My gutter situation is dire. We had oversized gutters put on in 2009, and it is now 2022. They are not level, they are pulling away from the house.

Neighbor recommended a gutter guy, who just came by. He can repair what we have, or we can consider gutter guards.

Have you all had experiences with gutter guards? I have resisted getting them because of the horror stories I have heard, where people spend a fortune only to have different gutter problems. They clog, they overflow, they cost a fortune to clean when they get dust and tiny leaf particles in them.

Any thoughts?

Discussion we had when SK was replacing gutters and considering gutter guards.

http://well-temperedforum.grou...433/m/6783967597/p/1

We have the fine stainless steel mesh gutter guards that we bought from Costco and had a handyman install. Still happy with them.

I also have those gutter guards installed on my house and have been relatively happy with them. My roof slope is only 3:12 so not all leaves and debris are washed from the guards at all times. WTG let me know about a brush that the guard company was able to send me at no cost that helps (with a long handle) to brush those things off.

Other than that, the guards have performed well. Nothing ends up in the gutters. Some of the guards were damaged a few years ago in a hail storm that punched holes in some of them and required them to be replaced. I can't fault them too much for that because that hail storm did widespread damage in my area and some of my neighbors had to replace their whole roofs.

All in all, I'm generally pleased with the stainless steel micromesh gutter guards. They're certainly less work than getting up to the gutters to muck out all the accumulated and rotted matter and trying to clear clogs in downspouts (although installing course-mesh strainers at the downspout inlets largely eliminated that particular problem).

Big Al

So that link doesn't actually say what kind of gutter guards we got, but according to my notes, we got "LeafBlaster Pro" gutter guards.

We got black gutters (and I love they way they look!) and the gutter guards (which you can't see from the ground).

We also got a gutter brush that someone here at WTF recommended. We use that periodically to brush leaves off. But other than that we have zero problems and haven't had professional cleaning yet, although we might do that at some point. It's been more than a year since we had the gutters and guards installed.

BTW we also had some fascia repair IIRC.

But Cindy, back to your original question: I recommend getting completely new gutters (and any fascia repair you might need). If the current gutters aren't level and are pulling away, it's probably more cost-effective in the long run to completely replace.

Get some quotes from gutter installers and ask what gutter guards they recommend and why, and ask what guarantees they offer.

We had quotes all over the place, from $800 up to $2500. The one we went with was just under $1500 IIRC.

Good luck!

Here is Williamsburg, many homes have no gutters at all. We have a concrete aggregate rim around the house that catches flow off of the roof and channels it into drainage pipes that ferry the water down to the bottom of the property. In our case, that is a ravine that is a natural irregular watercourse into a BMP pond.

Way back when, I had “Gutter Helmet” installed on my house in Nee England. It worked well for me: https://www.gutterhelmet.com/

I have no experience with mesh gutter guard. Good luck with whichever you choose.

The mud likes to accumulate in gutters here and plants like to sprout up from the mud. It's a pretty sight. /s.

I spent three days with rubber gloves removing the mud and plants.

It just so happens that today I got out the ladder and removed the one I had missed.