Guards I Used: geni.us/a6Kx6bAll My Favorite Tools: geni.us/VYIp51 DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.
My husband went with Leaf Filter. I disagreed and over 8000. later, theyve had to come back 3 times and have yet to fix the problem. Long story short warranty is only if anything gets under guard and you cant see through to check without moving the guard which voids warranty. The salesman lied about everything from price to product. Glad you are educating people on gutter guards. A lot of good advice. Thanks!! Wish id see it earlier. 😢
Don't waste your money or time with the Huxley plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
You better have a nail puller if you expect to slide those plastic snap-ins under the nailed-down shingles... Be prepared to replace several dozen shingles or more during the installation. Don't waste your money, or time with the Huxley or Amerimax plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
I bought the black metal gutter guards from Lowes and installed them on my two story house and my garage gutters.I also used small aluminum screws to secure the gutter guards to the gutters. They have been installed now for over 4 years and not problem with clogged gutters or down spouts. Thanks for the video
Those are the same ones I bought and use. I find them to be the best for my conditions. Overall they have been troublefree and do not warp from the sun nor easily get blown off.
I did the same thing. They are the best ones I’ve found over many years. The micro filter type were good until it hailed. The hail tore the mesh from the supporting rails thus becoming useless.Plastic guards don’t hold up to sun and weather.
Don't waste your money or time with the Huxley plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
I just had a new roof installed using owens-Corning glass shingles. Roof company had to remove my aluminum gutter guards because they were the under shingle design. OC will void the warranty if this design is used. Great video! Thanks
That broom hack was worth the watch. Thanks for that tip. The mesh version are the gutter guards I have used for years. My first install lasted almost ten years.
Great content Scott. Two drawbacks: 01. Here in southern California our sun will degrade the plastic in a few years. 02. The joints between the panels do not seem snug enough and over time due to the elements the plastic will warp at which point the joints will become little gutters holding twigs, leaves, dirt etc. Thanks for a great video.
I had the plastic gutter guards installed. Installed easily. Pretty easy to keep cleaned off. The problem I found is that anything more than a light rain and the rain can’t make it into the gutter even on a brand new gutter guard. The water just flows right over the gutter and straight down to about three feet from the house. On a hard rain the water turns into a waterfall that shoots out 5-6 feet from the gutter. Basically the gutter is doing very little collecting and taking the water to the downspout.
Same Took them off and into the trash Gutters work best without guards ez to clean without guards and junk stuck to or dropped inside like roof granules or dirt getting thicker
Just replaced my cheap white Home Depot plastic guards like these after 20 years in Michigan, every kind of weather. Well worth the small investment...Went with the same exact one's from HD, no upgrade...
I have had the gutters guards you don't like on my house for about 10 years and they do a good job. I like that I can flip them up to clean them if needed.
I use a gas powered leaf blower to clean out the gutter. A leaf blower gets the gutters squeaky clean and is fast (about 20 minutes). The only drawback is you have to go on the roof but if you're careful it's not a big deal.
Two of my neighbors installed the plastic gutter guards, but they both had terrible trouble with Maple tree seeds sticking in all the holes. The holes are too big to prevent this. I’ve tried some options, but finally decided that standing on my roof (not a steep slope) and running with a leaf blower around the gutters every fall after the leaves have fallen and possibly again in the late spring works best. It only takes ten minutes to blow out the debris.
If you have a one story house, you can operate a back-pack, or hand held leaf blower on the ground to clean out the gutters. Simply extend the blower outlets with some straight PVC pipe, so that when you hold either blower on the ground, the PVC points straight up to the gutters. Extend the PVC about 1 to 2 feet above the gutter and then add one 90 degree fitting and one 45 degree fitting, so that your angle approaching the gutter when you clean it out will be approximately 45 degrees. You are basically walking underneath and along the gutters while you clean them out. Depending on what schedule (wall thickness) of PVC you use, will determine how heavy the unit will be to operate. Now you can safely do on the ground what you risked doing on top of your roof.
I was just thinking about gluing a screen over the downspout holes, And taking off the end caps. That way the junk will get pushed on off to the ground, and heavy rains will keep it clear.
Already been there...one that you pop out easily is recommended...I'm in rain/winter/leaf/needles/helicopter/whirlygig/cone country...put contractor aluminium grade gutter guards on - each piece just over 7' with silicone gasket...they seem to be okay but now better check them and put the ones I bought two yrs back on my garage LOL
I bought the same type product at Menards. Now they are over $5 for each 3’ft section. Still cheap and effective. Used a utility knife to cut edges/at corners. Make sure you clean out everything and especially the downspouts. It’s also nice when the roof pitch is low, but if not the savings may allow you to get a new 30’ft ladder for 2-story homes. Great content. Thanks.
Placed these type of gutter guards at my mountain home 30 yrs ago and they still function. Naysayers will comment they are cheap and won’t last but I prove them wrong. Just placed some on my son’s home and at 75, I won’t outlive them ! A cleaning tip. I purchased a 12 ft aluminum gutter and an a curved end. I place my leaf blower in the bottom of the gutter and place the end with the curved end over the gutter screens and they are easily blown clean while standing on the ground
6:41 - true on the spot "testimonial"!😆 That's an awesome "hack" with the broom. 🤦♂️ 50 yrs in, never seen that...probably woulda never thought of it. This'll help me narrow down selection.👌
Something I've used to help clean my gutters is a small gardening shovel that fits inside the gutter. If you have a metal one that's great but a cheap plastic one will work too. Very helpful if the material being removed is damp or soaking wet. Also, if there's a large build up of granules or dirt it makes it easier to remove it and not clog the downspout
I have one that was accidentally run over with the lawn mower a couple decades back. Bent it perfectly to hold at a comfortable angle while scooping out gutters! (I do not recommend running over gardening shovels or any other tool with a lawnmower - it's hazardous and I was extremely lucky!)
I have determined my gutters get blocked up at the down spouts. My solution was remove the downspouts and let the water naturally flow out any debris. I have a 50 ft long gutter on my roof where my pool cage is attached to. After fighting clogged gutters for years , I removed the two downspouts, put a slanted channel to direct water away from my house, and magically, my pool gutter remains debris free! Any type of heavy rain will wash everything out of the gutter every time. This may not work for everyone, but it fixed my problem
Those mesh LB Plastics guards are brilliant. I live in a pine forest where a ton of crap fall off these trees all year long. From long pine needles to little specks of pine cones. And the inverse broom trick is epic. Thanks.
The idea is amazing and the explanation awesome! The thing I will do if I was you trim all the branches from the trees goes near the house remember also the tree resin will do damage to your roof ! Thank you for a great teaching
In Florida, the starter shingle edge is required to be embedded in mastic to prevent lifting during high winds. I personally would not want to weaken the edge by inserting the guard. I'm looking for other options. Nice presentation!
@@Keifsanderson Sorry, no. I've been preoccupied with other activities. I suppose one could lift the shingles, then apply roofing mastic over the guard to reseal. It might take heat to loosen the shingle edge.
Bucket on a hook so not dumping the mess on the sidewalk. Great idea! The broom trick is good but I've got a 2 story bldg. I use the foam, and it keeps me off the ladders for 4 years w/o doing any cleaning. They are great also because of the black color which keeps the ice/snow melted. My area gets a LOT of freezing rain/sleet during winter. The foam will fill up with dirt, get heavy, and not pass water very well. The foam can be removed and knock the dirt out
One of the downsides of the plastic ones you recommend is that if you have a steep pitched roof and a hard downpour rain, the water will run so fast that it runs over the guard past the gutter. That's why they didn't work for me.
Possible answer might be to tilt the gutter up toward the roof to catch the rain better yet that then may create other problems..another thought might be to extend the edge of the roof more like a Frank Lloyd Wright design to do better creating ideas that would work in your neck of the woods. Me ditto of creating improvements for my home on a semi-off-grid terrain. Good luck
Same scenario with my house. I switched them out with the the black metal mesh ones. After a few years, so far so good. I live in the Midwest, with four season weather, and they hold up well. Armor guard is the product name. The are three foot sections like what the host of this channel put in (not like the first piece he took out). They are a heavy weight tringular mesh, no screen. I have a very large Silver Maple Tree that hangs over the roof, and have very little issues with leaves and seedlings getting stuck. The wind usually takes care of them.
This is exactly what I was wondering. I live in Southwest Florida and the rain gets brutal in season. Seems like it would just spill right over with these guards which is what I'm trying to avoid so it doesn't spill over onto my Lanai
I installed the mesh gutter guards on my house. Major difference. I just get up there every little while with my leaf blower and blow them off. Easy job
Good idea about reversing the broom head to clean the gutters. One comment: I just removed the guards that you recommend from a friend's house. After about 5 years they are all deformed and some were actually cracking from being in direct sun. I installed the aluminum ones with micro mesh screen, as I have on my own house. After 2 years they still look like new.
That broom hack is so good it should be illegal, lol. I live in a 3-street subdivision, in a really small town in Georgia, and I've noticed none of the houses have gutters at all. I've never seen that before. The houses in the area all have really steep pitches to account for the amount of rain we get, so maybe that's why. It could also be the fact that our area is loaded with pine trees, and with pine trees comes pine needles that love to clog everything they touch. The truth is I'd only have to setup two runs in order to keep water away. One for the front, and one for the back with downspouts on either end. All I'd have to do is make sure there's gutters under the gables because we got rain the other night, and witnessed a literal fountain coming off the roof where the gables, and roof met. Doing the entire area of the house wouldn't make sense though, because the pitch is steep enough to cause such a flow that the gutters would essentially overfill at the bottoms of the runs.
I have a huge oak tree right next to my house. I had to clean my gutters a minimum four times a year. I put the steel mesh gutter guards in and never had any problems with them. Now I only clean my gutters out every 3 years by removing one 3 ft section gutter guard and flushing it out. Plastic works fine but they degrade over time. But I do see the added benefit of having those built-in screens.
Over time the metal ones will resist the elements better, especially if you get a lot of storms. Not to mention regular sunlight exposure over time will degrade the plastic guards, and they will become brittle and crack/break. You may save a few bucks now, but you will have to replace those cheaper ones eventually
Agree 100%. I installed cheap plastic ones (no fine mesh). Over a couple years, the plastic decayed (broke, collapsed). I replaced them with metal ones recently. These should last a decade at least.
@@1776Based Yeah, I hear this a lot Kimberly. "It's so cheap, when they break I will just buy new ones." Hummm, but you aren't the one climbing the ladder every year. Re-Doing the work, over and over again. Replacing the inferior sun-damaged junk every year. So, who in your home is the sucker risking their life every 12 months?
Had tried these same gutters plastic screens , they last maybe 2-3years, sun exposure breaks them down they become very brittle ,crack, split, and are blown off by strong winds. I replaced them with stainless steel mesh gutter guards, which are installed the same way except they are screwed to top of gutter lip. Sold at Home Depot, they cost more but will last the life of your house. Had a hail storm, had to replace entire roof, but not the stainless steel gutter guards. Garage still has plastic screened gutter guards,(2yrs old), they were shredded. Replaced with stainless steel mesh gutter guards.
I realize this is an older video. However, I bought the stainless steel micro mesh gutter guards from Amazon and install them on my shop pretty easily (About 40 feet each side). They even came with both the screws and the tool to fit the screws for your drill. They work very nicely and not very expensive at all...
I installed gutter guards for a major company. I removed lots of these plastic guards. They work good for a while. Over time the screen starts to separate from the plastic. Often times they were so overloaded with leaves they had fallen into the gutter and allowed debris in. Try out different guards. The commercial ones I installed are stupid expensive, I cannot believe the price some people paid was over $25 per foot. Maintenance is the biggest tip I can give. Keep them cleaned out. Hire someone if you need to.
@@krisannekey3218 either the mesh covered with leaves ( they don't tell you that you have to clean them off), or your filters are not sized properly. I've seen a metal roof with old screens that was running over. I had to replace them with the new style that was more efficient.
@@sixfourlonley there are no leaves or debris on them. I literally just put them up earlier this morning. Should I just go back and take them all down?
Welcome from Flagstaff, in the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the world! I researched for years to find a gutter guard that would completely take care of pine needles and ice. Even the mesh type gradually collects the splintered ends of pine needles and have to be maintained, but parts of our roof are almost 20 feet above the ground and I am 70 years old. I know me - the time would come when I would be on the ladder, on uneven ground, and take a fall. I went with Gutter Helmet, a solid metal plate system with a bullnose on the outer edge. Water flows across, washing the top and following the bullnose into the gutter. The same water washes pine needles over the side. It is a rather precision fit so it has to be professionally installed (about $7000 for our 350 feet of roofline, including initial cleanout and repair of the gutter), but it also has a warranty for as long as the structure is standing. If the roof has to be replaced, the owner - the warranty is transferable - calls to have the material removed and reinstalled after the roof replacement is done, part of the warranty. My wife cringed at the price but it is a permanent solution to a worsening problem for us.
i have a 12/12 roof, been using the screened plastic ones, as well as the wedge inserts, for years, been a HUGE time saver for not having to clean gutters, highly recommend.
One thing anyone installing gutter guards should keep in mind. Regardless of what design in moderate to heavy rainfall a lot of water is going to flow over the gutter guards and onto the ground. Not into the gutters and down the downspout. Something that might be a concern if there are drainage issues or problems with moisture in basements or crawlspaces. Good video but having used plastic gutter guards previously I would not go back to them. Prefer the stainless steel and aluminum ones like Gutterglove. The plastic ones are very thin. After a couple of seasons of exposure to the sun they become very brittle and crack easily. Since we live in the northeast we also have to deal with ice and icicles. The plastic doesn't handle either well. They needed to be replaced after a couple of years.
I used the plastic ones without the screen. While installing, I cut a short section from the clip-on edge which allowed me to overlap the screens. Not only were they sturdier, but but with them all overlapped in the same direction, it was simple and quick to sweep off any debris.
I have the recommended ones with the screens. The screens peeled off and now maple tree seeds (helicopters) get thru the holes and fill the gutters. Now it's harder to clean on the spring because I have to peal back the guards to clean. They still work well for the big leaves in the fall.
You mentioned wiping down the gutters to get them cleaner. Just to add on to that, if your gutters have the grey “tiger stripes” I learned that Totally Awesome gets rid of those really well. Got my gutters nice and white again. Great stuff….
"Awesome" is Awesome!! Pick it up at the Dollar store. Great for cleaning everything, including under the cars hood. Best ever for hardwood/veneer floors, tile, etc.
Leaf blower. My house has 300 feet of gutter and a heavy complement of nearby oak, maple and fir trees, and no gutter screen system is without drawbacks. In addition, the roof design tends to catch and hold leaves in places, shortening roof life. Fortunately the slope is low, so for the past 30 years I walk the roof with a backpack leaf blower. Screens keep debris out of the downspouts. It’s lots of work but the view is great and if you lay off the gin death is unlikely.
Don't waste your money or time with the Huxley plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
You better have a nail puller if you expect to slide those plastic snap-ins under the nailed-down shingles... Be prepared to replace several dozen shingles or more during the installation. Don't waste your money, or time with the Huxley or Amerimax plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
Great video and perfect timing- I am just in the process of installing new gutters all around my house so this information is especially appreciated. It would have been good for you to clarify how the guards attached to the front edge of the gutters but near the end I could see how they snap on.
I am 73 and bought an extendable aluminum nozzle jet that you can twist almost any angle So i connect my hose extend it up and stand on lawn while cleaning out my gutters fast Home depot in the garden section I put those cone shaped wire guards in the downspouts and have to go up and clean them out of leaves stuck but use a 12 foot alum folding light ladder feel very safe on just stay mindful and always always realize its that last step down that caues most accidents My ER doc agreed after i fell years ago but luckily only bruised my shoulder
I just had some installed. Didn't want to bother doing it myself. Cost was $1,200 and they used PlyGem Leaf Relief Gutter Cover System. It's very hard to get to some of my gutters so I just bit the bullet and got it done.
Thanks for video. I use those plastic guards also. they are junk. However if used with zip ties and an occasional heat gun to flatten them back out , they work ok for the price. The screens fall off of them almost immediately.
Great video. 2 follow-up questions though. 1) How well do these kinds of guards work with pine needles, which are more common than leaves at my Colorado home? 2) How do gutter guards effect ice damns? I have heat tape in my gutters to keep the water flowing in the winter, and I'd be worried that there would be an ice layer on top of the gutter guard that would never fully melt.
Costco's gutter guards are great. I bought one box of 6 x 4' guards on sale for about $47, which worked out to about $2 a foot. They can be installed as in your first item, slid under the shingles and clip right into the gutter. They also have an adhesive strip that will go a long way to secure the guards. I actually only took off about 4" of the adhesive covering so if I had a reason to remove a guard it would not be a problem. I'll do the rest of my gutters in the spring. I figure it will cost about $300 in total vs. the absurd prices I was quoted by national brands. The quality of the Costco guards is great, solid with a strong metal mesh to catch just about anything. I have a neighbor who paid, for an identical house to mine almost $15,000 for Leaf filter guards...
Have had one that is very similar (diamond shaped openings) but minus the wire mesh. Has worked very well and I'm probably into the tenth year, but not a lot of sun beating directly down on it. Good job on the video.
As much as I want to have a "maintenance free" house, especially the roof (inaccessible for me), we have a neighborhood handyman who charges $40 to clean gutters. 2x per year: $80.... not too bad and you KNOW the gutters are clean, AND he tells you if there's a problem up there.
That was my go-to move but the rooftop services will be getting their calendars filled for months this Sunday. The first strong winds of October blow all the dead needles out of the pines. The cost for our 350 feet of gutters is about $200 but not everybody gets their gutter cleaned before the freeze sets in. I had to do it myself the last five years or so before getting gutter guards professionally installed. A lot more expensive, and truly dangerous, but a lot less frustrating. People who are good with lotteries are able to time their call to be put on the list (no appointment dates, just "next!") but I failed on the last 3 years before I had gutter guards installed.
I have the punched hole plastic guards on my home. They work great, never need to do any maintenance in the gutters, but they fill up with those helicopter seeds that fall out of the trees, and you see hundreds of them sticking up until they decay and shrivel up enough to fall through and wash out when it rains hard.
I installed this type of gutter guards in 2013 and they're still there working fine. But some of the mesh is gone from the element and i need to replace them this summer. Thank you for all the info.
You have been an EXCELLENT source of home maintenance responsibilities resource for me. Truthful comments along with common sense tidbits so uplifting for my plans for improvements of my home. Certain plastics exposed to direct sunlight deteriorate over time yet the price/materials of the screened panel does seem best! Excellent tidbit of reposition broom handle to clean top of gutter!!! This educated Army veteran with Industrial Design, B.S. degree does appreciate and stand firm ground attention behind all these "Everyday Home Repairs" website!!! Much gratitude for your info that confirms and/or uplifts projects at my residence. Thank you for your time.
Thanks for the great video! My dad is in his late 60s and we dont want him on the roof anymore, so I am looking to install something like this since the professional ones are just WAY too expensive. I love the broom hack at the end as well. I am personally afraid to get up on the roof myself, so something like that would help both me and my dad to maintain them without having to get onto the roof.
Gutter guards work for the leaves and sticks, but unfortunately my spouts still get clogged with Pine needles and mapleseed helicopters. And we have plenty of downpours that would overrun the mesh-style. Other than regular cleaning, I keep a long pole with hooked wire at the end handy so if a spout is plugged up during a storm I can chop up the sludge and wash it down the spout.
I installed the vinyl mesh a couple of years ago (Southern California) and they lasted through one winter. When summer hit, and I'm in a moderate temperature zone (90°F), they softened enough to droop, and many fell into the gutter. I have 6" gutters, so maybe the 5" is not as susceptible...
I bought the white vinyl guards with mesh for my garage. It took me about an hour to clean the gutters and install the guards. The total cost was about $32.00. Now for the rest of the story: We called a gutter leaf g guard company that advertised on TV a couple weeks back to install leaf guards on our house and garage. Their estimate was $11,000 for the cleaning and guards with the garage costing $3,000. When they called to ask if we were ready to install the guards I couldn’t stop laughing cause next spring I will install the guards myself by renting a cherry picker since the house is two stories tall. Total cost to me will be less then $600. This leaf guard is a game changer.
I've had similar experiences with trades work. Like $10,000 quote for a pergola which ended up costing &3,000. How is this any better than criminal theft?
I agree (Ha, Ha, Ha on the price from Professional Installers.) I think that if you already do a little "around the house" maintenance, the DIY approach should be pretty much a piece of cake. Especially with the tutorial from this Great Video!!
@@trackdustyIt is theft. It’s also theft when corporations raise prices just to gouge people. We need new laws that throw executives in prison when they raise prices like the monopolized oil companies do.
I needed some minor repairs to some gutters as well as some repairs to some fascia boards. Called a company that specializes in gutters and they wanted $2k. Yeah no. My handyman (who charges $75 an hour) knocked it out for $400 including materials.
I've had gutter guards for a few years now. My problem was leaves. That solved the big headache. There is still shingle residue but that is minimal. Only trouble is during a heavy rain (which is common here in Hawaii) By covering any portion of your gutter with anything, it restricts the amount of water that can pass through. Weigh the pros and cons. In my case I'd rather have them than not
considering I was just quoted $800 for a contractor to do a 12 foot run of a gutter guard on the front of my sunroom, I will be DIYing it myself! Thank you for the video :0)
I’ve found cleaning any sticks or pine needles is worth the trade off. The water flow is much better with no mesh. Which is the point of gutters to channel water. If any debris is covering the top it will just flow over the gutter. I’ve cleaned a few hundred homes with both. I can quickly take a soft or hard bristle brush and break off the sticks or pine needles into the gutter or off the top. And because there is no mesh using a hose with a gilmour gun is a breeze. But to each there own
Thanks for the options...I have the ones you put in last..the mesh does come loose after a while. As for warranty issues on shingles, I can't imagine something as less intrusive as those guards having an affect on warranty. Let's just say if you have defective shingles under warranty, you have the rest of the roof to complain about rather than just the first row! LOL
Good to get an informed opinion on gutter guards! There are a bajillion "solutions", I think I agree the one you cites might be the most optimal. At least here in the midwest.
The person who lived in our house before us installed some helmet style gutter guards. Talk about expensive AND ineffective, when we replaced the roof we went with something similar to what you suggested in this video, but metal instead of plastic.
We have the same thing (Gutter Helmet) but it works perfectly on our pine needles. I was concerned at first about mud buildup but here in Arizona the monsoon rains seem to do a good job of clearing it out.
This is a great video thanks. I watched and was pleasantly surprised to see you recommend the very kind of Garuda that I used on my last house. I Installed them and three years later they were still in very hood condition and worked great. Honestly I wasn’t sure if the sun would make the guards brittle but it didn’t. I’ll be using them again in the house I’ve just purchased. Thanks for the great video
I just installed the same gutter guards you recommended. I used them on my last home and they really worked great and a good value too. The only problem was it is sometimes hard to clip them to the gutter but I usually overlap them, so there's enough connected to hold them in place. Good tip about the warranty. I bought my house with a five year old roof, so I don't know if the warranty stays with the house or is only with the old owner.
I have a Craftsman shop vac that has a gutter cleaning tool, a sort of U shaped thing, plus extension pipes. I can clean the gutters on our 1700 sq ft bungalow in about 2 hours without climbing a ladder.
I tried that out with the pine needles here. The inlet just jams with the needles - timing to prevent them from getting wet would be great but impractical with our weather. The windstorm that knocks the needles down is often accompanied by monsoon rain.
I use a Kobalt 80 volt leaf blower with an extension and a U shaped tip at the end, allowing you to walk under the gutter. The leaves blow out in mere minutes. The only cons with this method is, the gutter must be completely dry and you have to rake the leaves afterwards.
At 81 I don't think I would feel safe on top of the roof like you did cleaning out the gutters. If I was younger then yes, but that my problem. Good video.
Hardware cloth, Aluminum pop rivets and a bit of care when installing for the win. Been using the system for years, very cheap and looks just as good if you use common sense when installing.
I would like to share my personal experience with gutter protection, which I have encountered during my work. In my experience, I have not seen gutters with protective guards get damaged. However, I often come across gutters that are damaged and rusted from the inside due to a lack of protection and, of course, without any maintenance care. There was one beautiful and expensive house with large gutters and the same fine mesh screen shown in the video. The protection worked well, and only a small amount of dust accumulated in the gutters. However, the house had a steep roof pitch-something rarely seen here in Sacramento, where I live and work. Such steep roof angles are typically found in snowy, mountainous areas. In this case, the water flowed at high speed, overshooting the mesh screen and spilling onto the gutter and fascia. Over time, this caused severe damage, and almost all the 10-inch fascia boards around the house had to be replaced. This repair was extremely costly and challenging, as anyone who has worked on fascia knows how difficult it can be when the gutters cannot be removed. This experience highlights an important point: steep roof pitches combined with gutters and protective screens may not always work effectively. It’s worth noting this nuance for future considerations.
I think anything is better than nothing aside for those foam inserts but plastic has it's downfalls as well, I give plastic guards about 3 years before having to replace them due to Sun UV's causing breakdown and brittle cracking, not counting large branches breaking them.
This past summer I installed Raptor gutter guards bought off Amazon... no where as easy to install as the slip on plastic stuff, but I'm sure they'll far outlast them. Cost ran around $80 for 48 feet (more expensive now), but for me they're worth it.
I've had the ones you chose on my gutters for over 10 years and never had to do any maintenance. However, the birds pulled off about 10 feet of one gutter in the last year, and I've replaced them. I assume I will replace all of them eventually, but at that price I can do it every 10 years and be ahead of the other types in cost.
i recently installed them on my gutter and I love them. Only problem I've run into is when I had to replace one recently I couldn't remove it without completely destroying it! Were you able to remove your old ones easily?
@@dcccaldyou987 It was fairly easy. My original set were all four feet long, and the new ones that I bought as replacements were three feet. So I replaced 3 of the four footers with 4 of the three footers. I was planning to throw out the old ones, so I didn't worry about how they came off. I got underneath the end of one of them with a small tool and flexed it in the middle until the upper edge came off. Then I pulled backward and upward on the front of the cover which locked onto the front of the gutter. The rest were easy since the first one was gone and I could just maneuver the cover with my hand.
The cheap plastic with the stupid fabric under ARE good for one thing. After about 2 years they degrade from uv but underneath they create awesome compost. Now I will watch remaining 8:41. Had to point this out when saw the junk from big boxville
Down here in florida the starter course is glued down with tar. So getting anything under there is a no no. It would take longer to pry up the shingle and would void the warranty
I have seen many of these so-called gutter screens. Most of them fail when a high volume of rain water is coming down. Knowing fluid dynamics. Water has a tendency to flow over most of these screens due to the holes are either to small or they have a screen over the top of the holes thus allowing the water to just flow over the holes of the gutter screen and over the gutter all together. This will happen when you have a heavy down poor or worse yet if you live in an area where you get freezing weather just after a rain storm. The screens will freeze up, and no water will pass through until you get warm enough days again.
Guards I Used: geni.us/a6Kx6bAll
My Favorite Tools: geni.us/VYIp51
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.
thank you Sir , where you get the guards because I click the link nothing comes up
My husband went with Leaf Filter. I disagreed and over 8000. later, theyve had to come back 3 times and have yet to fix the problem. Long story short warranty is only if anything gets under guard and you cant see through to check without moving the guard which voids warranty. The salesman lied about everything from price to product. Glad you are educating people on gutter guards. A lot of good advice. Thanks!! Wish id see it earlier. 😢
LF is the worst company. Same story!
Wow that’s terrible…thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much!
Don't waste your money or time with the Huxley plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
You better have a nail puller if you expect to slide those plastic snap-ins under the nailed-down shingles... Be prepared to replace several dozen shingles or more during the installation.
Don't waste your money, or time with the Huxley or Amerimax plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
I bought the black metal gutter guards from Lowes and installed them on my two story house and my garage gutters.I also used small aluminum screws to secure the gutter guards to the gutters. They have been installed now for over 4 years and not problem with clogged gutters or down spouts. Thanks for the video
Those are the same ones I bought and use. I find them to be the best for my conditions. Overall they have been troublefree and do not warp from the sun nor easily get blown off.
I did the same thing. They are the best ones I’ve found over many years. The micro filter type were good until it hailed. The hail tore the mesh from the supporting rails thus becoming useless.Plastic guards don’t hold up to sun and weather.
LIKING that reversing the broom to sweep off the debris on top
*. A leaf blower will work great.
That broom hack is brilliant!
🤓👍
Yeah, I nvr thought about putting the handle through the bottom. Awesome.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs If you were to do this as a business, what would you charge per house?
Don't waste your money or time with the Huxley plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
I just had a new roof installed using owens-Corning glass shingles. Roof company had to remove my aluminum gutter guards because they were the under shingle design. OC will void the warranty if this design is used.
Great video! Thanks
That broom hack was worth the watch. Thanks for that tip. The mesh version are the gutter guards I have used for years. My first install lasted almost ten years.
yes screw it through the bottom - hard to forget that tip. I'm gonna try this for sure.
Great content Scott. Two drawbacks:
01. Here in southern California our sun will degrade the plastic in a few years.
02. The joints between the panels do not seem snug enough and over time due to the elements the plastic will warp at which point the joints will become little gutters holding twigs, leaves, dirt etc.
Thanks for a great video.
New Jersey sun do the same with plastic screeners.
He did say that you can trim the locking edge or gutter side of the guards, then you are able to overlap them.
This is true but at 5k to 10k for leaf filter, you can replace a lot of filters before hitting that cost.
I had the plastic gutter guards installed. Installed easily. Pretty easy to keep cleaned off. The problem I found is that anything more than a light rain and the rain can’t make it into the gutter even on a brand new gutter guard. The water just flows right over the gutter and straight down to about three feet from the house. On a hard rain the water turns into a waterfall that shoots out 5-6 feet from the gutter. Basically the gutter is doing very little collecting and taking the water to the downspout.
5 or 6 feet water shed from house is probably more than most homes have for downspout run off pipe ...least of my concerns with gutters
Did you find a way to fix this. I am having this issue as well
Did you find a solution for this. This is what is happening with mine
@@krisannekey3218 I removed mine.
Same
Took them off and into the trash
Gutters work best without guards ez to clean without guards and junk stuck to or dropped inside like roof granules or dirt getting thicker
Boy,!! am i glad I found your webpage"!! your saving me money and I for one am very grateful"!! thank you, Patrick.p
Just replaced my cheap white Home Depot plastic guards like these after 20 years in Michigan, every kind of weather. Well worth the small investment...Went with the same exact one's from HD, no upgrade...
White vinegar cleans the gutters really nice good job it does
I have had the gutters guards you don't like on my house for about 10 years and they do a good job. I like that I can flip them up to clean them if needed.
I use a gas powered leaf blower to clean out the gutter. A leaf blower gets the gutters squeaky clean and is fast (about 20 minutes). The only drawback is you have to go on the roof but if you're careful it's not a big deal.
I agree. I can clean my gutters in minutes with my leaf blower and do not ever have to deal with the problems of gutter guards.
I use my leaf blower with a pvc pipe extension and 90 degrees elbow coupled on end. I can reach the first story from the ground.
Two of my neighbors installed the plastic gutter guards, but they both had terrible trouble with Maple tree seeds sticking in all the holes. The holes are too big to prevent this. I’ve tried some options, but finally decided that standing on my roof (not a steep slope) and running with a leaf blower around the gutters every fall after the leaves have fallen and possibly again in the late spring works best. It only takes ten minutes to blow out the debris.
As the owner of two silver maples that were planted way too close to the house, I agree. An electric blower's even better.
Did you know peoples are injured a lot going on to roofs.. read see data..
If you have a one story house, you can operate a back-pack, or hand held leaf blower on the ground to clean out the gutters. Simply extend the blower outlets with some straight PVC pipe, so that when you hold either blower on the ground, the PVC points straight up to the gutters. Extend the PVC about 1 to 2 feet above the gutter and then add one 90 degree fitting and one 45 degree fitting, so that your angle approaching the gutter when you clean it out will be approximately 45 degrees. You are basically walking underneath and along the gutters while you clean them out. Depending on what schedule (wall thickness) of PVC you use, will determine how heavy the unit will be to operate. Now you can safely do on the ground what you risked doing on top of your roof.
I have had problems with the plastic gutters warping from the sun's heat. I live in St. Louis.
@@Peter-td3yk yep, lots of people are terribly injured driving cars too. We all stop doing that as well. C’mon man. 😏
I was just thinking about gluing a screen over the downspout holes, And taking off the end caps. That way the junk will get pushed on off to the ground, and heavy rains will keep it clear.
Already been there...one that you pop out easily is recommended...I'm in rain/winter/leaf/needles/helicopter/whirlygig/cone country...put contractor aluminium grade gutter guards on - each piece just over 7' with silicone gasket...they seem to be okay but now better check them and put the ones I bought two yrs back on my garage LOL
I bought the same type product at Menards. Now they are over $5 for each 3’ft section. Still cheap and effective. Used a utility knife to cut edges/at corners. Make sure you clean out everything and especially the downspouts. It’s also nice when the roof pitch is low, but if not the savings may allow you to get a new 30’ft ladder for 2-story homes. Great content. Thanks.
Placed these type of gutter guards at my mountain home 30 yrs ago and they still function. Naysayers will comment
they are cheap and won’t last but I prove them wrong. Just placed some on my son’s home and at 75, I won’t outlive them ! A cleaning tip. I purchased a 12 ft aluminum gutter and an a curved end. I place my leaf blower in the bottom of the gutter and place the end with the curved end over the gutter screens and they are easily blown clean while standing on the ground
@sBentonfamily, I believe you mean 12 ft aluminum downspout, no?
6:41 - true on the spot "testimonial"!😆
That's an awesome "hack" with the broom. 🤦♂️ 50 yrs in, never seen that...probably woulda never thought of it.
This'll help me narrow down selection.👌
Something I've used to help clean my gutters is a small gardening shovel that fits inside the gutter. If you have a metal one that's great but a cheap plastic one will work too. Very helpful if the material being removed is damp or soaking wet. Also, if there's a large build up of granules or dirt it makes it easier to remove it and not clog the downspout
I have one that was accidentally run over with the lawn mower a couple decades back. Bent it perfectly to hold at a comfortable angle while scooping out gutters! (I do not recommend running over gardening shovels or any other tool with a lawnmower - it's hazardous and I was extremely lucky!)
I have determined my gutters get blocked up at the down spouts. My solution was remove the downspouts and let the water naturally flow out any debris. I have a 50 ft long gutter on my roof where my pool cage is attached to.
After fighting clogged gutters for years , I removed the two downspouts, put a slanted channel to direct water away from my house, and magically, my pool gutter remains debris free! Any type of heavy rain will wash everything out of the gutter every time. This may not work for everyone, but it fixed my problem
Those mesh LB Plastics guards are brilliant. I live in a pine forest where a ton of crap fall off these trees all year long. From long pine needles to little specks of pine cones.
And the inverse broom trick is epic. Thanks.
The idea is amazing and the explanation awesome! The thing I will do if I was you trim all the branches from the trees goes near the house remember also the tree resin will do damage to your roof ! Thank you for a great teaching
In Florida, the starter shingle edge is required to be embedded in mastic to prevent lifting during high winds. I personally would not want to weaken the edge by inserting the guard. I'm looking for other options. Nice presentation!
I just moved to Florida. Thanks for the info. Have you found any products that won't compromise the first row of shingles?
@@Keifsanderson Sorry, no. I've been preoccupied with other activities. I suppose one could lift the shingles, then apply roofing mastic over the guard to reseal. It might take heat to loosen the shingle edge.
@@justdon5378 Thanks for the reply.
Bucket on a hook so not dumping the mess on the sidewalk. Great idea! The broom trick is good but I've got a 2 story bldg.
I use the foam, and it keeps me off the ladders for 4 years w/o doing any cleaning. They are great also because of the black color which keeps the ice/snow melted. My area gets a LOT of freezing rain/sleet during winter. The foam will fill up with dirt, get heavy, and not pass water very well. The foam can be removed and knock the dirt out
0:00 6:39am 0:00
Clean the gutters
One of the downsides of the plastic ones you recommend is that if you have a steep pitched roof and a hard downpour rain, the water will run so fast that it runs over the guard past the gutter. That's why they didn't work for me.
I'm wondering how the high end aluminum guards would work in those conditions?
Possible answer might be to tilt the gutter up toward the roof to catch the rain better yet that then may create other problems..another thought might be to extend the edge of the roof more like a Frank Lloyd Wright design to do better creating ideas that would work in your neck of the woods. Me ditto of creating improvements for my home on a semi-off-grid terrain. Good luck
Same scenario with my house. I switched them out with the the black metal mesh ones. After a few years, so far so good. I live in the Midwest, with four season weather, and they hold up well. Armor guard is the product name. The are three foot sections like what the host of this channel put in (not like the first piece he took out). They are a heavy weight tringular mesh, no screen. I have a very large Silver Maple Tree that hangs over the roof, and have very little issues with leaves and seedlings getting stuck. The wind usually takes care of them.
Same thing happened to me. Not happy.
This is exactly what I was wondering. I live in Southwest Florida and the rain gets brutal in season. Seems like it would just spill right over with these guards which is what I'm trying to avoid so it doesn't spill over onto my Lanai
I installed the mesh gutter guards on my house. Major difference. I just get up there every little while with my leaf blower and blow them off. Easy job
Good idea about reversing the broom head to clean the gutters.
One comment: I just removed the guards that you recommend from a friend's house. After about 5 years they are all deformed and some were actually cracking from being in direct sun. I installed the aluminum ones with micro mesh screen, as I have on my own house. After 2 years they still look like new.
That broom hack is so good it should be illegal, lol. I live in a 3-street subdivision, in a really small town in Georgia, and I've noticed none of the houses have gutters at all. I've never seen that before. The houses in the area all have really steep pitches to account for the amount of rain we get, so maybe that's why. It could also be the fact that our area is loaded with pine trees, and with pine trees comes pine needles that love to clog everything they touch. The truth is I'd only have to setup two runs in order to keep water away. One for the front, and one for the back with downspouts on either end.
All I'd have to do is make sure there's gutters under the gables because we got rain the other night, and witnessed a literal fountain coming off the roof where the gables, and roof met. Doing the entire area of the house wouldn't make sense though, because the pitch is steep enough to cause such a flow that the gutters would essentially overfill at the bottoms of the runs.
I’ve had ones similar to this on my gutters for about 5 years with no issues. Highly recommend.
Thanks for the feedback Dave 👍
Thank you for the broom trick. I am delighted to know it.
I have a huge oak tree right next to my house. I had to clean my gutters a minimum four times a year. I put the steel mesh gutter guards in and never had any problems with them. Now I only clean my gutters out every 3 years by removing one 3 ft section gutter guard and flushing it out. Plastic works fine but they degrade over time. But I do see the added benefit of having those built-in screens.
Over time the metal ones will resist the elements better, especially if you get a lot of storms. Not to mention regular sunlight exposure over time will degrade the plastic guards, and they will become brittle and crack/break. You may save a few bucks now, but you will have to replace those cheaper ones eventually
Agree 100%. I installed cheap plastic ones (no fine mesh). Over a couple years, the plastic decayed (broke, collapsed). I replaced them with metal ones recently. These should last a decade at least.
It's pretty much a guarantee that the plastic ones will degrade over time. Sunlight will weaken it.
I've installed professional gutter guards. You don't want to install plastic gutter guards, they do not work.
So what, they're a buck fifty!
@@1776Based Yeah, I hear this a lot Kimberly. "It's so cheap, when they break I will just buy new ones."
Hummm, but you aren't the one climbing the ladder every year. Re-Doing the work, over and over again. Replacing the inferior sun-damaged junk every year. So, who in your home is the sucker risking their life every 12 months?
Had tried these same gutters plastic screens , they last maybe 2-3years, sun exposure breaks them down they become very brittle ,crack, split, and are blown off by strong winds. I replaced them with stainless steel mesh gutter guards, which are installed the same way except they are screwed to top of gutter lip. Sold at Home Depot, they cost more but will last the life of your house. Had a hail storm, had to replace entire roof, but not the stainless steel gutter guards. Garage still has plastic screened gutter guards,(2yrs old), they were shredded. Replaced with stainless steel mesh gutter guards.
I realize this is an older video. However, I bought the stainless steel micro mesh gutter guards from Amazon and install them on my shop pretty easily (About 40 feet each side). They even came with both the screws and the tool to fit the screws for your drill. They work very nicely and not very expensive at all...
the reverse broom head trick is GOLD. Thanks again!
I installed gutter guards for a major company. I removed lots of these plastic guards. They work good for a while. Over time the screen starts to separate from the plastic. Often times they were so overloaded with leaves they had fallen into the gutter and allowed debris in. Try out different guards. The commercial ones I installed are stupid expensive, I cannot believe the price some people paid was over $25 per foot. Maintenance is the biggest tip I can give. Keep them cleaned out. Hire someone if you need to.
Do you have any tips on what to do if the water runs over the mesh and drips from the bottom of the gutter?
@@krisannekey3218 either the mesh covered with leaves ( they don't tell you that you have to clean them off), or your filters are not sized properly. I've seen a metal roof with old screens that was running over. I had to replace them with the new style that was more efficient.
@@sixfourlonley there are no leaves or debris on them. I literally just put them up earlier this morning. Should I just go back and take them all down?
Welcome from Flagstaff, in the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the world! I researched for years to find a gutter guard that would completely take care of pine needles and ice. Even the mesh type gradually collects the splintered ends of pine needles and have to be maintained, but parts of our roof are almost 20 feet above the ground and I am 70 years old. I know me - the time would come when I would be on the ladder, on uneven ground, and take a fall.
I went with Gutter Helmet, a solid metal plate system with a bullnose on the outer edge. Water flows across, washing the top and following the bullnose into the gutter. The same water washes pine needles over the side. It is a rather precision fit so it has to be professionally installed (about $7000 for our 350 feet of roofline, including initial cleanout and repair of the gutter), but it also has a warranty for as long as the structure is standing. If the roof has to be replaced, the owner - the warranty is transferable - calls to have the material removed and reinstalled after the roof replacement is done, part of the warranty. My wife cringed at the price but it is a permanent solution to a worsening problem for us.
i have a 12/12 roof, been using the screened plastic ones, as well as the wedge inserts, for years, been a HUGE time saver for not having to clean gutters, highly recommend.
One thing anyone installing gutter guards should keep in mind. Regardless of what design in moderate to heavy rainfall a lot of water is going to flow over the gutter guards and onto the ground. Not into the gutters and down the downspout. Something that might be a concern if there are drainage issues or problems with moisture in basements or crawlspaces.
Good video but having used plastic gutter guards previously I would not go back to them. Prefer the stainless steel and aluminum ones like Gutterglove.
The plastic ones are very thin. After a couple of seasons of exposure to the sun they become very brittle and crack easily. Since we live in the northeast we also have to deal with ice and icicles. The plastic doesn't handle either well. They needed to be replaced after a couple of years.
I used the plastic ones without the screen. While installing, I cut a short section from the clip-on edge which allowed me to overlap the screens. Not only were they sturdier, but but with them all overlapped in the same direction, it was simple and quick to sweep off any debris.
I have the recommended ones with the screens. The screens peeled off and now maple tree seeds (helicopters) get thru the holes and fill the gutters. Now it's harder to clean on the spring because I have to peal back the guards to clean. They still work well for the big leaves in the fall.
Did you install with mesh side UP?
That makes a huge difference and is actually the recommended install from the manufacturer, LB Plastics.
That broom hack is fantastic.
You mentioned wiping down the gutters to get them cleaner. Just to add on to that, if your gutters have the grey “tiger stripes” I learned that Totally Awesome gets rid of those really well. Got my gutters nice and white again. Great stuff….
"Awesome" is Awesome!! Pick it up at the Dollar store. Great for cleaning everything, including under the cars hood. Best ever for hardwood/veneer floors, tile, etc.
The broom hack is ingenious !!!
The broom trick Rocks!! Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback!
Leaf blower. My house has 300 feet of gutter and a heavy complement of nearby oak, maple and fir trees, and no gutter screen system is without drawbacks. In addition, the roof design tends to catch and hold leaves in places, shortening roof life. Fortunately the slope is low, so for the past 30 years I walk the roof with a backpack leaf blower. Screens keep debris out of the downspouts. It’s lots of work but the view is great and if you lay off the gin death is unlikely.
This is great advice... It keeps the pro's busy replacing the plastic ones with real ones...
Don't waste your money or time with the Huxley plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
You better have a nail puller if you expect to slide those plastic snap-ins under the nailed-down shingles... Be prepared to replace several dozen shingles or more during the installation.
Don't waste your money, or time with the Huxley or Amerimax plastic gutter snap-in screens... They do not work ... After a few hours if you manage to get one or two installed, the plastic will crack and fall apart from the sun rays in just a few years ... (Oakland Home Inspections LLC) Metal gutter guards are the only ones that work and actually fit, and do not crack or fall apart ...
@Waterlogged-nt8sz
Shingles are not nailed that close to the roof edge, you are making an incorrect statement.
I ordered gutter guards from Amazon , 5” Aluminum with screws 242’ for 130.00 bucks and they were easy to install
Leaf blowers work really well to clean first, though they are messy down below.
VERY messy
Love the broom hack!
Great video and perfect timing- I am just in the process of installing new gutters all around my house so this information is especially appreciated. It would have been good for you to clarify how the guards attached to the front edge of the gutters but near the end I could see how they snap on.
I am 73 and bought an extendable aluminum nozzle jet that you can twist almost any angle
So i connect my hose extend it up and stand on lawn while cleaning out my gutters fast
Home depot in the garden section
I put those cone shaped wire guards in the downspouts and have to go up and clean them out of leaves stuck but use a 12 foot alum folding light ladder feel very safe on just stay mindful and always always realize its that last step down that caues most accidents My ER doc agreed after i fell years ago but luckily only bruised my shoulder
I just had some installed. Didn't want to bother doing it myself. Cost was $1,200 and they used PlyGem Leaf Relief Gutter Cover System. It's very hard to get to some of my gutters so I just bit the bullet and got it done.
Thanks for video. I use those plastic guards also. they are junk. However if used with zip ties and an occasional heat gun to flatten them back out , they work ok for the price. The screens fall off of them almost immediately.
Great video. just saved me a crap load of money. going to be doing this next weekend. broom hack was genius!
Great video. 2 follow-up questions though. 1) How well do these kinds of guards work with pine needles, which are more common than leaves at my Colorado home? 2) How do gutter guards effect ice damns? I have heat tape in my gutters to keep the water flowing in the winter, and I'd be worried that there would be an ice layer on top of the gutter guard that would never fully melt.
Costco's gutter guards are great. I bought one box of 6 x 4' guards on sale for about $47, which worked out to about $2 a foot. They can be installed as in your first item, slid under the shingles and clip right into the gutter. They also have an adhesive strip that will go a long way to secure the guards. I actually only took off about 4" of the adhesive covering so if I had a reason to remove a guard it would not be a problem. I'll do the rest of my gutters in the spring. I figure it will cost about $300 in total vs. the absurd prices I was quoted by national brands. The quality of the Costco guards is great, solid with a strong metal mesh to catch just about anything. I have a neighbor who paid, for an identical house to mine almost $15,000 for Leaf filter guards...
Have had one that is very similar (diamond shaped openings) but minus the wire mesh. Has worked very well and I'm probably into the tenth year, but not a lot of sun beating directly down on it. Good job on the video.
Thank you for educating us all. 🙏🙏
As much as I want to have a "maintenance free" house, especially the roof (inaccessible for me), we have a neighborhood handyman who charges $40 to clean gutters. 2x per year: $80.... not too bad and you KNOW the gutters are clean, AND he tells you if there's a problem up there.
Oh man, that is a great rate. Keep that guy happy 😁
That was my go-to move but the rooftop services will be getting their calendars filled for months this Sunday. The first strong winds of October blow all the dead needles out of the pines. The cost for our 350 feet of gutters is about $200 but not everybody gets their gutter cleaned before the freeze sets in. I had to do it myself the last five years or so before getting gutter guards professionally installed. A lot more expensive, and truly dangerous, but a lot less frustrating.
People who are good with lotteries are able to time their call to be put on the list (no appointment dates, just "next!") but I failed on the last 3 years before I had gutter guards installed.
Used the datk brown plastic ones from home depot and they have been on the one story house for 15 years
Thanks for the informative, quick and to-the-point vid. Love you!
I have the punched hole plastic guards on my home. They work great, never need to do any maintenance in the gutters, but they fill up with those helicopter seeds that fall out of the trees, and you see hundreds of them sticking up until they decay and shrivel up enough to fall through and wash out when it rains hard.
I put some up. They are good for light rain, but heavy rain the rain goes right over the gutter guard , never makes it into gutter.
I installed this type of gutter guards in 2013 and they're still there working fine. But some of the mesh is gone from the element and i need to replace them this summer. Thank you for all the info.
You have been an EXCELLENT source of home maintenance responsibilities resource for me. Truthful comments along with common sense tidbits so uplifting for my plans for improvements of my home. Certain plastics exposed to direct sunlight deteriorate over time yet the price/materials of the screened panel does seem best! Excellent tidbit of reposition broom handle to clean top of gutter!!! This educated Army veteran with Industrial Design, B.S. degree does appreciate and stand firm ground attention behind all these "Everyday Home Repairs" website!!! Much gratitude for your info that confirms and/or uplifts projects at my residence. Thank you for your time.
Thanks for the great video! My dad is in his late 60s and we dont want him on the roof anymore, so I am looking to install something like this since the professional ones are just WAY too expensive. I love the broom hack at the end as well. I am personally afraid to get up on the roof myself, so something like that would help both me and my dad to maintain them without having to get onto the roof.
Gutter guards work for the leaves and sticks, but unfortunately my spouts still get clogged with Pine needles and mapleseed helicopters. And we have plenty of downpours that would overrun the mesh-style. Other than regular cleaning, I keep a long pole with hooked wire at the end handy so if a spout is plugged up during a storm I can chop up the sludge and wash it down the spout.
I installed the vinyl mesh a couple of years ago (Southern California) and they lasted through one winter. When summer hit, and I'm in a moderate temperature zone (90°F), they softened enough to droop, and many fell into the gutter. I have 6" gutters, so maybe the 5" is not as susceptible...
This is the exact information and price I wanted to see for my gutters. Hell yeah.
I bought the white vinyl guards with mesh for my garage. It took me about an hour to clean the gutters and install the guards. The total cost was about $32.00. Now for the rest of the story:
We called a gutter leaf g guard company that advertised on TV a couple weeks back to install leaf guards on our house and garage. Their estimate was $11,000 for the cleaning and guards with the garage costing $3,000.
When they called to ask if we were ready to install the guards I couldn’t stop laughing cause next spring I will install the guards myself by renting a cherry picker since the house is two stories tall. Total cost to me will be less then $600. This leaf guard is a game changer.
I've had similar experiences with trades work. Like $10,000 quote for a pergola which ended up costing &3,000. How is this any better than criminal theft?
I agree (Ha, Ha, Ha on the price from Professional Installers.) I think that if you already do a little "around the house" maintenance, the DIY approach should be pretty much a piece of cake. Especially with the tutorial from this Great Video!!
@@trackdustyIt is theft. It’s also theft when corporations raise prices just to gouge people. We need new laws that throw executives in prison when they raise prices like the monopolized oil companies do.
@@trackdusty ,
I needed some minor repairs to some gutters as well as some repairs to some fascia boards. Called a company that specializes in gutters and they wanted $2k. Yeah no. My handyman (who charges $75 an hour) knocked it out for $400 including materials.
I've had gutter guards for a few years now. My problem was leaves. That solved the big headache. There is still shingle residue but that is minimal. Only trouble is during a heavy rain (which is common here in Hawaii) By covering any portion of your gutter with anything, it restricts the amount of water that can pass through.
Weigh the pros and cons. In my case I'd rather have them than not
considering I was just quoted $800 for a contractor to do a 12 foot run of a gutter guard on the front of my sunroom, I will be DIYing it myself! Thank you for the video :0)
I’ve found cleaning any sticks or pine needles is worth the trade off. The water flow is much better with no mesh. Which is the point of gutters to channel water. If any debris is covering the top it will just flow over the gutter. I’ve cleaned a few hundred homes with both. I can quickly take a soft or hard bristle brush and break off the sticks or pine needles into the gutter or off the top. And because there is no mesh using a hose with a gilmour gun is a breeze. But to each there own
The broom hack was the bomb
Thanks for the options...I have the ones you put in last..the mesh does come loose after a while. As for warranty issues on shingles, I can't imagine something as less intrusive as those guards having an affect on warranty. Let's just say if you have defective shingles under warranty, you have the rest of the roof to complain about rather than just the first row! LOL
Good to get an informed opinion on gutter guards! There are a bajillion "solutions", I think I agree the one you cites might be the most optimal. At least here in the midwest.
The person who lived in our house before us installed some helmet style gutter guards. Talk about expensive AND ineffective, when we replaced the roof we went with something similar to what you suggested in this video, but metal instead of plastic.
We have the same thing (Gutter Helmet) but it works perfectly on our pine needles. I was concerned at first about mud buildup but here in Arizona the monsoon rains seem to do a good job of clearing it out.
@@flagmichael maple seeds get stuck in the rain channels and they don't allow the water to drain properly.
This is a great video thanks. I watched and was pleasantly surprised to see you recommend the very kind of Garuda that I used on my last house. I
Installed them and three years later they were still in very hood condition and worked great. Honestly I wasn’t sure if the sun would make the guards brittle but it didn’t. I’ll be using them again in the house I’ve just purchased. Thanks for the great video
I just installed the same gutter guards you recommended. I used them on my last home and they really worked great and a good value too. The only problem was it is sometimes hard to clip them to the gutter but I usually overlap them, so there's enough connected to hold them in place. Good tip about the warranty. I bought my house with a five year old roof, so I don't know if the warranty stays with the house or is only with the old owner.
I have a Craftsman shop vac that has a gutter cleaning tool, a sort of U shaped thing, plus extension pipes. I can clean the gutters on our 1700 sq ft bungalow in about 2 hours without climbing a ladder.
I tried that out with the pine needles here. The inlet just jams with the needles - timing to prevent them from getting wet would be great but impractical with our weather. The windstorm that knocks the needles down is often accompanied by monsoon rain.
@@flagmichael If you use the gutter cleaning tool it does jam, what I found worked was using a full size u-bend without the tool.
I use a Kobalt 80 volt leaf blower with an extension and a U shaped tip at the end, allowing you to walk under the gutter. The leaves blow out in mere minutes. The only cons with this method is, the gutter must be completely dry and you have to rake the leaves afterwards.
I think the round brushes are the best as leafs are kept out and it is cheap they are like the ones used in pond filters.
At 81 I don't think I would feel safe on top of the roof like you did cleaning out the gutters. If I was younger then yes, but that my problem. Good video.
Hardware cloth, Aluminum pop rivets and a bit of care when installing for the win. Been using the system for years, very cheap and looks just as good if you use common sense when installing.
Hardware cloth?
@@mtebaldi1 Google
Thanks, Scott. FYI, the link to the site where you bought the guards no longer works. Great video and demo!
I would like to share my personal experience with gutter protection, which I have encountered during my work. In my experience, I have not seen gutters with protective guards get damaged. However, I often come across gutters that are damaged and rusted from the inside due to a lack of protection and, of course, without any maintenance care.
There was one beautiful and expensive house with large gutters and the same fine mesh screen shown in the video. The protection worked well, and only a small amount of dust accumulated in the gutters. However, the house had a steep roof pitch-something rarely seen here in Sacramento, where I live and work. Such steep roof angles are typically found in snowy, mountainous areas. In this case, the water flowed at high speed, overshooting the mesh screen and spilling onto the gutter and fascia. Over time, this caused severe damage, and almost all the 10-inch fascia boards around the house had to be replaced. This repair was extremely costly and challenging, as anyone who has worked on fascia knows how difficult it can be when the gutters cannot be removed.
This experience highlights an important point: steep roof pitches combined with gutters and protective screens may not always work effectively. It’s worth noting this nuance for future considerations.
I think anything is better than nothing aside for those foam inserts but plastic has it's downfalls as well, I give plastic guards about 3 years before having to replace them due to Sun UV's causing breakdown and brittle cracking, not counting large branches breaking them.
Curious- how do you hang Christmas lights with these?
This past summer I installed Raptor gutter guards bought off Amazon... no where as easy to install as the slip on plastic stuff, but I'm sure they'll far outlast them. Cost ran around $80 for 48 feet (more expensive now), but for me they're worth it.
I've had the ones you chose on my gutters for over 10 years and never had to do any maintenance. However, the birds pulled off about 10 feet of one gutter in the last year, and I've replaced them. I assume I will replace all of them eventually, but at that price I can do it every 10 years and be ahead of the other types in cost.
i recently installed them on my gutter and I love them. Only problem I've run into is when I had to replace one recently I couldn't remove it without completely destroying it! Were you able to remove your old ones easily?
@@dcccaldyou987 It was fairly easy. My original set were all four feet long, and the new ones that I bought as replacements were three feet. So I replaced 3 of the four footers with 4 of the three footers. I was planning to throw out the old ones, so I didn't worry about how they came off. I got underneath the end of one of them with a small tool and flexed it in the middle until the upper edge came off. Then I pulled backward and upward on the front of the cover which locked onto the front of the gutter. The rest were easy since the first one was gone and I could just maneuver the cover with my hand.
The cheap plastic with the stupid fabric under ARE good for one thing.
After about 2 years they degrade from uv but underneath they create awesome compost. Now I will watch remaining 8:41. Had to point this out when saw the junk from big boxville
Very well done and informative video. Thank you.
You bet!
So How does the guards handle snow. Snow will build up on guards and then when it does thaw and refreeze you will get ice build up
Thanks for sharing very informative
Down here in florida the starter course is glued down with tar. So getting anything under there is a no no. It would take longer to pry up the shingle and would void the warranty
Nice video, love the broom hack. I'm going to give these a try in the spring.
I screwed my gutter guards down to the gutter, and silicone under the singles to hold them in place. We get high winds sometimes.
I have seen many of these so-called gutter screens. Most of them fail when a high volume of rain water is coming down. Knowing fluid dynamics. Water has a tendency to flow over most of these screens due to the holes are either to small or they have a screen over the top of the holes thus allowing the water to just flow over the holes of the gutter screen and over the gutter all together. This will happen when you have a heavy down poor or worse yet if you live in an area where you get freezing weather just after a rain storm. The screens will freeze up, and no water will pass through until you get warm enough days again.