday.
I have done quite a bit of research on other gutter guards and actually tested some of them on my home. The ones that completely cover your gutter and depend on the water and gravity to make it work are completely worthless because not only is the water gravitating to the opening but so is all the debris you want to keep out of your gutter. It?s the standard law of movement. Where the water flows so does the "stuff"!! Not only that but you have to worry about birds and bees nests getting in there. The aluminum mesh ones are worthless because they buckle and just end up in your gutter like the leaves you are trying to keep out.
I liked this gutter guard because it was easy to work with, sturdy, and has really kept the yucky spring debris out of my gutters. So, I'm sure it will do great in the fall. I took a bunch of pictures of the debris that has blown off the gutter guard and onto my patio. It's amazing to see how much stuff WOULD have been in my gutters. If you want I can send you the pictures.
It has these ridges on it that make most of debris push off like a little slide system. I have a TON of trees in my yard of every kind and was flooding due to bad gutters. We installed new gutters and then this gutter guard system. It made a huge difference. We are not flooding anymore!! While I don't think that any product will ever be "perfect" I am REALLY satisfied with this one. Check it out. It's appalling what companies are charging for some of these gutter guard systems. I think you will like this one and the price.
The Leafguard gutter works well also. It was reasonably priced. It handles heavy rains well and has not overflowed. It really has curb appeal
compared to the standard gutter. I may have it added to the front of my house at some point in the future.
First of all it is never installed with a drip edge on your fascia board (thats even if you have a fascia board at all, if not, your troubles are compounded, will touch on later) A drip edge is designed to keep water off your roof line wood surfaces (fascia board, rafter tails, roof decking) otherwise they will begin to rot, eventually causing you to spend thousands of dollars on a roof line repair. The reason a drip edge is never used with a standard open tray gutter is that the spike or screw has to penetrate it in order to mount the gutter to the home, thus rendering it useless.
Often we see a gutter mounted directly to the rafter tails with no fascia at all! With this type of scenario the only surface to attach the gutter to is the end of the rafter tails. In summary, the standard open tray gutter installed on 99.9% of all homes is the cheapest system a builder can put up on a home to get it sold.
Drive around any neighborhood and soon you will see this type of gutter pitching, leaning, falling off etc. So explain this to me? If an open tray is eventually going to cause damage to my home and quite possibly fall off, what good is putting a cover on it? Now you get it!
From what I have seen with many no clog gutter systems out there, is that ONLY GutterMaxx stands tall. It is installed with fascia, with a drip edge, the gutter tucks up under the drip edge and the nickel plated screws that mount the system to the home are below the drip edge as not to penetrate it. The hoods have two ways for the water to enter the system causes a flushing effect keeping debris in the stream. And since the internal brackets are elevated, once it enters the stream it is a clear shot out to the downspout.
This system is also the only system designed under the premise stuff will get in! Thats why it works so well, it was designed to handle debris and not try to keep it all out! Listen to Leafguards ads and you will hear something like this, "Keep ALL that debris out that can clog your gutter". Really, ALL! in other words our system can stop nature, think again.
If you look into the history of no clog systems you soon discover that Leafguard was the first attempt at excruding a gutter on site with a hood on it. It was designed and patented by Kguard approx. 16 years ago. They franchised it and low and behold Leafguard was born. Kguard gave the franchise owners a 2 year no clog warranty then the franchises extended that to a lifetime to build a book of business.
Well after putting the system up for about 5 years they discovered that the system had some major flaws. 1) It was to small, it actuall will fit inside a standard 41/2" open tray gutter. So installing it with a thick roofing material became difficult. 2) The design would not allow the use of a drip edge, and we have already seen what that causes. When this was discovered they started to put caulking on the back of the gutter when they installed it. (A short term solution at best) 3) It clogged! what a no clog system that clogs, heaven forbid, remember the nature issue! When they went out to unclog it because of the Lifetime warranty the discovered another problem. 4) It was very difficult to access because of the one piece design. Once installed it was like a soda can! And finally, 5) Damage issues, if the hood was damaged the owner was forced to buy a whole new run of gutter! Yep, a one inch dent could cause the owner to purchase a new 40', 50' 60' etc piece.
Imagine getting a ding on your door, you take it in to get fixed and the repair place gives you a quote that makes you pass out. Then you learn that to fix the door ding you have to purchase a new hood, the other doors, all the quarter panels, the trunk, everything because its all connected. One piece great on paper and in theory but in reality - Not smart.
So after discovering and dealing with all these design set backs they went back to Kguard and ask them to design a system to replace the first attempt. They did! the GutterMaxx system was born. Now it was not called that when it was presented to the Leafguard franchise owners obviously because it was going to be thier new product. Kguard looked at the problems and solved them all because like i stated earlier they figured out that you can not stop nature but you can control it to an extent.
No the system is not perfect, but what it does along with its crown molding type majestic appearance backed up with Lifetime warranties from Kguard, it is without doubt the best system available to date. Oh! why isnt it Leafguard, well when they found out that they would have to re-tool at a cost of 65,000 per truck per franchise owner plus re-do all thier adverting from a one piece system to a 2 piece system they turned it down. Kguard decided to market it themselves through dealers across the country. Smart choice. When it comes to price well guess what, with gutters and so called leaf free hoods etc, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!
since November of 2006 I have subcontracted all of the warranty/service work for a couple of the big leaf protection devels...er, dealers...yeah, dealers. In less than a year, I have been to over 600 houses to service protected
gutter systems,..mostly K-Guard but also topper systems that install on existing ogee style gutters. they all clog!. Yes Joe, K-Guard does let in debris, but it does not flush them out! Have you ever taken the time to watch a gutter drain?
there is nowhere near enough velocity in the water to flush the gutter. There is not enough room on a facia board to pitch a gutter enough to push debris out, most of it settles on the bottom of the gutter around the downspout outlet, starting the clogging process. Most of the companies that sell these products are a bunch of crooks!!!! They are companies owned and operated by SALESMAN, NOT TRADESMEN! They sell thier systems for upwards of $40+ a foot!! They justify it with a bogus lifetime warranty. All they are doing is selling a lifetime cleanout contract. yeah, they will clean your gutters...when they feel like it! Oh Yeah.....reverse curve systems overshoot in a moderate heavy rain and do not work well on metal roofs or steep roofs. I have tested several systems out there and there is only one style that works.....stainless steel micro-mesh systems. There are only four companies that I know of that produce these systems...they are leaf solution, leaf filter, gutter glove and mastershield. Leaf Solution, in my opinion has the smartest design. The one thing that these companies have in common is that they will all refund your money if your gutters ever clog. If these systems are installed properly, they will not clog. You can pile leaves and debris on top of them and they still take in all of the water. Take it from me, I have seen it all and tested it all, my mind really is in the gutter....week in and week out.
However, I can speak to the effectiveness of these systems in general. Over the past 3 years we have installed the GutterShutter System on just over 1000 homes. In that time we have had 2 service calls for clogs. Both where caused by BIRDS! One was in Elmhurst and the other in Streamwood. What we found in both cases when we took off the hood was an abandoned nest. A very small bird had apparently slipped through the opening and had built a nest in what looked like a nice covered home. But after the first rain the birds obviously reconsidered the location of their new home..
Regardless we removed the nest and replaced the hood.
Other than those two situations, we have had no service calls for clogs that were caused by leaves, twigs, or seeds. And if we ever do, we will clean out the system at no charge.
and the wholesale/manufacturing side as a factory rep. and i can honestly tell you that there is NO perfect system.All system have maintenance
issues meaning they ALL have to be cleaned periodadically some more than others depending on geographical location.And the claims of NEVER
CLEAN AGAIN is a misleading statement as you may not[not as often clean] have to clean the inerior of the gutters you will definetly have to clean yur
your covers,foam inserts,screens,ect.I am NOT saying that all systems are bad [i have personally sold and installed over 1/2 million ft.] I am merely saying buyer beware
and not to look for a magic trick because there isnt one.What most contractor should do is educate the buyer / homeowners on what can be
expected and to teach the buyer how to maintain the system,because ANYTHING we as contractors install on ANY home requires maintenance,
maintenance FREE siding,maintenance FREE windows,MAINTENANCE FREE anything has to be maintained.I think most are afraid to simply tell the truth or some
do not know what the truth is.And if contractors and manufactures alike would simply change thier verbage to minimal maintenance,I truly fell
that most buyers /contractors would be better off.
In conclusion=contrators educate,educate,educate,,,,,,,homeowners=beware,beware,beware of unrealistic promises.
They also installed a short piece that doesn't have a cover and of course, it is clogged up. Not sure why they aren't owning up to it, but they haven't done anything about it even though it is theirs.
They take forever to return phone calls and have poor follow-up. They've come out to my house 3x to look at the problem (because I keep complaining) in 7 months (yeah, that's how much I have to bug them to get any action). Each time, they claim there is either no problem or it is not theirs. I say stay away from them. You may get a nice looking system for an expensive price, but the so-called warranty is a bunch of hot air. They will only clean the gutter if somehow leaves and debris got inside to clog it. They'll throw up all kinds of other excuses to clarify what they mean in their ads. Caveat emptor!
house after being referred by my neighbor who had his done last
year. The product works great! I had estimates from Guttermax,
Gutter Shutter and Leafguard, and Leafree beat them all. Their
installers were great and the company 'Gutter Proz' was terrific
to deal with.
I had the job done by Gutter Proz in McHenry, IL and they did a
terrific job. I shopped other companies and after talking with people
who had the Leafree system I decided to go with them and I am glad
I did. Works great and I can now give my ladder away.
me for having their product uninstalled from my gutters. They would not give me a full reimbursement for their product, but I was able to get about 1/3 of what I paid. Every time I see the Leaf Filter being demoed at the home shows by a
certified installer, I approach them and tell me what a disappointing product it was for me. I have a metal roof and I live in the northwest. We get alot of rain here and it is constantly moist. The mesh filter kept getting clogged with mildew and moss. I tried
to bleach the filter and scrub out the mesh - but I found out from other disappointed Leaf Filter owners that you have to also scrub out the underside of the mesh too. Which means, you have to uninstall the mesh entirely to clean it because it gets clogged
from the outside in and the inside out. In addition, leaves would pile up on the gutter. Because of all of this, water would run right across Leaf Filter and never get into my gutters to being with. Not a good situation for me - especially because my house has
a basement. The Leaf Filter manufacturer told me that their product should NOT be installed on a house with a metal roof because the filter cannot keep up with the velocity of the water (I have a 6/12 roof pitch, which is not extreme). The installer told me that they
never knew about this. The installer also told me that they have had so many complaints about Leaf Filter that they will no longer install it and have chosen not to be the regional Leaf Filter installer. Maybe Leaf Filter is just not for folks that live in wet climates - so
I guess your mileage may vary if you live in a dryer climate, don't have a metal roof, and have a roof pitch that is less aggressive than mine (6/12 is the standard where I live).
I would much, much rather clean my gutters twice a year rather than spend the extra money on gutter protection systems. I will never buy another gutter protection system....and when I get too old to clean out my gutters, then I will pay someone
else to do it for me :).