Gutter Guards: Everything A Homeowner Needs To Know For 2022

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Let’s face it; finding the best gutter guards for your home can be a pain. There are tons of different types, materials, and fits—so how do you choose which is the right for you?

Even more so, gutter manufacturers all claim they make the ‘highest quality’ product on the market, which isn’t true. Some types may be enticing due to affordability and a DIY factor, but longevity is key when ut comes to choosing the right gutter guards. You want strength and durability to be at the top of your priority list.

The current gutter landscape is confusing for the average consumer and leads many to purchase gutters that will not meet their home’s needs.

We’ve heard this story far too many times, and we want to help. With 15 years of experience, we’ve seen the best and the worst gutter guards out there. The goal of this post is to help you navigate the confusion surrounding gutter guards and connect you with a reliable product you’ll love.

For a quick breakdown of our favorite gutter guards, check out this video:

The Benefits of Installing Gutter Guards on Your Home

There are a number of benefits for installing gutters guards. Some people do it because getting up on a ladder to clean out their gutters every year is not realistic for them, or just plain annoying. They also help protect your property from water damage by ensuring water flows down and out of the gutters and downspouts properly. Here’s a few ways in which gutter guards can help preserve your home.

• It can prevent foundation issues and preserve its integrity
• Prevent flooded basements and egress windows
• Prevents erosion thus preserving landscaping and your grass
• Prevents water damage to your siding or deck
• Avoid water stains on brick and stone
• Keep your sidewalk, driveway, or other paved surfaces from cracking
• Protect the exterior doors and windows of your home from leaks or water damage

Our Quick List of the 4 Best Gutter Guards For Homeowners

We know a lot of you aren’t looking for a full breakdown, so here are the best gutter guards for your home in 2021

1. 1. Rain Drop Gutter Guards (The Only First American Approved Gutter Guard, Read Why Below)
2. 2. Amerimax Aluminum Screen Gutter Guards
3. 3. Raptor Micro Mesh Gutter Guards
4. 4. A-M Aluminum Gutter Guards

 

Types Of Gutter Guards: Pros And Cons For Finding the Best

There are several different styles of gutter guards that achieve similar results. Much like comparing roofing materials, your gutter guard materials play a large role in your home’s exterior’s functionality and durability. Unfortunately, determining which type is best requires some knowledge of how gutter guards work. To make things a bit easier for you, we’ll break down the main types of gutter guards below:

Mesh Screen

If you need a lightweight gutter guard that’s easy to install and fits well, mesh screen guards are for you. They slide under your shingles and allow debris to slide off at an angle. Screen gutter guards are typically the most affordable option but don’t come without a few drawbacks.

Their lightweight nature makes them susceptible to damage if large debris hits them directly. Since they are merely slid under the shingle, they are also known to slide out in adverse conditions.

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Keeps leaves out of your gutter

Cons

• Risk damaging or voiding roof warranty due to installing guard underneath the shingles
• Plastic screen guards can become brittle overtime
• They do not get attached with screws so they can risk flying off during high winds

Fine Mesh

Fine mesh gutter guards have much smaller gaps or holes in the screen and so small particles like granules or grains of sand are less likely to get stuck, as with regular mesh screens. They are installed the same way — under the shingles or screwed into the fascia.

Fine mesh gutters can easily be blown or brushed clean without any damage to the fine screen. However, cheaper versions will be made of a lightweight window-like screen and can be damaged by large debris like branches. A steel fine mesh would be more appropriate if your home is at risk for large debris falling.

Pros

• Allows rainwater to flow through but catches even the smallest debris
• Come in multiple materials, from plastic to stainless steel
• Easy installation

Cons

• Mesh that is not stainless steel can be easily damaged by debris or ice dams and snow
• May require some light maintenance to dislodge any small seeds or granules that get caught in the mesh

Gutter Belts

If you need a sturdier guard, gutter belts are a good option or you. They are a flat surface with punctured holes, ensuring no debris touches your gutter. Gutter belts great for keeping those whirlybirds, helicopters, or whatever you prefer to call them, out of your gutter. One major drawback is its installation process. They are invasive to install because they require you to screw them directly to the house.

Pros

• Keep out pesky whirligigs and other debris falling on to your roof
• Maintain proper water flow

Cons

• Very invasive and complicated installation—hire a professional

Foam

Similar to the filter brush gutter guards, foam is a DIY option for gutter guards. It’s essentially triangular foam pieces that get fit to your gutters and allow water to pass through while blocking and catching debris from your gutters. They are not ideal for high debris areas, but can work to keep your gutters free of the debris.

Pros

• Afforable
• Very easy to install

Cons

• Make block water flow eventually
• Require frequent changes and replacement

Filter Brush

Filter brush gutter guards are probably our least favorite gutter guard option. They are a bristled round brush that sets in your gutter to catch debris while allowing water to flow. These filters are neither aesthetically pleasing nor easy to clean. We recommend calling us before trying anything because we have adopted a gutter guard that we have found to be fail-proof and the most effective.

Pros

• Very easy to install
• Affordable

Cons

• Ugly
• May actually catch and trap debris in your gutters

Surface Tension

Surface tension gutter guards slide up under the shingles and screw into the gutters. They often will work best if they’re installed to match the slope of the roof. To do this, you may need to reinstall the existing gutters to accommodate the slope.

These can work great for gutters that get larger debris like leaves and whirligigs because the water hugs the rounded edge of the guard and flows into the gutter, leaving large debris to just flow right off. Anything smaller like dirt or sand will simply run through the gutter just fine. Surface tension gutters are much more visible than some other types, but they are relatively low-maintenance and very easy to clean with regular sprays from the hose.

Pros

• Completely blocks leaves and debris from getting into your gutters
• Aids waterflow to remain in your gutters and not over the edges of the guard

Cons

• Can look bulky and don’t hide within your gutters
• Slightly high-maintenance

Reverse Curve

Reverse curve gutter guards act as a sort of overhang for your gutters. The curved end allows waters to flow over it and back inside your gutters into a mall opening, while debris just washes off the edge. The opening is quite small (less than half an inch) so leaves and other larger debris will not get into your gutters.

It’s a super strong, effective system to allowing rainwater to flow freely while also completely protecting your gutters from any debris. There are incredibly low maintenance and can handle even the heaviest downpours of rain.

Pros

• They don’t capture debris.
• Water run-off stays in your gutters
• Low-maintenance
• Stylish (can come in other colors)

Cons

• Installation is not DIY-friendly
• More expensive than screen gutter guards

Non-Gutter Guard Options

If gutter guards are not an option for you for one reason or another, there are a few things you can do to prevent clogged gutters and keep water flowing away from your house. You can continually clean out your gutters, keeping them free of debris, stick, leaves, but that can be incredibly tedious and back-breaking work.

Another thing you can do, which you can do in addition to guards as well, is to install more downspouts to gutter extensions. If water flows properly through your gutters, a downspout can help guide that water away from the house. This keeps your foundation, siding, landscaping, and yard safe from damage or large puddles of standing water.

Gutter Guard Trial and Error

We used to get a lot of calls from people saying they had gutter guards installed, but they are still having to clean them out or notice too much water downfall in one area of their house. There are hundreds of brands and types of gutters guards, so it can be hard to know which one to choose. Like with roof intake vents, sometimes homeowners go with aesthetics vs. functionality, which can backfire.

After years of trial and error, and eliminating gutter guards that we kept getting calls about, we found one we love. We now know that there’s one brand that we’ve been installing for about 4-5 years now, which has significantly decreased calls and complaints that the gutter guards aren’t doing their job.

Let’s break down why we choose Raindrop Gutter Guards as the far superior brand.

Raindrop Gutter Guards: The Best Gutter Guards For Homeowner Use

Raindrop Gutter Guards from right here in the midwest have become one of our customers’ go-to brands. Raindrop has been around for almost 20 years, and continue to provide high quality, maintenance-free, self-cleaning water protection for homes all over.

These guards can fit any 5 or 6-inch gutter but can be customized to fit 4 or 10-inch gutters as well. They are incredibly strong and durable and allow for even the most torrential water flow to run over and through. These gutter guards are virtually invisible and can match any aesthetic of a home.

How it works is it’s laid on top of your gutter and screwed into place. It has slats that allow debris to flow right over it and off the gutter, without getting trapped in any holes or divets. There is no edge for debris to get caught. Its black color absorbs the sun’s heat even on the coldest of days and naturally melts ice and snow, alleviating any problems with ice dams or icicles.

Preventing Gutter Clogs

Even with gutter guards, it’s important to do the work to continue preventing clogged gutters or gutter guards. First, you can do regular cleaning of your gutter guards, depending on the type. Some may simply need a little brush off with a broom or a spray from the hose. Others may require more complex cleaning like brush or foam gutter inserts. This maintenance is critical to keeping the water flowing through your gutters.

You can also do some work to your property and trim trees or other brush that blows around debris that ends up in your gutters. If you have a few overhanging trees, you can expect far more leaves and sticks on your roof and in your gutters than usual. It is also risky in case of strong winds and storms. If a large branch or tree falls, it can cause damage to your roof and siding, causing even more damage than a simple clogged gutter.

Lastly, make sure your downspouts and gutters are always properly attached. Clean out the bottom of your downspouts regularly to make sure they don’t back up with water and back into your gutters. A clogged gutter can fill up with water and cause damage to the gutters or your shingles they are attached to.

First American Roofing Would Love To Help With Your Gutter Guards!

Many homeowners do not know how to inspect a roof and often overlook simple things like gutter guards, and we would love to help. At First American Roofing, we only want to give our customers the best, and since adopting the Raindrop Gutter Guards, we have yet to get a call back about an issue with the gutter guards. Not only that, but they are a fellow Wisconsin company located in Milwaukee, and we’re always happy to support our fellow Wisconsinite businesses! We stand by this brand, and we’re so glad that they changed how we do business and how we can leave our customers satisfied.

If you have trouble with debris-filled gutters, heavy waterfall creating craters in the corners of your home, or notice recurring ice dams every winter, it may be time to evaluate your gutters or gutter guards. We would love to help out, and please feel free to give us a call anytime! We can walk you through the steps we can take to solve your problems.