Best gutter leaf guard? Thanks!

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Today I'm cleaning gutters, and counting everything I'm guessing 600ft. At 70 yo I don't mind but it has to be done frequently, so many trees here. What's the best leaf guard? From what little I read Leafguard may be it but real experience beats salesmen!
I want the house new roof this time metal which I'm sure will last our lifetime. Probably within next year so I'm thinking all new gutters/guards same time.
The garage is two story and of the 5 gutters I did have a gutter guard installed on the highest back section a couple years ago. The other 4 I can get to from rooftop. Not that big of a deal (only 12 ft. down max.).

 

[KennyG]

Depends on your trees. The cheap snap in ones with a grid and screen work well for me with oak and maple trees. I understand they can be a problem if you have pines with fine needles. Stay away from the foam inserts. I put them on my pole barn because the way the gutters were installed prevented other styles from being installed. They clog with mud and grow weeds.

 

[2manyrocks]

Installed gutterglove leaf guards when I had a metal roof installed about 1.5 years ago. Gutter Guard by Gutterglove 4 ft. L x 5 in. W Stainless Steel Micro-Mesh Gutter Guard (80 ft. Kit) THD80 - The Home Depot

Installation wise, I made a jig out of a couple of pieces of wood with a hinge to create a uniform bend in each piece. They are supposed to be screwed to your gutter. Working fine so far, but I also cut down a bunch of trees near the house.

It would be difficult to install them once the roof is on because one side goes under your roof and the other side gets screwed to your gutter. It also makes a difference how your gutter is positioned relative to your roof.

Maybe more details than you want to read about, but whichever guard you buy you'll have to work through how all the pieces get installed together. Also makes a difference in whether you can remove the things to clean your gutters if it comes to it.

For your roof install, I suggest you consider installing dome head roof screws. They have a cup that covers part of the washer to help avoid UV damage to the washer. My roofing contractor bought them from his supplier, but here is an Amazon link to a similar product. The ones my contractor installed have a thicker diameter than the usual roofing screws I've seen. https://www.amazon.com/Roofing-Screws-Multiple-Colors-Quantities/dp/B08ZHP79PW

 

[ponytug]

@Fuddyduddy1952 if you are putting on a new roof, have you considered extending it out far enough not to need gutters?

I have a slotted gutter guard, and both narrow leaves and debris wash into them, and cleaning them out is a bit of a pain, but doable without removal. I also have an extension setup for my leaf blower that can blow debris out of gutters.

Finally, someone manufactures a hinged gutter that enables you to dump second story gutters from the ground.

I think a lot depends on your conditions. E.g. much as I like Leafguard's fine screen, IIRC, they use plastic supports that are a non-starter for me in a fire area like mine.

All the best,

Peter

 

[milkman636]

Today I'm cleaning gutters, and counting everything I'm guessing 600ft. At 70 yo I don't mind but it has to be done frequently, so many trees here. What's the best leaf guard? From what little I read Leafguard may be it but real experience beats salesmen!
I want the house new roof this time metal which I'm sure will last our lifetime. Probably within next year so I'm thinking all new gutters/guards same time.
The garage is two story and of the 5 gutters I did have a gutter guard installed on the highest back section a couple years ago. The other 4 I can get to from rooftop. Not that big of a deal (only 12 ft. down max.).

Leaf Relief® for Existing Gutters - Ply Gem

Ply Gem Leaf Relief is a proven, patented leaf gutter guard that keeps natural debris, such as leaves and twigs, from blocking your gutters. Installing our gutter overflow guard on your existing gutters is a highly effective and permanent solution to clogged gutters. It prevents clogged...

www.plygem.com

I went with these about 10 years ago. I have a little over 300’ of gutters and wanted something sturdy enough to put a ladder against and with a large enough mesh that it wouldn’t seal over like the fine screen ones do. These have performed well for me. I still need to brush the tops of them off in the fall. I get a little buildup on the east side of my house where my two valleys meet the main eaves, and along the north side on the barn, but it’s a quick easy brush off and not a muck out the trough type of cleaning. The ones that are south and west facing seem to stay pretty clean just from prevailing winds.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I bought stainless steel ones from costco, have not put any up yet.

 

[reb]

Wilkerson makes a good-sounding one. Expensive, tho. We had them installed a couple of weeks ago.

No way they can allow leaves into the gutter. I put some standard ones from Costco on the shed. It will be interesting to compare the two types.

 

[2manyrocks]

I had another set of plastic gutterguards on a previous house. Couldn't tell you which brand they were. There were some evergreen trees near the house and the needles from those evergreens would clog up the holes in those gutterguards that let water into the gutters. I had to clean those gutterguards about every year or two. They pretty much kept the needles out of the gutters, but they did clog up themselves.

 

[Creamer]

Leaf Relief® for Existing Gutters - Ply Gem

Ply Gem Leaf Relief is a proven, patented leaf gutter guard that keeps natural debris, such as leaves and twigs, from blocking your gutters. Installing our gutter overflow guard on your existing gutters is a highly effective and permanent solution to clogged gutters. It prevents clogged...

www.plygem.com

I went with these about 10 years ago. I have a little over 300’ of gutters and wanted something sturdy enough to put a ladder against and with a large enough mesh that it wouldn’t seal over like the fine screen ones do. These have performed well for me. I still need to brush the tops of them off in the fall. I get a little buildup on the east side of my house where my two valleys meet the main eaves, and along the north side on the barn, but it’s a quick easy brush off and not a muck out the trough type of cleaning. The ones that are south and west facing seem to stay pretty clean just from prevailing winds.

Don't those hold debris on top of the guard. Maybe you are in a windy enough area to not have to worry about that?

 

[oosik]

I have about 90 feet of gutters. I have ONLY Ponderosa pines - long needles. Forty plus years and I've NEVER had to clean my gutters. Not even once.

I work at removing the needles from my lawns. Not out of my gutters.

 

[dougtrr2]

I had some leaf guards installed. I specified that I wanted a 2' section above eave downspout. The theory was, if I needed to get access I would only need to remove a short section, not the 10' piece they came in. They complied and the initial installation had a 2' feet piece above each downspout......... and the rest of the gutter was left open! They obviously fixed it and we had a good laugh over it.

Doug in SW IA

 

[milkman636]

Don't those hold debris on top of the guard. Maybe you are in a windy enough area to not have to worry about that?

The recess on top is shallow and really can’t hold much. I have a lot of maple trees, and the helicopter seeds will collect on them a little bit at my two inside valleys where I have overflow shields, and leaves will collect there in the fall too. But the little bit that lays on top of the rest of the gutters pretty much blows off after it dries out. It really seems like the perforated design allows air to get under the stuff and lift it off. My annual cleaning is basically just sweeping them off with a broom. This year a hand-held leaf blower got both roofs done in around 30 minutes.

 

[2manyrocks]

I suspect the smaller perforated holes would be a better option when maple helicopter seeds are involved than the larger diamond shaped openings on some other gutter shields. The holes need to be small enough for those seeds not to lodge in the openings, but still allow water to flow into the gutters.

 

[shooterdon]

I had Leaf Filter gutter guards installed and they clogged up with pollen. They will not honor their "Lifetime" warranty. Not a good company to deal with.

If the filter is large enough not to get clogged with pine needles etc and small enough to catch the smaller stuff it will clog with pollen.

So a lot depends on where you live and what you are dealing with. Take suggestions here with that in mind. A bit like "what should I use to clear snow". The perfect solution for one case will be marginal in the next.

 

[5030]

The best ones are the ones you buy at the local box store and install yourself, cheapest too.

 

[TN8Man]

I just bought the ones from Lowes and they work fine. I also removed trees that were too close to the house and barn that could cause damage if they fell.

 

[Cub 7275]

Tried the gutter glove from homedepot last year on one gutter. Have pines and maples. Was not impressed. To install they show sliding them under the shingles, but to do that you need to trim off the roof side aluminum strip if you want the shingles to lay flat. They have a depression in the screen (I assume to keep the water from going over the edge) which catches debris and allows it to build up. Cleaned them twice, but they did keep stuff out of the gutter, lol. During heavy rains some water bypassed the gutter. Took them off for the winter to prevent ice dams. They did not go back on this year. Really wanted them to work since cleaning the second story gutter is a hassle.

 

[5030]

I got mine from Menards 3 years ago and they work just fine. I used the mesh rolls on the shop gutters because I fill 350 gallon totes with rain water for equipment washdown.

 

[2manyrocks]

Another DIY option is to buy perforated vinyl siding soffit, cut it to the correct width, slide one end up under the roofing material and screw the other side to the top lip of the gutter. There will be situations where it will perform just as well as anything you can buy, and the longer lengths mean less sections to open up and let leaves in.

There are a variety of ways to cut it. Hand shears or the Dewalt shear attachment will zip through pretty quickly. https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWASH...lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[Torvy]

I think another factor may be the size of the gutters/downspouts. I have only had the 4" ones, but the new house has 6". I am hoping they clog less.

Anyone have any experience with the larger size?