I live in NC and have several pine trees that overhang my roof. The issue I face is gutter cleaning several times per year. Does anyone have comments, pro or con, regarding any of the various types of gutter covers that are designed to keep leaves and other debris out of the gutter?
Thanks for taking the time to comment….
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My opinion is that they are all a joke.
The water will run right over the cover.
Think about it. The velocity of the water rolling down the roof........the guard I see all have about a 1/2" opening where the water is supposed to roll in.
Just go out there in a good storm and see what is happening.
Either come up with a plan to do without them, or hire a maintainence company that will clean them X times a year.
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Welcome to BT Dave. I too am in NC. I had some installed called Waterfall at the time the gutters were installed based on recommendations found here and a moderate price. The covers work well at keeping the gutters from getting clogged (5 years so far) and we have a mostly wooded lot - hardwoods and pines. The only down side is when it rains really hard, the water does shoot right over them. I can accept that trade off.
Howdy, second on the welcome here.
Good advise so far, would add that you did not say longleaf or shortleaf pine.
Douf fir and esp. hemlock are a LOT shorter than even shortleaf pine. Was in IL a few years back and went with pop to a home show had a vendor with the gutter diversion you describe. They had a demo using whole sugar maple leaves, worked ok with those.
Anway, musta been in cantakerous mood, but took one of their leaves and crushed it into pieces about the size of D fir needles (1/8 wide, 3.8 long) and threw it on the roof, as many maple leaves end up as squirrels in IL chew them up. All went into the gutter, instant clog.
Own home, have upper store decks so can reach gutter without ladder, lots of D fir trees. Weekly cleaning takes 2 minutes.
Moral of the story, love the trees, make access to your gutter your next project <G>
I can't say how they work for evergreens, but I've had Leafguard brand gutters on my house for about three years now, and I've been very satisfied with them. My house is surrounded by large,deciduous trees of various species, and the gutters stay nice and clean. They even shed those pesky little elm tree seeds. I haven't noticed any problems with heavy rains overshooting them, either.
http://www.leafguard.com/home800.asp
Last summer I spent most of a whole day cleaning the crud out of my mom's gutters in CT. Clogged at the downspouts with wads of spruce needle and slate grit. Half of the labor was getting my fingers and a scraper into the micro crack between the lip of the gutter and the debris shield. My opinion is that over time, stuff will work it's way into the gutters regardless of what gadgets are installed to keep leaves and other things out. The inevitable cleaning that will be necessary is much more difficult with leave guards or screens in place. I'd rather spend half an hour once a year hosing out the gutters rather than a whole day on ladders, skinning my knuckles every 3 to 5.