Do You Need Gutter Guards For Your Roof? (Read This First!)

Gutters are traps for tree branches, dirt, roof drains, and other outdoor dust.

Without regular cleaning or protection, the gutter fills with heavy manure that can cause serious damage if left unchecked.

A gutter is an investment designed to protect your home by sending rainwater away from it. But if it gets clogged, the gutter won’t work properly.

And if it clogs too much, the gutter can bend or even in the worse scenario, fall off the roof. A gutter guard can help to safeguard your home from damage. But do these guards work?

Let’s see how they function and if they are suitable for your home.

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Do Gutter Guards Work In Heavy Rain?

Gutter guards prevent debris from entering and collecting inside the gutters.

Nonetheless, it is essential to understand that gutter guard styles vary and each has its own pros and cons when deciding which one will work best for your home or business.

There are gutter guards which have larger holes that can allow bigger debris like branches of trees and acorns to pass through.

At the same time, most others only let smaller particles such as grains of sand pass through.

There are many different gutters covers out there, so it can be difficult to choose the right one.

We will go over all of them and help you decide which is best for your home or business!

The most common styles include aluminum gutters, plastic gutters, stainless steel-covered metal ones with a faux wood look, and seamless interlocking systems that resemble wooden shingles placed side by side on top of each other in rows from the bottom up.

This design makes it easy to inspect any damage below along with being vandal resistant because they cannot easily be removed without damaging the structure underneath as well as the vinyl roll-down kind where they sit at an angle inside a box-shaped housing ready for installation after filling gaps between homes if needed.

When purchasing a gutter guard or protection system, it is essential to have enough information to make the right decision for you and your family.

To help you, we’ve provided this article, to answer some of the questions you may have about the gutter guard and the guttering system.

Installing a gutter guard over your guttering system keeps most debris out of the gutter and allows water to enter, pass through, and run off from your home.

Water slides through the guard, but large debris cannot get in. However, these guards don’t function properly in heavy rain.

They are not designed to handle large volumes of water during heavy rains.

Water flows through the guard and prevents larger debris from blocking the guttering system.

When choosing a gutter protection system, arrange other services to ensure that your gutter and roof work harmoniously.

During heavy downpours, some water would escape through the hood of the leaf guard, similar to the effect created by a waterfall.

In worst-case scenarios, it can flood and engulf your house foundation, and this can endanger your home.

Because these gutters drain rainwater more quickly compared to a standard shingle, they don’t function well with metal or slate roofs.

The same thing applies to homes with constructions involving shingle roofs that are steep.

A gutter guard should also place gurgle guards or another form of water diversion in the corners underneath the roof valley to inhibit these splashing and cascading effects from occurring.

Many homeowners think that these splash guards irritate the eyes or cause aesthetic problems.

The gutter guard can also be seen from the floor and this makes the guttering system look less attractive.

Therefore, while a leaf guard can prevent coarse debris from entering the gutter, it constitutes other forms of issues, that you must watch out for to avoid costly damage.

Does A Gutter Guard Work?

Yes! And that’s why you need them. Gutters play an essential part in ensuring your room is safe.

When they are missing or blocked, water can damage the cladding boards eventually and seep back under the shingles.

Outside the roof, adequate rainwater drainage is essential to safeguard the remaining part of the house.

To reduce the frequency of gutter cleaning and the maintenance required, many homeowners choose to install gutter protectors or guards.

However, they generally do not address the need for gutter cleaning and complicate the task when cleaning is required.

Although several protective guards help prevent the leaves from forming a curved cover, this design presents other issues.

Small branches and other debris can gather on the overhang of the guard, creating pools.

Even if the gutter guards or barrier are working properly, there are still some issues with the growth of moss and algae.

As long as a small amount of leaf material falls into the gutter, it creates an ideal environment for lichens and algae to grow.

If not properly checked, it will keep growing. However, they can clog or break apart and clog the drain pipe.

In general, investing in a gutter guard is not a fantastic option. The best brands will still be able to clog the gutter, even if it protects it from debris.

The gutter guard does not entirely impede access to debris and rules out gutter cleaning.

It makes cleaning more tasking and expensive. Although you may need to clean less often, the gutter still requires occasional cleaning.

It doesn’t prevent that necessity. This brings up the second issue which is cleaning difficulty.

While they do a better job of keeping leaves and other debris out, in some cases, you may not be able to remove the screen at all.

The option in this scenario is to get professional gutter cleaners to rinse under pressure and get what we can.

Otherwise, it must be replaced. If you can partially remove the selected brand, cleaning your gutters will be much easier, even if it takes much longer.

You may need to clean it less often, but it will cost you a lot more.

If you must use a gutter guard, look for the hinged type as they are the best gutter guard option on the market. They can clean easily at zero extra cost.

However, they’re still not the ideal solution since they open away from the ceiling which complicates the cleaning process from the ladder.

Do Foam Gutter Guards Work?

Cleaning the gutters is an arduous and challenging task. Having to climb upstairs to clear a drain puts you in regular danger and can potentially lead to a fall or injury.

Foam gutter guards can come in handy as they minimize clogging of the gutter, keep pesky animals away from the nest inside the gutter, and significantly reduce the time spent on the stairs.

Most foam gutter coverings are polyurethane or exposed foam. Foam or sponge acts as a trap and filters large debris from the water flowing under the slide.

These foam guards typically last one year or two, making them an expensive option for gutter protection against debris build-up.

They also attract and retain oil and tar from the roof. These oils accumulate in the cell walls of the foam, eventually turning the foam into a solid.

If the system that was structured to allow water to flow as easily as possible has a big ball of mass blocking access and easy flow of water, it cancels out the primary objective of developing the system which is to keep the drainage system clear of debris and blockage (Curry, 2017).

Where Can I Buy Leaf Filter Gutter Guard?

The cost of a LeafFilter depends on the size of your home and the need to replace your existing gutter.

Leaf filter gutter guards cost roughly 17 USD to 43 USD for every foot length of the material and installation.

Leaf gutter guards for homes with roughly 150-200 linear foot gutter range from 2,650 USD to 6,300 USD for a professional installation.

Leaf filter gutter guards are only accessible available at LeafFilter.com.

LeafFilter will call you and do an on-site assessment before you decide to purchase a gutter protection system (Nea Pantry, 2021).

Do Gutter Leaf Guards Really Work?

Gutter covers are good because they make your gutters easier to clean.

They also cause water to flow over the roof. But if this is happening, then you might be wasting money.

The main benefit of these roof drain products is that these covers reduce your gutter maintenance.

You will not need to clean the gutters for many years. However, there is a downside: they cause water to flow over and around the home.

Its purpose is to prevent water from drains and cascading washes, so when this happens you are wasting a lot of money in your mind.

If water doesn’t get into the gutter, it renders the entire gutter system useless (My Gutter Pro, 2020).

Can You Put Gutter Guards Under Shingles?

If someone said that installing a gutter guard would void your shingle warranty, they are not telling the truth.

Gutter guards can be installed under the roof shingles with long screws. However, attaching them through the roof shingles will void your shingle warranty.

Ironically, a roofer who put up the protective coating for this home voided his work to cause problems for this homeowner!

Some gutter guards require installation underneath your first row of roofs. This will break the water barrier on your roof, leading to costly water damage down the road.

If a gutter guard installation necessitates lifting your roof shingles, you’re better off without it!