Just about every homeowner that has exposure to trees whether coniferous or deciduous has to endure the painstaking task of cleaning out the gutters a few times during the year. The spring season alone creates one to three trips up the extension ladder to clean out items from the winter along with new seedlings. The process then repeats itself in September and October with the leaves falling.
Those trips up and down the ladder become onerous and potentially dangerous considering the great heights involved with cleaning out the gutters. The hardware stores and home improvement television shows frequently tout gutter guards and gutter screens as the answer to these trips up to the roof to clean and maintain the roof drainage. While these gutter gadgets seem effective upon first glance, they are not honestly maintenance free.
Gutter Guards are Not Maintenance Free
One item being promoted with some mixed success is the s curved gutter guard. The gutter debris deterrent consists of a nylon or aluminum gutter cover that snaps over the entire gutter and has a small slit as a water entry point. The concept with this design is to prevent the large leaves and debris from entering the gutters to create instant clogs and overflows of water straight off the roof. The gutter guards do achieve the goal of keeping out large items. The shortcoming of the gutter guards is the ability of the slit to become clogged with jagged shaped items such as pine needles and maple leaf seedlings. Once the slit becomes clogged, debris will aggregate on top of gutter and push backward upon the roof creating other water issues and potential flooding. The other downside to the gutter guards is the ability for tiny items like small seedlings and tiny shingle granules to aggregate at the base of the gutters eventually creating sludge.
Foam Gutter Inserts are not Maintenance Free
The other debris deterrent gutter guard involves the use of foam inserts. These foam inserts are made of plastic and come in several sections that fit snugly into the gutter. The concept behind the design is the foam will be large enough to occupy most of the gutter space to allow water in but keep debris out. That concept is partially flawed since rapidly falling debris such as large leaves, seedlings, and other items will naturally rest on top of the foam potentially causing water to divert to other areas or roll right over and straight down causing pooling or flooding. These foam inserts will then become mucky with decay and rotting organic material which will cause the homeowner to get back up on the ladder and maintenance the gutters anyway.
Gutter Screens are not maintenance free.
Gutter screens were designed as a low cost gutter maintenance system that snaps pretty easily into the gutters and roof. The common gutter screens sold to the homeowner are typically of two pattern or grids for which the holes are either diamond shaped or round. These screens work well at keeping gutters entirely clear of large items such as leaves and maple leaf seedlings. These screens keep ladder use at a minimum, that is, until the base of the gutter fills up with organic residue created from the small items that fall in between the screen holes
There are also gutter screens made with a fine mesh material. The mesh screens are successful at keeping out all material from the gutters. These screens have their flaws in that they will allow debris (snow included) to sit on top of the gutter and displace water to other parts of the roof causing potential flood and roof issues.
It is a fallacy to really believe there is a maintenance free gutter system out in the market. Anyone that tells you otherwise should be heavily scrutinized. The sales rep will sell you on the image of never having to get onto a ladder ever again. That is not true. These gutter systems will potentially reduce your trips on the ladder to perhaps only once or twice a year.
Consider your landscape surroundings as your decision on whether to install gutter protection or not. It is in the homeowners’ best interest to still consider using a guard or screen to keep the big items out and prevent quick clogs in a heavy rain situation.
