Why Gutters are Important

On this page is everything you need to know about clogged gutters and gutter guards.

8 years of experience condensed into a 10 minute read!

Steven Pender York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

First things first, how exactly clogged gutters can cause so much damage to your home?

Gutters are a very important system to your home. They redirect an immense amount of rain water from your roof away from your homes foundation. When the downspouts of your gutters become clogged with debris they turn into destructive nightmares! They will.....

Clogged Gutters

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Gutter Rot Fascia Rot

Fascia Rot Gutter Rot York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Clogged Gutters Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

Mosquito

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Clogged Gutters

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retain on average 1,200 lbs of water per 180 ft of gutter length, this weight hangs from your fascia and pulls your gutters off of your home
create optimal nesting grounds for mosquitoes, wasps, and other pests
water will flow behind the gutter and rot your fascia boards
excess moisture on the surrounding fascia boards will breed mold
excess water overflows over the front of your gutter, destroying flower beds and landscaping, and eroding your foundation
in the winter, the trapped water in your gutter freezes, distorting your gutters, causing them to pull away from your home
clog underground gutter draining systems (costing thousands in repair)

Why Other Systems Fail

Over the years there have been many products introduced to the market to try and help solve this issue for homeowners. Like with anything there are some products that simply just do not work as promised or even work at all. Here is a list of the gutter protection systems I have seen over the last 8 years that are just doomed to fail.

Which Gutter Protections Systems Will Fail and Why

Hydro-static Guards like Gutter Helmet & Leaf Guard

Gutter Helmet Fail

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Leaf Guard Fail

York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Clogged Gutters Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

Leaf Guard Fail

York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Clogged Gutters Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

Gutter Helmet Fail

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First on the list is the 'Hydro-static" designed gutter guards. These are most commonly known as or installed by companies such as Gutter Helmet and Leaf Guard. These guards usually cost between four and six thousand dollars, and work for about 2 years before reaching their ultimate demise and failing. The main reason this guard fails is because algae builds up on the surface where rain water is supposed to cling and be directed into the gutter. From this point on, rain water no longer clings to this surface of the guard and, instead, runs right over them, sending all the rain water falling around the surrounding foundation of your home. Once these guards begin to fail, it is as if your home no longer even has gutters. The second reason this guard is doomed to fail is because the pores of the guard that allows rain water in are too large. This means debris and pests can also get into your gutter. In most cases, when we unistall this guard from a home, the gutters are completely full with debris and the downspouts are clogged! WASTE OF MONEY!

The second most common gutter protection system on the market is a 'Micro-mesh" style gutter guard. The main reason this guard fails is due to the fact that the mesh screen designed to filter out debris is woven too tight. This tightly woven mesh builds up algae on top, clogging the screen, and no longer allowing rain water to enter through it. Once this happens, the rain water just runs right over top the guard and falls down to your home's surrounding foundation. You can have your guard power-washed (for who knows how much money) but this usually only regains about 50% of the guards designed water-flow rate. Another major reason these guards fail is due to poor construction material. They are often made of plastic and a very flimsy screen filter. With just a few years of sunlight and harsh weather (especially in the winter months) these guards begin to buckle and loose their screen filter. Once again WASTE OF MONEY!

Micro-mesh Guards like Leaf Filter, Master Shield and Leaf Solutions

Leaf Filter Fail

Leaf Filter Fail York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Clogged Gutters Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

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Leaf Filter Clog with Algae

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Leaf Filter Fail

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Do It Yourself Guards Found At Hardware Stores

Gutter Guard Fail

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Gutter Guard Fail

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Gutter Guard Fail

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Gutter Guard Fail

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The final gutter protection system or systems on the market that will fail in a few short years is the "Do It Yourself" type guard. These can be bought at your local hardware store and come in many varieties. These guards are riddled with issues. The first and biggest reason most of these fail is because they do not securely fasten to your gutters. These guards often clip into place, they are not held on with screws. This is a big cause of concern because in the winter months heavy snow or ice will detach these guards from your home very easily, usually resulting in the guard becoming loose allowing debris in your gutters.(This is a major issue!) Not to mention animals such as squirrels and birds can easily dismantle this guard from your home as well. The second major issue with these guards is that the pores on the guard that are designed to keep out debris are much too large. This allows for debris to enter into your gutters as well as mosquitos and pests. Often times I find homes with these gutter guards installed with a fully flourishing ecosystem of debris and insects in their gutters sitting just beneath the guard's surface. That is how much debris can get past this guard and into your gutter. WASTE OF MONEY!

what-work

So which Gutter Protection System does work? Glad you asked

Gutter Glove Pro Gutter Guard

So after many years of seeing the results of these gutter protection systems I began to wonder if there was one out there that actually does work, which led me to find a guard design that both works and stands the test of time. Guards that have a sturdy metal frame and a steel mesh screen filter which fastens securely to your home and gutters with screws proves to be the optimal design. The reason these guards out perform the competition is, firstly, a sturdy metal frame. This frame has the strength to resist heavy snow, buckling from ice, as well as birds and other animals. These guards are like TANKS! Secondly, a stainless steel mesh. The GutterGlove mesh for example is machined at precisely 550 microns. This precise design filters out the smallest of debris without clogging from the build up of algae, finally solving the major issue other mesh screen guards fall victim to. Finally the maintenance for these guards is actually practical. Whereas with other guards you have to have them power washed, or uninstalled and reinstalled to clean out your gutters, with these guards all you have to do is simply brush the guard where debris builds up. This takes about 2 minutes in the spring and 2 minutes in the fall.. And voila your guards are ready to go again!

Gutter Glove Pro Eavestrough LLC York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Clogged Gutters Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

Eavestrough Gutter Glove Pro Install York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Clogged Gutters Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

Worth-Invest

Why a gutter guard is worth the investment.

The damages of clogged gutters are costly!

In my opinion there is three big reasons a gutter guard is worth the investment. Now as we have seen not all guards are created equal, and most of them don't even work, but if you get a quality proven to work guard installed onto your home like Gutterglove I think it is one of the best proactive decisions you as a homeowner can make. First big reason I would recommend having a guard installed is how costly the damage of clogged gutters can be to your home. Why risk a potential future bill of ten to thirty thousand dollars from something like foundation issues or mold and rot throughout your walls and ceilings. When you can have this potential future problem completey avoided for a mere one to three thousand bucks.

Second big reason I would recommend a guard is how often gutters actually need cleaned to work properly. This is often thebiggest misconception amongst homeowners is that gutter cleaning is once a year ordeal atthe end of fall. In the reality this couldnt be further from the truth. Debris seemsto fall almost constalnty off of trees. I remember doing an install in August one time, where I cleaned the gutters and came back just a week later and all of the downspouts were already all completely clogged again. This is because not only is debris constatly falling from trees, but it only takes a little bit of debris to clog a downspout.Andonce theyre clogged again, game over, youre gutters are no longer working, AGAIN! In short gutters need cleaned over and over throughtout the year,pretty much before every time it rains, if you want them working properly. Whichwe aleady know, if they are not working serious costly damage will occur. With the one time investment in a guard you never have to worry if your gutters are clogged or working properly!

Gutters need clean almost constantly to stay working properly

Climbing a ladder is very dangeroues and not worth it

Third major reason I recommend a guard is due to the danger of climbing ladders. Now that we know you cant just clean your gutters once or twice to have them properly working, you would have to do it multpie multpie times a year. At least twice a month. Who wants to risk climbing a ladder that often. I was very suprised to discover just how dangeroues ladders are. Every year just in the United States alone over 300,000 people are sent to the hospital from ladder injuries! And roughly 500 people die each year. Is it really worth that risk? If theyre was no other solution and you had to do it every month to prevent major damage to your home, then maybe that would make sense. But since theyre is a proven to work system to elimante climbing a ladder to clean your gutters every month, I'd say it is a unnesicary risk, to say the least!

How-I-Install

Tired of clogged guters? Climbing ladders? Crappy gutter guards? Ready to solve all of these problems once and for all?

Here is where we come in! We are a trusted & certified GutterGlovePro installer. But we don't just install a guard over your gutters and leave. We do a whole lot more than that to ensure your gutters are set for optimal performace and will remain that way for life. Here is everything invloded in the Eavestrough installation process.

Gutter Helmet Clog York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Clogged Gutters Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

Step 1

First, if your home has one, we uninstall any existing gutter protection on your home, and we haul it away and dipose of it.

Step 2

Second, we cut tree limbs away from your home and gutters.

York Pa Gutter Cleaning Gutter Guards Clogged Gutters Eavestrough LLC Gutters Maryland Gutter Cleaning

Step 3

Next, we thoroughly clean the debris out of your gutters, leaving them so clean you could eat out of them!

Step 4

Then we clean the gutter fronts of years of dirt and debris build up, making your gutters look brand new again!

Step 5

Following that, we reseal your gutter seams that have failed. No more leaky gutters!

step 6

Then, if nessecary, we add hidden hangers to your gutters for added structual integrity. We add these if your gutters are currently held up by rods, as rods are an outdated and unreliable way of attaching gutters to your home. These always fail and begin to allow your gutters to fall away from your home.

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step 7

Next, after your gutters are ready to go, we install a proven state of the art gutter protection system. We install the system with precision to seal out all debris, pests, and any other possible obstructions.

Step 8

For the last step, we provide an on-site tutorial of how practical and easy it is to maintain these guards to provide life-long optimal results. We provide the telescopic pole and brush for the mainteince. This maintence takes about 5 minutes a year to brush any stubborn debris from select areas of the guard.

Lastly

We provide you with a 40 year warrenty directly through GutterGlove themselves. We also provide a one complimentary check up. This can be done anytime from the install date. This is for your ultimate satisfaction, and is our quality gurauntee.

How-Much

Pricing: How Much Does It Cost, As Well As How Much Do The Other Companies Cost

To help you and to be as resourceful as possible I am going to give you a rough ballpark idea of not only how much I charge to install guards but also all the other major companies prices as well.

For Leafblaster Pro install I generally charge $10-$18 a foot

Gutterglove Pro install I generally charge $20-$28 a foot

Now I don't measure the amount of gutter you have and then multiply it by $10 or $20, there is actually a lot more that goes into creating an estimated price for each home. But to ballpark an idea for you, the pricing does generally break down to an average cost of $10-$18 a foot for Leafblaster Pro or $20-$28 a foot for Gutterglove Pro .The reason these are ball park prices is because there really are a lot of factors that play into the overall cost. The least expensive job to have done, would be a single story home with straight runs of gutter that are relatively new and don't need much cleaning or any repairs, and the price would build from there. Here a quick bunch of factors that would play a role into price.

Number of stories of your home. Are your gutters one story or three stories off the ground? The higher the gutters are off the ground the more expensive it would be to have them worked on.
How much debris is in your gutters at the time of the install. Sometimes gutters just have a little debris in them which doesn't take a lot of time to clean. Where as other instances some homes have a fully flourishing garden growing from their gutters. I do charge a little extra for the added amount of time it takes to clean heavily debris filled gutters.
The condition of your gutters, do they need repair? If your gutters are relatively new and are good to go then no charge is added. But if your gutters are a little older and need resealed, realigned, or even have hangers added. Then I do charge for the extra time and materials to repair your gutters. My goal is to have your gutters in the best shape as possible, before installing the guard that way your gutters will be set for life after I leave.
How many valleys do you have. At every valley or direction turn in your gutters the install becomes a bit more complicated. Whether it be upgrading to a higher flow mesh style, adding splash guards or perforated diverters. As well as the extra time it takes to match the conjoining guards together at these angled parts of your gutter. The more of these you have the more the price may go up.
How far away are you located. If you are located more than an hour away I do add a little extra to the cost for the additional driving time and fuel.

Example of an inside miter Leafblaster Pro install. Here you can see a higher flow mesh is used, along with perforated diverters and a splash guard.

As for the other companies out there on the market

Now for this part you may want to pop some popcorn because this will probably be the most entertaining part of the website. The prices other companies charge to install gutter guards is unbelievable. Especially since their products do not even work. So sit back and enjoy the show. I have gathered this information, not only from what is available to be found on the internet from homeowners who have hired these companies but also from personal experience with clients who have been given estimates by these companies as well as hired them in the past. It is my pleasure to provide you with an idea of actual prices by these companies to help you avoid having them send a salesman to your home, who will try and wine and dine you or trick you into spending thousands and thousands on something that doesn't even work. Also, word on the street is that once you say no they become rather rude and are hard to get to leave your home. So to save you the hassle and fuss, I will give you their pricing

Leaf Filter

The most recognizable and biggest comapny in the gutter guard industry. As well as the most expensive and pretty much worst product. This company likes to send a salesman to your home, where he will start at $10,000. Thats right $10,000. Now once you laugh that off, they ebgin to work it down. Offering coupons only they can provide and what not. Generally from Ive heard and read people ultimatley end up paying in $4,800-$6,800 for these plastic guards. They generally average $38 a foot.

Leaf Guard

Another big and recogniazble company in the gutter guard industry. From my experience I have never heard of a homeowner paying less than $4,000 for this product. Even if you only have a 100ft of gutters youre going to pay at lwast $4,000. And ofcourse it goes up from there. Seems the average cost for these guards is around $32 a foot

Master Shield

I will say of all the companies on the market this company seems to at least geuniely care about its clients and will at least answer the phone when you have problems with the product. Which is a lot more than I can say for all the other companies in this industry. I also think that they think theirproducts works and I wish it did but it unfortaunelty does not. From my experience from a client I serviced. They had almost 190ft of gutters and they were quoted $4,600. So that would break down to about $26-$28 a foot.

Gutter Helmet

I would say thisis the most common guard I see installed on homes in my area. It is almost the mostcommon guard that I unistall. It is just about every week that I am uninstalling this guard from a home because like the rest it just simply does not work. I was told by an installer himself that they charge $24 a foot for Gutter Helmet. I think is is generally installed by roofing companies, not nesisarily gutter or gutterguard experts.

Waterloov

This is the guard installed by the Gutter Guys franchise. Once again I was told by the owner of one of the franchises that they charge $26 a foot for this guard.

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Whats-life-like-after

What life is like after having Gutterglove Installed

In this section I'd like to give you an idea of what to expect after having a Gutterglove guard installed. Unfortunately most companies sell homeowners on this idea that once a guard is installed they never have to worry about their gutters ever again. This is a lie used by salesman to get your money, cause once they have your money you will never be able to get ahold of them again. So anywho exactly what can you expect once you have a guard installed. As debris falls from the trees some will land on your guards. Now most debris will blow away all on its own, and in some cases all of it will blow away. But for the instances when there is some remaining all you have to do is simply brush it away. This is easily done from the ground with a telescopic pole and gutter guard brush which are both provided for free with the install. From my experience it seems that guards only really need brushed once at the end of spring and once at the end of fall. For most homeowners they really do not ever need brushed. But I do not want to set everyone up with that expectation because every home is different. And even if they do need brushed it is not the enitre length of gutter. It is generally a foot here and a foot there that have some stubborn debris that just needs a little being removed. Lets say you have the worst case scenario and your guards actually need brushed at the end of spring and fall. Each time you have to brush them all you have to do is get out your pole and give them a quick pass with the brush in areas you notice some debris. This takes roughly 3 minutes and then your done. No ladder, no bucket, no sweat. Just a quick brush and your gutter maintaince is done for the year!

Maintenance is easy, simply brush laying debris off of the guards from the ground once or twice a year. That's it! No more ladders and buckets!

Gutter Guards Vs Winter and Ice Damning

Long story short, gutter guards and ice daming/ icesicles are not related. Ice daming is caused by air flow in your attic among fifty thousand other variables. Every single house is different. But I can tell you adding a gutter guard will not create ice daming or icecilses. Although in some situations it can actually resolve daming and or icesicles. Now while we are on the winter time part of the year I would like to point out a majorissue that is often overlooked. The worst thing you can have as far asgutters are concerned in the wintertime is clogged gutters. All the worst damage to your home and gutters if you have clogged gutters happens during the winter. If your gutters are clogged and retaining water, in the winter that water will freeze, expanding and deforming your gutters. Generally in the winter time is when your gutters suffer the damage that cause your gutters to pull away from and fall away from your home. In my experience the absolute worst case scenario during the winter is to have your gutter exposed and clogged.