Gutter guard systems that actually work?

[Flyover]

Brought this up in another thread but decided to make one dedicated to it.

I had gutter guards at a previous house, same type as a friend had on his house: essentially a metal grate screwed in place over the gutters. My friend and I had the same problem: The guards did not work, and merely resulted in clogged gutters that could not be accessed for cleaning.

Is there a type of gutter guard system that actually works? This type looks promising but I assume there must be some huge problem with it that nobody talks about:

 

[Eddie_T]

For one thing they are quite expensive. I have never seen them actually on a house. I didn't install gutters for two reasons. One, I think they are ugly and detract from the architecture of a house and two, any place I lived that had them had the cleaning and overflow problem. I did consider Plastmo half-round gutters but they weren't available in my area. Plastmo uses round downspouts rather than the ugly scrunched rectangular aluminum that's so common.

 

[bud16415]

When we did the metal roof a few years ago the Amish guy I had doing the roof asked about ice/snow guards and also gutters. Our roof is 11/12 pitch 2 story and I told him I wanted whatever hit the roof to be off the roof as quick as possible. I would rather have the water land away from foundation a few feet and the snow to come off.



I found the front door and steps we don’t use much where not liking the waterfall on them so I put up a 10’ section of gutter on the front porch and left it open on both ends and the back door we use a lot I have 8’ of gutter and down spouts and it is only about 8’ high above the landing and easy to clean with a step ladder. I plan on putting a small 10x10 covering over that landing as that is where the grill sits. It would be nice to have that covered for coming home in the rain. When I do that it will get a similar 10’ open ended gutter.



Every year at the county fair there are several people selling gutter guards of the type you show where the water rolls around and leaves flow off. There is another company that has something like a wide drip edge that has slots in it and they claim it shoots the water out away from the building and the spray doesn’t fall in a straight line. I have never tried it but like the idea.



To me in my 50 years of home ownership it seems to me I have seen as many problems caused by gutters as I have seen gutters solve. If you have them you really have to keep after them.

 

[Eddie_T]

That reminds me, I did try a product called RainHandler around my front courtyard and over the utility room door. It did work and it was fun to watch it disperse the drip. The downside was that it caught leaves and I didn't have a leaf blower at that time. I took it down when I repainted the trim and never reinstalled it.

 

[bud16415]

That reminds me, I did try a product called RainHandler around my front courtyard and over the utility room door. It did work and it was fun to watch it disperse the drip. The downside was that it caught leaves and I didn't have a leaf blower at that time. I took it down when I repainted the trim and never reinstalled it.

View attachment 30563

That's the stuff.

 

[tomtheelder2020]

I experimented with different gutter guards on a section of my house. Metal gutter guards with large (1/8"?) openings worked fine for leaves but I also have a tree that sheds fine material - so those did not work. I tried plastic guards with a fine mesh. They were almost ok but tended to be clogged by the finer material and clearly were not a long term solution. I then got samples of stainless steel micromesh guards from several manufacturers. A couple didn't fit my gutters (even though all were "5 inch" and a couple were mega expensive. I installed about a 30 ft run of the type linked below and tried them for a season. Worked like a charm, so I installed them for the rest of the house. That was 3 years ago and I have had no problems.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Best-1-...25-Pieces-Equals-75-ft-K5B1FF3AL-75/313353048

 

[BvilleBound]

We also had a major problem with clogged gutters at our home in Massachusetts -- surrounded by pine and maple trees. Even every-year cleaning wasn't enough, which led to clogged gutters, ice dams and water damage. I did a lot of research and found the guy who invented stainless steel micromesh gutter guards. I order a set from him - which were inexpensive - and installed them. My concern was durability through New England winters, with heavy snow and ice. No problem! They worked just fine. Water goes in and leaves stay out. The micromesh even blocks grit from asphalt shingles.

After 6 years of good performance, I ordered the same product for our new beach house in Massachusetts. The original inventor sold his company to Gutter Glove, and the product is now available from Home Depot for about $2 per foot. This will quickly save you money compared to gutter cleaning, and potential damage from clogged gutters. Do a search on the Home Depot website for, "Gutter Guard by Gutterglove, 4 ft. L x 5 in. W Stainless Steel Micro-Mesh Gutter Guard (20-Pack)" See:

Gutter Guard by Gutterglove 4 ft. L x 5 in. W Stainless Steel Micro-Mesh Gutter Guard (20-Pack) THD80 - The Home Depot

4" and 5" wide versions are available. They are easy to install with self-tapping metal screws and a standard battery-powered driver drill. You tuck one edge under the shingles and screw the front edge to the lip of your gutters. Simple. If you don't live along the shore, I recommend standard 'ZIP' metal screws and a magnetized hex bit, which will hold the screw securely while you position it with the driver drill. Along the shore, stainless screws are better. See the photo below of this product installed on our first house - after 5 years and 5 New England winters.