I only use the fine wire mesh black painted 4ft gutter screens in 6 inch and rarely 5 inch. 5 inch if the gap from the drip to the gutter is to much, they then lay flat. Off the top of my head they cost less than $1 a foot.

Lately I've been doing a lot of roofs with Gutter Helmets on them. This is the very expensive tall gutter system which has to be installed from a Gutter Helmet company. Some are installed over the second row and screwed into the shingles which I don't like. They use a rubber seal on the bottom this way. The other way is under the second row which is better, imo. This is the way they said is the best.

The past few jobs we did with these helmets so decided to call the company to ask about reinstalling them. They told me that if anybody other than the company removes them the warranty is void. The warranty is also void with hail damage. I have yet to see a system without hail damage.

 

Our company has been using Hallett Gutter Cover for going on 7 years. We have not had any problems. It cost like a $1.39 a foot....it has been very profitable. Thought I would put my $.02 in since I am sure you don't want to hear me tell you some other things on this forum....haha

 

I was never a believer on gutter guards until i went to north carolina and met the guys from gutter pro. Installed it only costs $5 a foot. Wide variety of colors, they have a special fastening system which makes them stand up to the weather , and you can even put a ladder against the gutter when they are installed and you don't damage anything. Great product training and customer service too, they will spend money to help you in any way they can. No. I don't work for them or have stock in them..LOL, anytime I see a great product i will recommend it.

 

Way better than nothing

For gutter guards to be effective, they need to slide under the shingles and securely attach to the gutter with screws. I've installed Gutterglove, LeafSolution, Guttershingle, GutterGuardian, Leafree, and other name brands. For any of them to work, those 2 principles need to hold true-under the shingles and screwed into place.


So different guards will do different things for different people. But most people will find it much easier to have gutter guards than to not have them. Even an inexpensive screen will make life a lot easier if it is installed properly. With an economy screen some debris still gets through the openings. But it is maybe 3% of what would have gotten into the gutter before. So gutter cleaning is drastically reduced.

Madison Gutter Guards
Madison Roofing

 

For gutter guards to be effective, they need to slide under the shingles

The effectiveness of the eave at shedding water trumps the convenience of gutter guards.

Your prerequisite is actually my biggest gripe, which is that the installer usually damages the starter shingles of the first course if they have to put anything under there, and anything going under the shingles at the eave will cause a flatter spot there.

Like Grumpy was saying, the good thing about having a roofer clean your gutters is you get a free partial roof inspection twice a year. OTOH, someone could just buy half round gutters and get a gutter cleaning robot [ iRobot 12501 Looj ]. Kidding about the robot, but I do love cleaning half rounds- compared to the others.

 

what does being under the shingles have to do with how effective gutter gaurds are?and with all those fancy helmet type im always amazed you have to put regular screening in the valley

 

the good thing about having a roofer clean your gutters is you get a free partial roof inspection twice a year

I can see that it would be good to have a professional check things out twice a year.

The problem I have seen is that gutters can be clogged within a couple weeks or even a couple days after the cleaning. A few big leaves and a downspout is clogged and then stays that way until the next cleaning.
Madison Gutters
Madison Gutter Guards

 

Has anybody installed the Raindrop gutter guard? I found their website and was curious if anybody had any experience. www.raindropgutterguard.com