I would like to tell all consumers who are interested in purchasing gutter guards of any kind, that as someone who has installed gutters and guards for almost 20 [...]]]> Reader J. Woodson offers some advice born of experience in the are of selecting a gutter guard system for your home.  Here are his comments:

I would like to tell all consumers who are interested in purchasing gutter guards of any kind, that as someone who has installed gutters and guards for almost 20 years now that all guards can work very well if everything is perfect. But what people have to realize is that every house is different and there will always be some kind of maintenance.

You have to realize that when you are dealing with salesmen they are not the ones that will have to service them or deal with the customer face to face like the installer, so they will guarantee you the world so you will buy their product.

I have installed just about every guard there is, and as much as it pains me to say this there is no point in spending ten times as much as the gutters to protect them, even though the more expensive ones can work very well when installed correctly and with a little tweaking, as each house has its own problems, some of the more reasonable priced guards are just as effective. But they will ALL need some type of maintenance. There are no magic guards that stop all the leaves from either building up on the roof, or on top of guard, and handle torrential downpours. You can’t stop it all with [one particular product].

So just be sure you research the contractor you are using so if you do need service they are someone you can count on to be there. If you are using a product that has to go under your shingles and your roof is 20 years old that probably is not something you want to use. If you have a very steep roof with a lot of valleys you probably don’t want to use a guard that completely covers your gutter. A lot of these products say that they can be installed on any type of house, when that is not the case, some are better for different types of houses. Research, research, research, and save yourself a lot of headache and money.

Kathleen Hassinger and Brandon Halbert in Wynnewood, Pa., are among those whose home sustained multiple winter wounds. Ice dams damaged their 100-year-old home’s slate roof and left [...]]]> The Wall Street Journal recently post an article tabulating the various ways in which your home may have been damaged this winter.  Here are a few excerpts:

Kathleen Hassinger and Brandon Halbert in Wynnewood, Pa., are among those whose home sustained multiple winter wounds. Ice dams damaged their 100-year-old home’s slate roof and left new gutters “twisted like a piece of tinfoil,” says Ms. Hassinger. Snow sliding off the roof broke branches on shrubs while gutter runoff wore bare spots into the lawn. Ms. Hassinger says they’ll be spending about $1,000 for roof and gutter repair, and she’s rethinking placement of plants and downspouts for next year.

and…

It was a banner year for ice dams, which typically build along roof eaves in periods of extended cold, causing leaks and other damage.

Not only is the resulting moisture inside a roof or wall “like putting gravy on meat” for carpenter ants and termites, Mr. Young says, it can lead to longer-term woes like mold.

Replacing wet drywall and insulation is top priority. Also, fix broken gutters and shingles.

“You’re going to see gutters where exceptionally heavy snow storms separated them” from the house, says David Dail, Home Depot’s merchandising vice president for building materials.

“A leaky roof is pretty much something you’ve got to deal with,” he says.

Read the full article over at the Journal.

Whose roof this is I think I know:

We apologize for the lack of recent comment approvals. Our server wasn’t alerting us to new comments and we still aren’t quite sure why. Hmmm. We just went through and approved about 30 [...]]]> Well the leaves are falling and the gutters are clogging. Another Fall here in New England. Actually mine aren’t clogging.

We apologize for the lack of recent comment approvals. Our server wasn’t alerting us to new comments and we still aren’t quite sure why. Hmmm. We just went through and approved about 30 comments. Keep them coming.

And we are always looking for anyone with an opinion on this industry to step up and write a guest post. That would be fantastic.

Cheers and Happy Fall!

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 [...]]]> [originally posted a few years ago, but let's use it to kick off The Gutter Club]

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.

=== UPDATE 2 ===

I’ve now had my Home Depot DIY plastic gutter filters installed for about 8 months and they are working flawlessly! Seriously. The leaves and debris just blow off my roof and filters. I’ve lifted the filters off of the gutters and looked inside. Totally clean with the smallest amount of grit that doesn’t even require a thought.

Why oh why didn’t I install these things from day one?

This is a mini-industry that is fraught with exceptional claims and poor results.  We intend to get to the bottom of [...]]]> At The Gutter Club, we will discuss and review the benefits and shortfalls of all of the major (and minor) systems created to protect your gutters and downspouts from leaves and other residue.

This is a mini-industry that is fraught with exceptional claims and poor results.  We intend to get to the bottom of it, with your help.

Thanks very much!