Are gutter guards worth it?

Sometimes. It depends almost entirely on what is growing above your roof, and the honest answer for a lot of houses is no. Here is how to tell, and what they should cost if the answer is yes.

The short version

Guards are worth it if you have mature trees over the roof line and you are clearing the gutters more than once a year. They are not worth it if nothing overhangs the house, because you would be spending $1,800 to stop a problem you do not have.

In practice that splits along the age of the neighborhood. The older streets around Oakwood, Kettering and Centerville have oaks and maples right over the roof, and guards earn their money there. Newer developments out toward Springboro and Huber Heights often have nothing taller than the house yet.

What gutter guards cost

The national brands charge three to five times what a local installer charges for a comparable micro mesh guard. Some of that buys a longer warranty and a bigger call center. Most of it does not buy better gutter. If you have been quoted north of $35 a foot, get a second number before you sign.

Do gutter guards actually work?

Good ones work. No guard makes a gutter maintenance free, and any company telling you otherwise is overselling.

What a good micro mesh guard does is keep out leaves, twigs and the roof grit that causes most clogs, so the gutter keeps flowing without being cleared every autumn. What it does not do is stay clean on top. Debris still collects on the mesh and needs brushing off occasionally, especially where pine needles are involved.

The types, and which ones to avoid

• Foam inserts. Cheap, easy, and they hold moisture and grow things. They also break down in a few years. We do not fit them
• Plastic screens. Go brittle in a Miami Valley winter and crack
• Aluminum screens. Reasonable value. Keep out leaves, let smaller grit through. Fine where the problem is leaves rather than seed
• Stainless micro mesh. The best of them and the dearest. Keeps out nearly everything including shingle grit
• Reverse curve. Work on water tension. Effective, visible from the street, and poor in heavy rain

Four questions that settle it for your house

• Do branches actually overhang the roof? Not nearby. Over it
• How often are the gutters cleared now? More than once a year says yes. Every two or three years says no
• Are they pines? Needles defeat most screens and need micro mesh
• How tall is the house? Guards are worth more on a two story, where clearing gutters is a job you are paying somebody to do anyway

The arithmetic

Gutter cleaning runs $100 to $200 on a single story and $150 to $350 on a two story. At twice a year on a two story that is up to $700 a year.

Against $1,800 for aluminum screens on a 200 foot house, guards pay for themselves in roughly three years if you currently clear twice a year. If you clear once every couple of years, the same guards take fifteen years to break even and are not worth it.

How gutter guards fail

Worth knowing before you spend, because every type fails in its own way.

• Debris builds on top. The gutter stays clear and the mesh does not. On a roof under oaks the mat of wet leaves on top can get thick enough to send water straight over the edge, which looks exactly like a blocked gutter
• Shingle grit blinds the mesh. As a roof ages it sheds granules. On fine micro mesh those gradually close the holes, which is why guard life is tied to roof age more than anything else
• Fixings into the shingles. Some guards are fitted by sliding an edge under the first course of shingles. Done badly that lifts the shingle and lets water under it, which turns a gutter job into a roof problem
• Ice. Any guard gives water somewhere to freeze. In a Dayton winter a guard that holds a sheet of ice is worse than no guard

Will gutter guards void my roof warranty?

They can, and almost nobody asks. If the guard is fastened under the shingles, some roof manufacturers treat that as an alteration and will decline a claim on that section.

Guards that clip to the front lip of the gutter or sit inside it do not touch the roof and raise no question at all. If your roof is newer and still under warranty, say so before anybody fits anything, and pick a guard that stays off the shingles.

What about pine needles?

Pines are the hardest case in this whole subject. Needles are thin enough to pass through most screens and long enough to weave into a mat on top of the ones they cannot pass through.

Aluminum screens and most plastic guards are close to useless under pines. If pines are the problem, it is stainless micro mesh or nothing, and even then expect to brush the top off once a year.

Can I fit gutter guards myself?

Screens and inserts, yes, if you are comfortable on a ladder and the house is a single story. They are sold by the box and cut with tin snips. Reckon on $6 to $8 a foot in materials against $4 to $8 a foot to have screens fitted, so on the cheaper guards you are not saving much once you have bought the ladder time.

Micro mesh is a different matter. It needs cutting accurately and sitting flat, and a guard with a gap in it collects debris instead of excluding it.

The honest answer on a two story is do not. Most gutter injuries are ladder injuries, and the saving does not cover the risk.

If you decide against guards

Then the job is to clear them on a schedule rather than when something overflows. Twice a year suits most houses here, and the one that matters is late autumn once the leaves are down. Once a year is usually enough with nothing overhanging.

The cheapest version of this problem is trimming the branches, which people forget. If one limb over the roof is producing most of the debris, cutting it back costs a fraction of guarding the whole house.

Gutter guards in Dayton

We fit guards with new gutter or onto existing gutter, matched to what is actually growing around the property. We will also tell you when you do not need them, which costs us a sale and saves you the better part of two thousand dollars.

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Ask for a free quote and we will come and look at what is over your roof before recommending anything. Call 937-641-9225, 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday. See also what gutters cost in the Dayton area.