March 12, 2010 3:21pm by admin | 
Reader, Mary Beth recounts her personal experience with Leaf Filter and her local installer. She isn’t very happy with the result.
I also had the Leaf Filter installed on my house in the winter of 2009. I live on 5 acres of pine trees. So I thought this would take care of the pine needles. IT DID NOT!. The pine needles do not blow away because it is too cold and wet all winter. I live in the Olympia, Washington area.
I called the company because the system did not work on my house. So they sent out someone to look at them. The day he arrived, we had a cold spell and everything was frozen. So he took pictures. He said he would talk to his boss. I told him I wanted them taken off and I wanted a refund because they did not work. Never heard from them.
So I called them again. They told me that they only guarantee that the gutters will not clog. They do not clog, now they do not work at all. Now all the water just runs over them. So now I have to have them taken off so my gutters will work again. I am now trying to figure out what to use that might work better.
This “no clog” guarantee is quite common with all of the various gutter guard technologies. It’s a guarantee that they can easily make and keep. The problem for home-owners is that the guarantee is almost completely useless! A gutter can be completely clog-free and still not work. A gutter is not working if the rain water is cascading over the top.
When they make a “no clog” guarantee, they only mean the INTERIOR of the gutters. If the filter, screen, curve, or whatever is on top of the gutter clogs up and causes the gutter to utterly fail… this doesn’t count.
After over 20 years of cleaning my rain gutters, I’ve finally found the perfect method of keeping them clean without the use of a dangerous ladder. I got a brand new, American Made, lightweight attachment tool, that should fit most standard 2.5″ wet/dry vacuum hoses. It is a one-piece, 60″ long, durable, pvc tool that fastens snugly onto the vac hose. When I put it into the rain gutter and turn my vac on, it literally vacuumed out all gutter debris, wet and dry junk, while I stayed firmly and safely on the ground. I saved myself money, time, energy, and most of all my own safety while doing a once nasty job that now is almost fun to do. This new rain gutter cleaning tool has been hailed as “the Best Gutter Cleaning Tool on the Market Today” and in my opinion it really is everything that other customers have said about it and more.. Check it out on their webpage and read all the comments and watch their videos and see why I’m so pleased with my find! C.J.
Thanks for your post. What is the website for your vacuum attachment tool? Thanks, Jan in Pittsburgh, PA
I LOVE the Leaf Filter system. The Chicago area had repeated freeze thaw cycles about 3 weeks ago, NO PROBLEMS!!! Handled the weather like a champ. I asked the representative about the ice dams, if it would be an issue? He explained what would happen and it did. If water is coming off your roof then water will go through the system. They fixed my gutters then installed the system in october 2009. We have finally found something that works, with the small honey locast leaves, maple helicopters and the PINE NEEDLES. I had tried two different do it yourself types of gutter protection after originally purchasing Sears low profile all in one gutter and top in the mid 80′s. Had them replaced with regular gutters. Went to a trade show and seen Leaf Filter demonstrated, it sparked my interest. The representative came to my home and really had his information ready. He made a believer out of me with his experience in home improvement. After installation he came back and earned my neighbors business too. Best product I have seen for keeping everything out while allowing all the rain in. Something that actually works, can you believe it. Peace be with you. *
Leaf Filter system: install on our home ~6yrs ago and no one mentioned that the micro mesh collects fine seeds, twigs, grit, and who knows what, and then proceeds to grow moss on it! the gutters may run free of crud, but the buildup on the top of the gutters is ugly and you can’t just rinse off moss-buildup either! So someone still needs to get on a ladder to clean up another mess! and when there’s a nice layer of buildup, the water just careens off the roof onto the deck and ground, so why have gutters??
Yep, that’s why all of these outfits can offer a no-clog guarantee for your gutters. It’s never the actual gutters that clog!