OT: Gutter Guard successes and fails...help!

[Dove]

It's still the off-season tho recruiting and TO are the buzz right now. But I am in need of a gutter guard system and am reading that most suck. I will be doing Youtube assessments later or tomorrow and then it hit me...the Yard!!

I am looking at MasterShield as the guard of choice. Its a mesh design.

Would love to hear reviews good and bad about your experience. My newspaper recently had a 7 ads for 7 different companies...ie: GutterMaxx, Gutter Topper etc.

Thanks

 

[8893]

Don't do it. They all suck for one reason or another, especially where we live.

We had the Gutter Helmet or Gutter Cap system installed several years ago and later learned that the idiots screwed through the rubber seal in our roofing, thereby causing a leak, ceiling problems and accelerating our need to have our roof replaced. We then analyzed all the alternatives again like you are doing now and we found wildly mixed results with every option. The mesh/screen ones get good reviews unless you talk to someone in our area who has had them for more than two years. Apparently the oaks (which surround our house, and likely yours, too) send a lot of spores or something that build up and start to grow inside the gutter, even through the screen, and then you need to remove the screen and clean it all out anyway.

I got so frustrated trying to decide that I finally determined that there is no perfect solution, so we just pay to have our gutters cleaned.

 

[Dove]

Sounds like the sense I have. No consensus ultimate gutter guard. My gutters are so far up I am afraid to clean them. Plus my ladder is about 20 feet short of the gutters. I'll call a guy who has been putting up papers with the tabs on the bottom. I'll make him sign a waiver.

 

[k9fanatic]

We looked at GutterMax, but thought it was way overpriced. Went with LeafGuard instead. Going on 5-6 years now with no problems.

 

[WillB4]

Having sold one system for a number of years I can as least tell you do NOT get a system that tucks under the shingles. This promotes backing up into the roof. Make sure it is UNDER the drip cap and therefore will not ice dam. Also in the future if you need new roofing the system that is under the shingles needs to come off and then reinstalled, and usually what comes off never goes back on the same way.

 

[Vancat]

i tried using the cheapo screen sections for a few years. Stuff gets under anyway and then it's a major PITA getting them off & putting back on. My solution now- a (lightbulb-shaped) screen thingie over each downspout to keep them clear & I just clean out the dang thing every now & then.

 

[UConnLen]

I've had several systems on my 2 story French Country home. I have 4 acres with trees around including Maples with those twirly thingies! I bought and installed these about three years ago and have been very happy with their performance. RAINDROP, link below-price is reasonable too. Read the reviews-I did and am glad I listened.

http://www.raindropgutterguard.com/

 

[Dove]

Thanks Will. Thanks Len.

The raindrop design looks interesting but goes against what Will said about under-the-shingle install.

 

[UConnLen]

Thanks Will. Thanks Len.

The raindrop design looks interesting but goes against what Will said about under-the-shingle install.

They simply slide under the shingles. Another poster talked about nailing under shingles problems which I agree with. My roof has a good pitch and ice dam is not an issue.

 

[sledog]

My roof has a good pitch as well, but the snow piles on the gutter if > 4".

 

[sledog]

b/t/w, what does the' rain drop' coat: $/ft??

 

[Storrsbred]

The system I have has been doing well for about 5 years. It is a pervious to water and keeps the pine needles and leaves on top of the system that sits into the gutter. On windy days the stuff on top blows off (some of it). Still, even with some needles and leaves on top of the system, no problems.

 

[UConnLen]

b/t/w, what does the' rain drop' coat: $/ft??

I paid [2011] $2 a foot for the raindrop. This was much less than other products and easier to install. Good luck with your search.

 

[Dove]

I paid [2011] $2 a foot for the raindrop. This was much less than other products and easier to install. Good luck with your search.

Len, that install video made it look like a stiff wind could blow it off the house. Or is there a snapping connection we aren't seeing.

We'll be at the Durham Fair tomorrow. Hoping the Home Expo building has something to see.

 

[Fishy]

Get a big ladder and a pair of nuts and just clean the gutters.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Get a big ladder and a pair of nuts and just clean the gutters.

. Grow a set, break out the chain saw and chipper and obliterate every tree near the home. No leaves, no gutter clutter and no trees on the roof during storms.

Want shade? By an 12x12 pop up canopy.

 

[UConnLen]

Len, that install video made it look like a stiff wind could blow it off the house. Or is there a snapping connection we aren't seeing.

We'll be at the Durham Fair tomorrow. Hoping the Hoe Expo building has something to see.

LOL. No way-been thru several bad storms since I installed. Notice the drill in video, you screw them on thru top front of gutter.

Looks like price increase maybe-found on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Raindrop-Gu...155?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a273b9ee3

 

[Gurleyman]

. Grow a set, break out the chain saw and chipper and obliterate every tree near the home. No leaves, no gutter clutter and no trees on the roof during storms.

Want shade? By an 12x12 pop up canopy.

Better yet, take the chain saw and cut the top two stories off the house. Then you'll have a much more manageable one-story ranch.

You'll just need a roof.

 

[Dougsts]

I have had the Leaf Guard system on my house for about 8 years, I like them. I do have to power wash the "bullnose" on them each June after the main pollen season is over to assure the water travels around the guard into the gutter. My house is surrounded by leaf dropping trees, up close and personal.

 

[huskymedic]

Get a big ladder and a pair of nuts and just clean the gutters.

 

[8893]

View attachment 3809

This is why we pay someone to do it. Nutless, perhaps, but much safer. I'm not a doctor, but I've seen too many serious old-guy-falls-off-ladder injuries to be comfortable up there. I may not want to admit it, look like it, or act like it, but like it or not I'm now the old guy in that demographic. If I spent enough time on a ladder to be comfortable I might feel differently, but it's been too many decades since the college summer days when I was a house painter on the Cape and was known for getting to the toughest, highest spots. Heck, even our last contractor, who spent a lifetime in the business, fell off a ladder on a job a few years ago and was laid up--and unable to work--for more than a year. He made his way back only to suffer a stroke on our job last year and be permanently disabled.

Same philosophy I have about chainsaws. It's also been decades since I used one often enough to feel comfortable, and it's another one where I've lost count of the number of injuries I've seen suffered by weekend warriors who are using them only a few times a year or less. Those types of injuries often play for keeps now.

I limit myself to grunt work these days, chopping wood probably being the highest skill level in which I'll still engage.

 

[Dove]

There were quite a few gutter guards available for viewing at the Durham Fair. I went in knowing we will install one because the gutters on our house (moved in Feb, 2012) are full of and there is no way my sack is big enough to scale the house. And I do not want to pay a shmuck to do it each year.

So, open minded we went into the Commercial Expo building and listened to the pitches. The Gutter Topper guy was so into his product being the best he ranked on the other vendors. And he was $22/foot but for us would go to $19. There was a mesh guard I liked at $10/foot that I am leaning toward.But still, the Gutter Topper guy was adamant that his product will never require annual cleaning and if it did they will do it free.

It may be Gutter Topper v. Leaf Solution next week. A battle of the on-site job assessors.

 

[8893]

You can buy a lot of gutter cleaning for the amount you will be spending on those systems.

 

[UConnLen]

There were quite a few gutter guards available for viewing at the Durham Fair. I went in knowing we will install one because the gutters on our house (moved in Feb, 2012) are full of and there is no way my sack is big enough to scale the house. And I do not want to pay a shmuck to do it each year.

So, open minded we went into the Commercial Expo building and listened to the pitches. The Gutter Topper guy was so into his product being the best he ranked on the other vendors. And he was $22/foot but for us would go to $19. There was a mesh guard I liked at $10/foot that I am leaning toward.But still, the Gutter Topper guy was adamant that his product will never require annual cleaning and if it did they will do it free.

It may be Gutter Topper v. Leaf Solution next week. A battle of the on-site job assessors.

If you want to explore Raindrop system, there is an installer/supplier of the Raindrop system in MA. I've had three systems on my home including "gutter helmet" and a mesh guard. Your choice.

Massachusetts Suppliers

Westwood​

Ryan Seamless Gutter Supply

190 University Ave.
Westwood, MA 02090
(781) 329-4849
www.ryangutter.com

 

[Dove]

If you want to explore Raindrop system, there is an installer/supplier of the Raindrop system in MA. I've had three systems on my home including "gutter helmet" and a mesh guard. Your choice.

Massachusetts Suppliers

Westwood​

Ryan Seamless Gutter Supply

190 University Ave.
Westwood, MA 02090
(781) 329-4849
www.ryangutter.com

I was hoping Raindrop was at the fair. Nope. Has to be someone in CT that installs it.