I spent a few hours yesterday cleaning out my gutters... AGAIN. I have to do it every 2-3 months or else my downspouts clog. I can usually fill a 100 gallon recycle bin with the sludge (I live next to a couple acres of trees).

This part of home ownership sucks.

I know there are several products on the market that cover/screen/prevent crap from filling up their gutters. Anyone have these, and most importantly do they *work* well? I'm reluctant to outfit my entire house with the things if I'm just going to be tearing them off in a few months, plus they aren't cheap.

Gutters.

In Arizona, we don't got no stinking gutters.

Replacing a #$@%ing AC unit sucks though. $$$$!

Couldn't you just use plain ole chicken wire mesh. Cut to size etc. To keep the leafs out of the gutter? Cheap alternative.

Even Bob recommends that: http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Gutter_Wire--T1025.html

On the Down Pipes. Ball up some of the same wire and place above the down pipe. To prevent any down pipe blockages.

Get a pressure washer with a bendy wand, which you can use to blast the debris away from safely on the ground
http://www.ultimatewasher.com/gutter-cleaner-wands.htm

I saw some rain in the distance yesterday. That's as close to rain as I've been in a month.

I bought gutter guards at Home Depot a couple of years ago. I think the come in 1 ft. sections. They go under the bottom layer of your shingles and clip onto the out edge of the cutter. If I remember, it was $1-3 per section.

They only thing I don't like about them is the "whirly-bird" maple leaf seed heads always seem to find the guard holes.

Stone

The ones I have on my house seem to work well but have no clue the brand as they were here when I moved in.

I use a wire mesh, holes are about 1/2 inch square. Only thing I have to worry about is the chipmunks stuffing acorns in the downspout.

Since my folks' house is surrounded by fruit trees they've always had problems with leaves clogging up sections of the gutters. My mom went to Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) and bought 36" PVC snap-in gutter guards, which install as Stone described in his post. We only put them in the sections surrounding the areas where the trees overhang the roof. They've been up there for a few years and do an excellent job.

As I recall, they were less than $2 per 3-foot section.

I'll give the chicken wire a shot with the down pipes. Good call!

I'm always suprised how much crap builds up in such a short space of time...leaves, pine needles, small sticks, the neighbor kid's frisbees. The again, the trees across the street are ~130 feet tall, and the wind ALWAYS blows east towards our house, so this time of year it's literally snowing pine needles, little sticks, etc.

Yeah but you guys have 115 degree days!

This time of year the forecasters get really clever with their 5 day forecasts. "Tomorrow we'll see some rain, followed by showers on Tuesday, some heavy rain Wednesday, precipitation on Thursday, and then to wrap up the week....rain." This is also the time of year that sun worshippers go batshit crazy up here.

I have the mesh strainers on all my downspouts.



On one side of the house that seems to get a lot of leaves, I use the plastic wire mesh.

Now I'm glad that I don't have tree's near my house.

There is a section of my home's gutters where the leaves from a Silk Tree collect each fall. When the leaves of the silk tree fall off, they are very small, about 1/4" by 1/8", and would still fall through (or clog) the low-cost gutter screens available at the big box home stores.



Earlier this year, I went to a "Home and Garden Show", and saw several gutter-protection products demonstrated. I selected one of the vendors, and had them install about 50 feet of a product called " Gutterglove " (only on the areas where the leaves tend to collect, and only on the second-story gutters which are dangerous for me to clean out). The product is a little expensive (about $9/foot), but IMO, there's no way any debris will ever get through the fine mesh screen.


That's why I selected the Gutterglove. The company that installed the Gutterglove provided a "lifetime" guarantee that if the gutters ever became clogged, they would come out and clean them for free.

I deal with the trees because of the shade they provide. It keeps cooling costs down.

Stone

The ones with screeens and grates, etc, clog any way....stuff settles on top of them, etc.

The large opening allow small leaves and twigs in, which mesh and form dams, etc.

The only truly working solution is the Gutter Helmet.

Its solid on top, so no leaves can get in, no matter how small...the water follows a lamnar flow pattern over an over hanging lip....and particles in the water, dirt, leaves, etc...can't make the turn, and fall off, the water itself follows the lip back into the gutter.

I had several oaks, tulip, elms and maples which clogged every damn thing I tried....except the Gutter Helmet.

I had the house resided, and the guy accidentally trashed the gutters, and threw out the Helmets.....and replaced it with "Ones Just Like Them", same laminar flow principle, etc....but, they just don't work as well, and I had to go up on the roof and clear the friggin gutters again, after years of not having to...

So, that's the ONLY one that really works, despite a plethera of marketing claims by others...the Gutter Helmet.

Hope that helps.

It's also the time of year they all flock here to AZ too, particularly retirees who have no fucking idea what 65 posted on the little white signs on the freeway means. Who all must travel around and do their shit during rush hour, rather than avoiding rush hour like any normal person would.

End of Snow Bird rant.

X2 on the Gutter Helmet.

Thanks very much...never heard of this particular brand but I'm liking it a lot.