The Truth About Gutter Guards
By Tim Carter

Dear Tim: Every fall I get deluged with both leaves in my gutters and advertisements from companies selling gutter-guard products that promise me I will never have to clean my gutters again. The few estimates I have requested have taken my breath away because of the high price. First, do these products fulfill their claims? If not, why? Is one better than the other? What is the most cost-effective way to keep my gutters free of leaves and debris?

-Stephanie W., Cranberry, Pa.

Dear Stephanie: I am not surprised at all by your comments but wonder why you mentioned half of your problem. If you have deciduous trees that drop leaves onto your home, then you undoubtedly suffer in the spring as well as the fall. All deciduous trees produce organic litter in the form of buds, flowers, seeds, small bits of bark, twigs and leaves on a never-ending annual cycle until they die and then fall over. Evergreen trees are just as guilty, as they shed needles and other bits of debris throughout the year.

The prices for the gutter-guard systems that you write of not only take my breath away as well but they knock me back on my heels. I am convinced the pricing is based solely on emotion. The companies that sell these products play upon the frustration the average homeowner experiences when faced with the periodic cleaning one has to do several times a year to keep gutters clean.

But the real truth of the matter is that all of the gutter-guard products I have tested for years at my own home have failed in one way or the other. (As soon as new designs have become available, the manufacturers tend to discover me and ask me to test the new products.) Sure, all gutter guards stop large leaves from entering gutters, but they all also allow small organic debris to enter the gutter system and/or allow the debris to clog the gutter guards, causing water to cascade off the roof! If this organic debris that does enter the gutter is not cleaned out on a regular basis, you end up with a layer of goo and muck in your gutters.

It is not uncommon for a homeowner to get a price of $2,000 to $3,000 to install gutter guards on the average home. The pricing varies from region to region and the type of system being installed. There are also do-it-yourself products you can get that will cost less than $200 for the average house.

But let’s consider a system installed by a professional roofing company. For the sake of discussion, let’s assume an installed price of $2,500. I would also like to assume that you could invest this same money in a conservative stock that might go up in value just 7 percent per year. If you let the stock just grow in price, at the end of 10 years its value would be nearly double, having risen in value to $4,917.82. This means you still have your original money plus a gain of $2,417.82.

If you paid a roofing company just $85 per visit to clean your existing gutters three per year, you would have paid out $2,550 over the same period. (Granted, you need to factor in inflation, as the price of the labor will undoubtedly rise.) If you have gutter guards installed, they will have to be cleaned at least once a year. You don’t need a Ph.D. in mathematics to see that at the end of 10 years you will have clean gutters and possibly your original $2,500 still in your account if you simply pay a roofer to periodically clean your gutters.

If you must install gutter guards, then absolutely make sure you buy ones that allow you to easily see through them to the bottom of the entire gutter. Avoid gutter guards that have solid tops and small slits near the front edge. Look for gutter guard that has a larger mesh-type open structure that resembles a fishnet or even a chain-link fence. These systems allow you to aim a garden hose nozzle through the guard so that water can easily flush away the organic goo that will collect in the gutter. Remember, you will have to clean your gutters or the gutter guards themselves.