My current house is under a few oak trees, and I've realized cleaning the gutters is getting to be a big pain. It wouldn't be so bad if it was all one level, but the second floor gutters are not convenient at all. In fall I can clean them and a week later they are completely filled with leaves again. The second floor yielded about 3 Home Depot bucket loads of soggy oak flowers, twigs, and old leaves yesterday. Only lived there a little over a year and I've probably cleaned them a dozen times already.
Gutter guard recommendations
- Thread starter Dave Sherman
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This has worked very well for us
https://www.plygem.com/wps/portal/home/b...ief/leaf-relief
https://www.plygem.com/wps/portal/home/b...ief/leaf-relief
I found the best, turns out the cheapest and easiest to install, are the foam type inserts. I've had them for 4 years and my downspouts are working fine where they use to clog every year or in the gutters close to the opening for the downspout.
I have a similar problem though not apparently as bad as yours. My house had gutter guards when I bought it. At first I tried removing them to be able to wash out the gutters and get the drains into the downspout running well. But I soon realized they do serve a purpose. What I do now is leave them loose with 8 - 12" gaps between sections as well as over the downspouts. I flip them out when necessary but usually leave them in place and just wipe off the leaves and pine needles, and wash out through the gaps between the sections and over the drains with a garden hose.
At the front of the house there is a different type of gutter guard - it's lag bolted right into the fascia. I suspect there's accumulated cr-p under the guard that I can't get at - so what to do? I can't get them off without a major production. I'm thinking of renting some sort of hole cutter and cutting 5 - 6" holes in the guard here and there and over the downspouts (so I can get a hose in there). The bolted on type might be okay except for pine needles and bits of grit which I'm sure are working their way through.
At the front of the house there is a different type of gutter guard - it's lag bolted right into the fascia. I suspect there's accumulated cr-p under the guard that I can't get at - so what to do? I can't get them off without a major production. I'm thinking of renting some sort of hole cutter and cutting 5 - 6" holes in the guard here and there and over the downspouts (so I can get a hose in there). The bolted on type might be okay except for pine needles and bits of grit which I'm sure are working their way through.
Gutter guards do work. I just cleaned out some that were installed in 1997 and haven't been cleaned since. this is in a heavily wooded lot too.
Leaves are one thing, pine needles much worse. Pine need a gutter guard with a screen. Plain leaves do not.
Some companies more for gutter guard than the butter
Some companies more for gutter guard than the butter
A rule in medicine is that "if a condition has many treatments, none of them work very well".
Got to think it's the same with leaves in gutters. If there was a really good solution, that's what everyone would do. So all the approaches have good points and bad points, and there's no really good solution.
Got to think it's the same with leaves in gutters. If there was a really good solution, that's what everyone would do. So all the approaches have good points and bad points, and there's no really good solution.
+1 on a gutter guard with a screen. Shingle granules can fill up a gutter after 10 years.
Thanks all, I’m leaning toward the ones Warstud mentioned. I’d rather have an inexpensive screen that might need to be checked on once in a while. Looks like reviews are generally favorable.
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