Keeping downspouts clean

[Klutch9]

I'm having a nightmare of a time keeping my downspouts clean. House is 20'x40', gable roof, 4 or 5/12 pitch, one gutter on each 40' side. I have 3 massive trees that tower over the house, so the gutters and spouts get cleaned regularly. The gutters actually stay pretty clean, but the spouts clog every week or two. If there is a hard rain, it just starts spilling over the edge. The house had the perforated gutter screens which actually made things worse. My issue is that they clog with buds from the maple tree and/or leaves, to the point where water won't even enter the gutters, so I removed them. I've considered adding an extra spout on each side, about halfway down. Gutter sloping is correct, but this would help alleviate congestion on each spout. Are there any screens o could add that actually help?

 

[PimTac]

Perhaps this design will be better than the screens in your environment.

https://www.leafguardgutters.com/

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Perhaps this design will be better than the screens in your environment.
https://www.leafguardgutters.com/

We have gutters similar to this design, not quite the same, and they work great!
We have a monster pine looming over part of the house that will either need to come down or be scaled back dramatically at some point as well as multiple tall oaks, maples, beeches, hemlocks, etc., all around the house...and have never had a gutter clog.
The only issue we have had is that our gutters actually fit partway under the shingles and the contractor squawked a bit when we had our roof redone...but, he also told us that gutters of this type were extraordinarily common around us and everybody seemed to love them, so he had taught his crew how to deal with them.

 

[doitmyself]

Anything you try will have to stand up to the rigors of our winters (ice [censored], etc.). https://www.icedamremovalguys.com/learning-center/how-gutter-guards-make-ice-dams-tougher-to-remove/

Maybe installing larger downspouts might help?

I'm thinking the only real answer is to come up with an easy way to regularly clean out the gutters. Maybe some kind of wand on a hose. https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-58543-Telescoping-Cleaning-Ratcheting/dp/B00CLOG5MK

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted by doitmyself
Anything you try will have to stand up to the rigors of our winters (ice [censored], etc.).


I was considering trying the foam mesh type, even if only on half of each side (the side where the trees hang over, and coincidentally where the downspouts are). They will clog over time I'm sure, but they have much more surface area for water to come through as opposed to the perforated type.

 

[Fawteen]

Leaftek gutter covers. I've had them on our house for about 10 years, and not a single problem and very easy to install. They didn't have any problems even during hurricane Michael. We have lots of oak trees, and I've never had an issue with clogging since I installed them. And I didn't have to buy expensive replacement gutters.

 

[Warstud]

I have some like these I got from Lowes and they work great.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Amerimax-Snap-In-Gutter-Filter-PVC-Gutter-Screen-6-5-in-x-3-ft/50040808

 

[Gebo]

In my situation, I had to remove 2 trees and my gutters are clean and my life is now much better.

One other option is a more frequent gutter cleaning and that gets old.

 

[JLawrence08648]

I have had the foam inserts for 5 years, no problems with 2 London Planetrees, a Red Oak, and a neighbor's Maple. I use to go up yearly to clean the gutters.

 

[A_Spruce]

So is it a gutter clogging problem or a downspout clogging problem? Gutter diverters can get expensive quickly, but they're supposed to work wonders at keeping leaves and debris out of the gutters. Adding an additional downspout to each side will help, the water won't have to travel as far through all the debris to an exit point.

One of the huge problems I've encountered over my 30 years in the trades is that one piece downspouts, those that have notched bends, rather than formed bends, installers tend to get lazy in the notching and end up blocking half the diameter of the downspout. My fix for this problem is to simply install preformed elbows so that it is a full diameter conduit that won't catch leaves and debris.

I've got an oak tree that drops leaves year round, so I feel your pain with gutters clogging with debris. During the fall when leaves are at their worst, we blow the gutters out with a leaf blower as needed to keep them clear.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted by JLawrence08648
I have had the foam inserts for 5 years, no problems with 2 London Planetrees, a Red Oak, and a neighbor's Maple. I use to go up yearly to clean the gutters.


The OP stated that the screen types get covered over,clogged, and made things worse. Don't the foam inserts get clogged up from debris sitting on top of them also?

Here's a page that shows many different types: https://www.gutterguys.com/Gutter-Protection-18%7CGet-The-Facts---Free-Report-70.htm

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Perhaps this design will be better than the screens in your environment.

I do like that!

 

[va2001ss]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Perhaps this design will be better than the screens in your environment.

https://www.leafguardgutters.com/


I had fought clogged gutters for 15 years on my house. I finally took a neighbor's advise and put these leaf guard gutters on 4 years ago and haven't had a clogged gutter since. My house is surrounded by hard woods as well. The design just works. I believe the 3x4 downspouts that are installed with this system really contribute to their efficiency. The house originally came with 2x3 downspouts.

 

[zzyzzx]

Either better gutter guards or remove the trees.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Either better gutter guards or remove the trees.

Then you have to live with affecting climate change and that whole carbon sequestration thing.

Do the helmet type leaf guards like leafguardgutter handle ice dams o.k.? They seem the best otherwise.