Home Depot Gutter Guard Products Compare - Chart

 

Gutter Screens - Metal or Plastic Gutter Screens

Pros: 

Cheap material cost, Readily available in stores

Cons: 

Difficult to install properly and securely.  Joints open up, water flows laterally bringing debris into gutter.

Pine needles, seeds and small debris can penetrate the screen and lodge in the screen itself. Water and Ice can build up under shingles.

Small debris gets through the screen into the gutter, then rain causes it to clump together and flow to clog the outlet tube.

Debris lays on top of the screen causing water to skip past the gutter.

Dirt and rusting screen can stain gutter face and home

Collapse under weight of ice, snow, fallen limbs, etc.

Frequently blow out during severe wind or weather

Difficult to access gutters for cleaning or maintenance.  When maintenance is required, must clean the pores of the screen itself from debris hung up in the screen as well as clean the gutters and somehow reinstall the screen.

Metal screens conduct thermally causing a "first to freeze" area stopping water,  causing ice jams and backups.  Click here to see products recommended for those looking for gutter screens

 

Gutter Covers / Gutter Helmet Style Covers, Reverse Curve

Pros: 

Can be effective against large leaves and debris.

Cons: 

Reduces gutter opening, allowing water overflow in heavy rain.  When the nose of the cover gets dirty, water does not hug the metal and releases too soon causing fast water to bypass the gutter.

Small debris flows into gutters, builds up and causes a clog or requires complicated and difficult  removal for cleaning.

Shingles must be lifted to install or service gutters = Roof warranty problems

It decreases slope of the roof at the  gutter, increasing chance of ice dams and backups. Thermal conductivity of metal creates "first to freeze" area. 

Difficult and expensive to remove system for any cleaning or maintenance.

Limits who you can have perform maintenance, tools and skill required.

Covers provide dry shelter that Wasps, Bees and rodents commonly enjoy.

Expensive – $20 - $35 per foot

Click here to see products recommended for those looking for gutter covers and helmets.

 

Gutter Foam / Sponge Filter

Pros: 

Easy installation Not visible from ground.

Cons: 

Sponge foam resides down in in gutter therefore debris that sets on the foam is trapped within the gutter creating a leaf mat on the foam blocking water and causing water to skip past the gutter.

Cells become filled with roof shingle grit, pollen, dust, dirt and compost resulting in overflows.

Moisture retained attracts insects, including mosquitoes and ant colonies.

Cleaning is difficult or impossible to remove small debris from cells to get it to be able to flow again.

Common to see shrinkage, curling and crumbling of these products within a few years due to sunshine / UV deterioration.  Knock off lower quality un-coated products imported from Asia exist in the market, making it difficult to discern coated foam from bad.

 

Gutter Micro Mesh Screen

Pros: 

Blocks maximum amount of both large and small debris

Cons: 

Tiny micro mesh openings are too small for fast water and can be overcome during a heavy rain, resulting in significant run off. The micro mesh openings are small to keep out debris but they also serve to keep the water out of the gutter and cause bypass.  Dirt, dust, pollen, leaves & sap can build up on the screen over time blocking and and reducing the volume of water that can  flow through the mesh.  Although it is resistant to organism growth, stainless steel gets dirty and then the organisms, algae and moss grow on the dirt.   In cold climates, Metal is a thermal conductor and therefore becomes the first to freeze, so metal screen openings close up fast with ice further keeping water out of the gutter and exacerbate ice backups and ice jams; whereas plastic is a "non-thermal-bridge" because it is not as conductive so plastic does not cause ice problems.   Click here to see products recommended for those looking for mesh gutter guards.

Expensive – Professional installation required $18 - $35 / ft.

Tiny openings in the mesh may keep debris out of the gutters but they also keep water out of the gutters, especially when the openings get dirty and smaller.

Easiest install & removal - No tools required

Effective barrier to most leaves & debris

No interference with roof or shingles

Use with existing gutters any roof or gutter type

5 different sizes to fit common and uncommon gutters

Entire gutter channel remains open for heaviest rain

Prevents bird, insect and rodent nesting

Affordable – Approx $3.33 / ft DIY or $5 - $7 / ft. for professional installation

Made in the U.S.A.

Easy to maintain and renew

In brand new gutters, GutterBrush can be installed filling the new gutter from the ground before mounting and hanging.

Improved Winter:  Plastic bristles are not thermally conductive like metal and do not cause a "first to freeze" area; GutterBrush does not add to gutter icing in fact the presence of GutterBrush actually decreases icing in cold climates.   Click here to learn about winter benefits

  Cons: 

Small debris (ie: pine needles, maple seeds) can work their way into the brush over time and may require occasional cleaning or maintenance. Usually this limited debris will not cause a clog, but can be shaken out of brush or "renewed" to optimal performance.

May be slightly visible with bristles intentionally crowning the top of the gutter in some circumstances.

Video Description:  Gutter screens, gutter microscreens and gutter helmet style covers often cause rain water to miss the gutter & overflow; video explains common gutter protection problems and a simpler solution.

Transcription:  Hi,  my name's Alex with GutterBrush.  Prior to coming to Gutterbrush three years ago  I had over 25 years of experience on roofs; third generation, my grandfather was a roofer for over 50 years and my brothers in roofing.  First hand with direct experience, I know roofs and gutters, so I'd like to share what I learned.  I received phone calls and followed up to solve every imaginable roof, gutter,  and drainage problem.  There wasn't a gutter protection device that didn't cause some sort of a problem. Every gutter guard in the debris field requires maintenance!  Every one of them.   I saw it with my own two eyes.  Time and time again, customers would install a very tight screen or a micro screen and they would call me saying water was gushing down the side of the building, coming into the basement,  leaking into the siding, or rotting a window sill.  I'd show up, put my ladder up,  climb up there and find that simple leaves were wet and laying on top of the gutter screen; stuck like wet cereal flakes. And the water was hitting that screen like a ramp, on the leaves and shooting past the gutter as if there was no gutter at all.  In the case of the micro screens, there was nothing inside the gutter, so that the guarantee to never have to clean inside the gutter was true,  but that's not fair and the customer was upset after paying thousands for labor and materials.  The real problem is such an issue that it can happen over and over again even after you clean off the top of the screen.   That's frustrating when it happens over and over again.  The open screens had the same issue of causing the  water to be skipping past the gutter,  but additionally the small debris gets inside the screen so you have to deal with cleaning inside the gutter;  the water misses the gutter when it hits the debris and you also have to pick out all the maple helicopter debris from millions and millions of screen openings.  It's time-consuming, it's a pain in the neck,  it's very expensive and it's sometimes actually demeaning.  As a gutter cleaning company we wanted to solve the customers problems fast and inexpensively  and you don't feel very good about yourself when a simple problem becomes far more expensive than you had ever communicated to the customer or anticipated at all. Not to mention, I was working in the  Northeast  USA and all the metal gutter protection devices are the first to freeze so they exacerbate and even cause ice build ups.  The screens also hump upward,  so they don't always meet the gutter at the end cap allowing birds to enter and nest.  The helmet style devices greatly decrease the water entry. The concept is that the water is supposed to run down hug the metal and follow the metal into the gutter.  By the way, the last time I checked, leaves are thin so they do fit into the openings.  In theory the hydro-static forces are supposed to allow the water to hug and follow the metal into the gutter, but that  doesn't work with the fast water. During the heaviest of rains, the fast water is when you really want the gutter to work and it skips past.  The water comes fast, but the gutter protection becomes a ramp allowing the fast water to  just shoot past the gutter. Everywhere water goes, it also it brings dirt.  We know this.  Within a year, the nose of those gutter helmet style devices gets dirty and when it becomes dirty, it is no longer smooth and the water releases off the front even faster.   They do require cleaning to keep them work working properly and the debris gets in there and they clog .  And since they are made  of  solid metal, they provide dry shelter where  animals and birds and wasps love to nest inside.  High volumes of wasps are very dangerous and a problem for those of us who work up on ladders way up high.  You spend a lot of money installing these devices in the first place, and when they have a problem you can't even get your hands in there to clean the gutter so you have to take them apart and put them back together.  Oh,  and when you lean a ladder up against the gutter,  it hits the nose of the helmet style cover and it makes ugly dents. They're made of thinner metal and the ladder will hit the tip.  Many of these devices intersect with the roof causing a whole set of additional problems.  As a lifetime roofer, the last thing I want to do is burden any roof with any gutter protection device. It's not worth it.   It can cause roof problems, and you don't want these devices even touching the roof let alone making fastener holes in the roof or gutter and decreasing the slope at the bottom edge; making a shelf. Down at the bottom edge is the most important part of the roof because it receives all of the water and you don't want to decrease the slope or make a shelf.  Every home is different.  The amount of debris, the wind pattern,  the size of the roof,  the height of the gutter; every situation is different.  And I'm not saying these devices won't work at all but I am saying they're time-consuming complicated and expensive to install.  They also limit who  you can ask for help.  With gutters, you don't want to be limited as to who you can call for help.  You don't want to have to call someone with technical knowledge and screw guns and tools to clean it out.  You want to be able to call anyone that cleans gutters. You want a large resource pool that is less expensive if you can't do it yourself.  I'd rather keep it simple.   I like a product that's not just easy to install, but it's also easy to maintain.   Those other products are okay, but I don't think I would ever want something that's tricky and time-consuming to install and maintain.  Gutterbrush is fast  and easy to install so whether you install it yourself or hire a contractor, that speed and ease turns into a far less costly situation.  It doesn't even touch the roof, yet the flexible bristles spring back up  into place and allow a  " raised profile" higher than the sides of the gutter so if the debris that lays on it ,  it is up high so the wind can blow it clean.  Yes some debris gets stuck in the brush,  but individual pieces of debris are not the reason for clogs. It keeps the gutter from clogging.  If and when maintenance is eventually necessary, it's easy!  No tools or fasteners required.   You just pull them out,  shake them clean,  clean the gutter and slide them back inside the gutter.  Customers who bought Gutterbrush 15 years ago have told me they're still good.  GutterBrush lasts a long time! So for gutter protection, with my experience, I don't want to spend thousands.   I don't want to take chances on time-consuming complicated costly products that might end up with a huge investment and  disappointing results.   I'd rather go with a simple solution; an inexpensive solution that works and is easy to maintain with no tools.  Gutterbrush works, and these are the reasons it it's the best value!  Thank you so much for watching.