Recommendation? Gutter Guards

22-rimfire said:
I think you made the right decision considering the height. A 16 ft ladder is very easy to handle and would access all of your gutters. I personally would not want to hire someone to do this unless I am not physically able to do so.

I tried the concentrated nozzle on the water hose (sort of a jet) and that had mixed results. My leaves tend to be wet after they are inside the gutters for a while and decomposing. So, the leaf blower effectiveness is questionable. But I do own a pretty powerful one. Sometimes you're just moving the leaves and debris only for it to find it's way back into your gutters. It is all such a POA.
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I have to admit that I'm just being lazy. I've been cleaning those dang things twice a year for 16 years and I've had enough of it.

I guess I figure that if I can't use my discretionary income to help make life a little easier then why in the heck do I come to work every day.

I've considered a leaf blower too but honestly, once I've got the ladder out and I'm up there anyway, I might as well just do it by hand and be thorough. I haul the garden hose up there too and make sure everything is spiffy clean and flowing freely. I don't think a leaf blower would give me the piece of mind of a job well done.

Then again, a contractor might not provide that peace of mind either. I would still want to climb up there and check his work.
 
I always feel like, why pay someone and be somewhat responsible for them on your property when you can do it yourself. If you use insured folks, you pay more. I don't see any point at all for bonding for something like this. I hate to simply waste money. In my case, I get my grandson or wife to keep an eye on me when I am up on the roof. I am very aware of protecting the only body I have, especially when you get older. A friend broke his back installing stupid Christmas lights on his house.

In my case, I simply can't manage the really tall ladder, but I would much rather stand on a stable ladder then wander around the roof especially at killing heights if you fall. I think it takes practice with tall ladders relative to handling safely. There is no way I could control a ladder extended extended to 28 feet if it started to go one way or the other off vertical.
 
Had a guy looking to replace my roof a couple years ago. He was actively trying to sell his services and obviously wanted to walk on the roof to inspect. I produced a release form for him to sign holding me harmless if he had an accident. He refused to sign and I sent him on his way....
 
Railsplitter said:
It would be great if I only had to clean them once a year but honestly, I would still be sick of it.

I have to do it in the fall and in the spring. Our neighbor to the east of us has two trees that drop those maple seeds. I call them "helicopters" because of the way they spin around when they fall from the trees. They have a maple tree in the front yard and one in the back yard and those helicopters, which fall off the trees in the spring, clog my gutters worse than the leaves do.

I've spoken to them about the possibly of cutting the trees down but apparently, our city ordinance requires at least one tree in the front and one in the back which is what they currently have.
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I fitted plastic grill gutter guards to my mum's house three years ago. Before this fall I've just removed them. Around her house she has Hawthorn trees (small leaved trees) and Sycamore (the species of Maple you mention Railsplitter). If all your trees are broadleaf trees then they work quite well. But if you have any trees with small leaves or trees that drop small seeds then you'll actually spend more time up a ladder clearing the grills than you would just cleaning the gutters without the guards fitted.
I spent hours during the summer up a ladder removing the gunk that had collected in both the grills and the gutters. The Sycamore seeds had clogged the grills so the gutters were clogged with gunk that would otherwise of washed away if the grills hadn't been in situ.
My mum's house is what we call in the UK a 'bungalow'; a single storey house. I do not envy anyone having to clear the gutters on a two or even three storey dwelling. Being a nurse with some experience in surgical trauma I can tell you that here in the UK 'fall from height' (FFH) is the most common cause of spinal fractures. And the group with the highest percentage of spinal fractures? Men falling off ladders at home.
Unfortunately your gutters need clearing of leaves; you can't avoid that. But either get someone to do it for you or minimise the amount of time you spend up ladders. In my experience that means NOT fitting gutter guards.
 
22-rimfire said:
Had a guy looking to replace my roof a couple years ago. He was actively trying to sell his services and obviously wanted to walk on the roof to inspect. I produced a release form for him to sign holding me harmless if he had an accident. He refused to sign and I sent him on his way....
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You have to go on the roof to do a proper inspection and give a full and proper estimate. I wouldn't have signed it either. Not because I want to sue you, but because I have my own insurance and workmans comp. Either you want me to do work on your house or you don't.
 
donn said:
I fitted plastic grill gutter guards to my mum's house three years ago. Before this fall I've just removed them. Around her house she has Hawthorn trees (small leaved trees) and Sycamore (the species of Maple you mention Railsplitter). If all your trees are broadleaf trees then they work quite well. But if you have any trees with small leaves or trees that drop small seeds then you'll actually spend more time up a ladder clearing the grills than you would just cleaning the gutters without the guards fitted.
I spent hours during the summer up a ladder removing the gunk that had collected in both the grills and the gutters. The Sycamore seeds had clogged the grills so the gutters were clogged with gunk that would otherwise of washed away if the grills hadn't been in situ.
My mum's house is what we call in the UK a 'bungalow'; a single storey house. I do not envy anyone having to clear the gutters on a two or even three storey dwelling. Being a nurse with some experience in surgical trauma I can tell you that here in the UK 'fall from height' (FFH) is the most common cause of spinal fractures. And the group with the highest percentage of spinal fractures? Men falling off ladders at home.
Unfortunately your gutters need clearing of leaves; you can't avoid that. But either get someone to do it for you or minimise the amount of time you spend up ladders. In my experience that means NOT fitting gutter guards.
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Sounds like some sage advice there, David. Thank you for chiming in.
 
Boxer .45 said:
You have to go on the roof to do a proper inspection and give a full and proper estimate. I wouldn't have signed it either. Not because I want to sue you, but because I have my own insurance and workmans comp. Either you want me to do work on your house or you don't.
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He apparently had no insurance or he would have told me. I didn't want him to do the job. He was one of these guys who are preying on folks after a tornado or hurricane. They do the job, and then you can't find or contact them after the fact if there is a problem. I choose only local folks.
 
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Mine last winter , ice dam not much I can do but try and pull it off or install gutter heating cord no way I'm climbing up there .
 
I listen to a local home show every Saturday morning and last weekend they were talking about this issue. The person that called in had got an estimate from Gutter Helmut or Guard and while they do look like the slickest thing going, the estimate to have them installed was $4,500 on an average sized home. They have a commercial with some smooth talking Slick Willie standing there holding a cup of coffee saying something like, do you really want to be climbing a ladder at your age?
We got some at a big box store that have a fine mesh screen glued on them that we are trying on one gutter for a year. Let's see if the sun interacts with the glue holding the mesh on.
 
With the mesh/screen thing I always thought you could figure out some type of hinge thing so you could whip it open when it's time to clean. Not sure how I would feel about drilling holes through the roof (roof side hinge) or gutter (gutter side hinge) but it has intrigued me a little. I've thought about trying a small spot and seeing how it goes. Might look bad but not sure. Maybe a hole and zip ties or something?
 
Railsplitter said:
I have to admit that I'm just being lazy. I've been cleaning those dang things twice a year for 16 years and I've had enough of it.

I guess I figure that if I can't use my discretionary income to help make life a little easier then why in the heck do I come to work every day.

I've considered a leaf blower too but honestly, once I've got the ladder out and I'm up there anyway, I might as well just do it by hand and be thorough. I haul the garden hose up there too and make sure everything is spiffy clean and flowing freely. I don't think a leaf blower would give me the piece of mind of a job well done.

Then again, a contractor might not provide that peace of mind either. I would still want to climb up there and check his work.
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I was a carpenter in a former life. I did side work via a friend of a friend. One time I was asked to look into why someone's basement had water seepage. I asked the homeowner if the gutters had been cleaned (yes, they had deciduous trees) they said the landscapers do that twice a year. I said ok. I immediately went up on the roof to discover most of the downspouts were full of wet, matted leaves. I took them all apart and flushed the lines to the curbs.
To their amazement, the basement dried up and I got to finish their basement for them.
Moral to the story? The landscapers weren't lying, they cleaned the gutters. o_O
 
Uncle Timbo said:
I was a carpenter in a former life. I did side work via a friend of a friend. One time I was asked to look into why someone's basement had water seepage. I asked the homeowner if the gutters had been cleaned (yes, they had deciduous trees) they said the landscapers do that twice a year. I said ok. I immediately went up on the roof to discover most of the downspouts were full of wet, matted leaves. I took them all apart and flushed the lines to the curbs.
To their amazement, the basement dried up and I got to finish their basement for them.
Moral to the story? The landscapers weren't lying, they cleaned the gutters. o_O
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Good story. Yep, might as well not even get up there if you're not going to flush the downspouts.
 
Railsplitter said:
Good story. Yep, might as well not even get up there if you're not going to flush the downspouts.
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I agree, and the best time to see if you have a problem or any blockages is during a downpour. I mean when ut's raining cats and dogs. Take a walk around your house.
Gutters and downspouts that can keep up with a gentle shower might not be able to keep up with a gulley washer.
 
Just this fall , I finally cut down a huge cedar that overhung our roof and has caused me much extra gutter and downspout clogging grief over the years . Those fine needles are worse than all the other deciduous tree leaves combined .

My job is MUCH easier now , but I still have to clean the larger leaves out many times during the fall . We basically live in a forest . Part of the price you pay for living under trees !

I don't believe any kind of gutter guard would work for us . Just make the cleaning more difficult . :(
 
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