My roof needs new shingles and I intend to replace my gutters at the same time. As there are plenty of trees around the house I am also considering installing a gutter guard, leaf guard or permaflow system or whatever other name applies. Have any of these systems been tested for their efficacy and if so what is the verdict? Any idea what the cost per linear foot might be? Thanks for your comments.
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Don't know if I did the right thing or not, but I ultimately went with Leaf Guard. Had sales reps from all the guys and none are cheap. I think the Leaf Guard was around $14/foot and the others are equally pricey. In fact they will give you a try well above that number just to see if you faint. There is room for movement in their prices since there are obviously huge profit margins. The others are equally pricey in spite of the fact that they only provide a cover, and do not include the gutter. One of the reps (not leaf guard) had worked for several companies, and he talked about some of the products having an issue with the fact that they slide betweed the roof and the shingles, or the second course of shingles. My decision was ultimately based on the fact that the Leaf Guard was a stand alone product that didn't dick around with the roof shingles. Less chance of a screw-up. Care of installation is a key issue for any of the products, in my opinion. Can't tell you much about how well it works yet. Probably already told you more than I know.
I installed about 250 feet of Waterfall gutter guard for a customer. Won't know until fall whether it is as good as it looks. It was in 8 ft sections, slid inder shingles, hooked on lip of existing gutter extremely well. My cost was under $10 US per 8 ft stick. Came in clay or white. I was impressed. The house next door had the Gutter Guard system installed on a medium sized house for $4200. I am not sure what the extent of fascia repair was included but it was expensive but a very nice installation.
On a related note, has anyone out there ever tried those "Rainhandler" systems. They look like a set of mini-blinds and are designed (supposedly) to break up the steady stream of flow from the roof to lessen the erosion of the ground at the edges of the house. The promise is that you never have gutters to clean out. My initial thought is that it doesn't get the water away from the house so it wouldn't seem to be as good as gutters. Also, anywhere you have an entrance (except at the gable ends), you need to install diverters. Anyway, just wondering if anyone's tried them...
I had a customer try them. I wouldn't install them. They ended up working as good as your intuition tells you they would. Maybe worse. The next year i installed real gutters for him.
John
John Svenson, Builder, Remodeler, NE Ohio (Formerly posted as JRS)
Edited 3/11/2003 2:11:02 PM ET by Svenny