It’s winter here in Michigan right now, and our gutters are filled more with ice and snow than with water, so it would seem an odd moment to be discussing “gutter covers”, but actually it’s not…
Right about now there are many instances of gutters so full of ice and snow that any warmth enough to cause a melt doesn’t make it down the downspout as it should. This results in the dreaded icicle that has the power (the weight actually) to tear a gutter down. Gutter installers love it, home owners hate it.
Interestingly enough, often the root cause of the issue is debris in the gutter, i.e., leafs, twigs, bird nests, bird droppings, wasp hives, etc. Roll some frozen water on top of it, and viola, a natural ice dam that does its best to destroy your house. Yes, we could discuss “heat tape” which would help keep ice from forming, but that assumes that we have clean gutters and water can flow – so let’s hold that thought for a spell. The bottom line is that cleaner gutters allow water to flow from our roofs to places sufficiently far from our homes to prevent damage. That is, after all, why we spent money to have gutters installed on our houses and applies to everyone, regardless of geographic location.
Despite all of the guarantee’s that various gutter protection systems offer, all any system will do is minimize the amount of debris that is captured by your gutters. Eventually you are going to have to get your gutters cleaned out. Unless you live somewhere where there are no tree’s, bushes, flowering fauna, or birds or bugs of any type, you will wind up with junk in your gutters and it will affect their efficiency. Take that to the bank.
So if you want to prevent debris from getting into the gutter, how do you do it? Well, it depends on what’s around your house. If you live in a heavily treed area, you need something that will flat out prevent leaves and small branches from lodging themselves into the gutter. There are specific products that do that. If you happen to live in an area that is less forested (so to speak), you might think that you can get away with a “screen” type cover. They work ok, except that you have to be aware of the fact that seedlings can get through the screen and will find great nutrients in the dirt and bird droppings in your gutter. You won’t suddenly find a tree growing out of your gutter, but the micro-root system that gets established helps bind the debris already there into a tight and hard impediment preventing water flow. The net result is that your gutters will not function as you had intended. And if you live up north where we get lots of snow and ice…. well, just re-read the first paragraph.
Yes, we do encourage the use of a gutter protection system when your surrounding conditions cause undue debris build up in your gutters, but we also encourage you to be aware that it is still necessary to regularly clean your gutters. You won’t have to clean them as often, but you still have to pay attention to them. By the way, for what it’s worth, we are not fans of the foam-insert approach. In our experience, we find that the foam simply absorbs moisture, weighing down the gutter and simply preventing efficient water flow.
The bottom line here is that yes, gutter protection systems “help” tremendously, but you still need to do regular cleanings, so pick a solution that allows that to be done easily!