Leafguard gutters

[Brian Elfert]

If you have existing gutters in good condition there is also Gutter Helmet. Some basic concept as Leafguard, but for existing gutters. I have not personally used the product and have no idea how much less it might cost than Leafguard.

[Bob Winkler]

I have Leafguard and live in New England. I never had any issue and they work as advertised. We've had them for about 7 years and I would get them again. I think the fact that they use larger downspout size helps with any clogging.

[Ole Anderson]

I have the Gutter Helmet system on my gutters and they work very well for leaves, but looking at the Leafguard system, I would prefer that as it doesn't slip under the shingle. Don't know the price differential, but the GH is quite expensive, at least when I got it in 2006. The water can carry granules and other small junk like "cotton" around the "nose" of the device, but it does shed leaves, including most of the small Locust leaves I have on one side of my house. My problem is that the original install was done incorrectly and they screwed them through the shingles. As a result, I was getting some water behind the fascia boards. Due to a hail storm I am getting my roof replaced and prior to them doing the roofing I replaced my cedar fascia boards, and some sub-fascia 2x4's and some RS soffit plywood due to rot, I believe partially due to the improper Gutter Helmet installation. They do have a lifetime warranty, but to continue the warranty including gutter cleaning if ever necessary, I have to pay them to remove and reinstall (correctly this time) when re-roofing.

Well, I got the roofing work done. The Gutter Helmet folks came out to reinstall my old ones and claimed they lost them in the warehouse, so I got brand new ones for just the cost of the reinstall. I have a hunch they found the old ones full of holes from an improper install and didn't want to admit they screwed up on the original install. All's well that ends well. Slightly different design than the original, attached with brackets to the fascia, no more holes in the roof.

[william biba]

My experience is that stuff still gets in and they are a bear to clean. Just sayin!

[Jim Laumann]

As promised, pics of the Leaf Guard gutters....

GEDC1799a.jpg

Leaf Guard sent their 'factory truck' out 3 days ahead of time to create the gutter - longest section was 70'.

GEDC1801a.jpg


Close up view of the Leaf Guard - this is 1 piece of metal - no seams



GEDC1806a.jpg

Some of the damage to the existing leaf shields - from the hail storm back in May


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View of the Leaf Guard down spout - 5" across - larger than the spouts I had.

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View of the Leaf Guard at gutter level - this is the 70' section of gutter. Note the extra flashing under the shingles, and over the edge of the gutter

GEDC1816a.jpg

View of the house w/ the Leaf Guards.


Jim

[Chris Padilla]

Looks good, Jim! The profile seems rather simple but apparently it works!!

[Ole Anderson]

Some of the damage to the existing leaf shields - from the hail storm back in May
Jim

Hail storm? Must not have been too bad, our end-of-July storm now has 95% of the roofs in our 500 lot sub being replaced under their homeowners insurance. Golf ball sized hail. Really didn't take much visible shingle damage to warrant replacing, I was surprised. And one of the standard items they replace is leaf guards, inexpensive screens or they pay higher for a premium system like the Gutter helmet I had. One insurance adjuster even fell for the guy that said his concrete drive was damaged and is now pockmarked, he got a new drive out of it. I heard of a couple of pontoon boats that got replaced because of the dents in the aluminum pontoons. No wonder rates are so high.

[Jim Laumann]

Hail storm? Must not have been too bad, our end-of-July storm now has 95% of the roofs in our 500 lot sub being replaced under their homeowners insurance. Golf ball sized hail. Really didn't take much visible shingle damage to warrant replacing, I was surprised. And one of the standard items they replace is leaf guards, inexpensive screens or they pay higher for a premium system like the Gutter helmet I had. One insurance adjuster even fell for the guy that said his concrete drive was damaged and is now pockmarked, he got a new drive out of it. I heard of a couple of pontoon boats that got replaced because of the dents in the aluminum pontoons. No wonder rates are so high.

Ole

The hail we had was golf ball sized - I got complete roof replacement on my house and two outbuildings. When the adjustor was out, he laid out a 10SF square on the garage roof - using a red crayon - he marked the dings. 10 dings in that square qualified it for replacement - he had close to 40 - there were red marks all over the 10SF. We also had siding damage and damage (dents) to two steel roofs - one of them is my shop's (not replacing them as the paint is not cracked/damaged). Had my builder out (pole frame building) - he agreed to damage (dents), but no need to replace.

In the pic I show - the mesh panels absorbed alot of the damage the hail stones dished out - had they not been there - the damage to the gutters would have been much more significant.

On the road I live on (a rural area) everyone is getting work done - roofs, siding, gutters, you name it. One neighbor had a horse trailer which was a total write-off due to the hail damage. Adjustor indicated the storm cut a wide swath thru my area.

W/ regard to rates being high - I agree - I was amazed at the damage estimate the adjustor came up with ($38K) - and with the size of the check they mailed me - my neighbors report similar.

Here is a pic of a couple of the hail stones - I got wifelet to freeze these for the adjustor - she collected these after they had laid in the grass for a half hour - he didn't even want to see them - he indicated that the damage was proof enough.


GEDC1609a.jpg


Jim

[Ole Anderson]

Until now I didn't think of hailstorms as a big deal, but the guy working on my wife's car reminded me it is one of the big ones mentioned in the bible...