Never Clog Gutter Guarantee

Don't let the never clog gutter guarantee confuse you. The micro mesh screen gutter covers advertise that they have never had a gutter clog inside. Of course this is every homeowner's dream and is exactly what any homeowner would want from their leaf guards. But what else could clog?

What they fail to mention is that in heavy debris conditions the micro mesh gutter guards will clog and where is the clog? It's on top of the gutter where it can't be seen--only suspected when water streams over the gutter.
Take a look at this YouTube video to see for yourself in a light debris situation.



Has anyone else had any with this type of gutter protection product?

Gutters Installed with Spikes and Gutter Guards

Spikes and ferrules are probably the worst possible way to install gutter especially in the hands of an inexperienced crew. Spikes that don't hit a rafter tail depend on the fascia board only to hold the spike in place. Sometimes they even split the fascia board making it impossible for the spike to be held in place for very long.

Unfortunately with mother nature's forces on the gutter (weight of water in the gutter, wind, ice expanding, etc.) spikes work loose and when several of them loosen, the gutter drops loose from the fascia board where water just pours over onto the roof below or the ground.

This becomes a particular challenge if gutter covers that don't get nailed to the roof are installed on the gutter as they end up flapping in the breeze if the spikes let go.

A far superior installation is to use hidden hangers with screws that screw into the fascia board. Now you have both the swelling of the wood and the turns of the screw holding the gutter to the fascia board.

The good news is that when gutter spikes loosen and the gutter pulls away from the fascia board, it can be repaired. The gutter covers are removed, then all the loose spikes are removed to prevent them from interfering with re installation.

A quality hidden hanger is fastened to the gutter minimally every 30 inches and ideally 24 0r 18 inches apart. The gutter is repositioned in under all the roofing and fastened to the fascia board with the screws in the hidden hanger.

The gutter covers are reinstalled and everything is back to normal.

It's not uncommon to find that spikes have been reset several times into other positions because of past failings. Sometimes the spike gets reset into the bottom of the gutter which will leave an opening for water to escape the gutter and damage the facia. A basic solution for this is to use a small piece of scrap metal and lay it over the hole with Geocel 2030 sealant.

Ask the Engineer - Are There Really Self Cleaning Gutters?

In order to have self cleaning gutters there are two basic physical requirements:
1. Both the size and amount of debris entering the gutter have to be limited.
2. The gutter needs to be able to flush out any debris that does get in by controlling the way the water enters the gutter to create a swirling action in the bottom of the gutter.

Most gutter screens let in too much debris and because the water drips in from the top, there is no swirling.

Then there are the micro mesh filters gutter guards. They don't let in any debris and the gutter stays free flowing inside. However, on the outside, there's nothing to keep the debris from accumulating on their top side. Nothing to keep it from accumulating like a paper mache that eventually blocks the filters and renders the gutter useless. So what good is it if you have a free flowing gutter but water can't get into it?

Membranes and brushes installed in the gutter aren't much different than basic screens. Too much debris gets into the gutter and clogs the brushes or the membranes rendering the gutter clogged. Click Here for photos of these various leaf guard designs, .

The fin type gutter guards are a step in the right direction. They have a solid top and a front rounded nose (fin). However, they allow too much debris into the gutter--even full sized leaves get in.

Another variation of the fin type gutter cover adds a trough containing sieve openings (screen-like). But it doesn't take an MIT graduate to notice that just as much debris gets into the trough as without the trough meaning that either the trough will clog or the material will break down in size and enter the gutter anyway. Once again, experience shows that too much debris gets into the gutter to keep it from being free flowing and there is no flushing action.

A final variation of the solid top fin gutter covers is the Waterloov gutter protector that has two rows of interspersed louvers instead of one long fin. The size of the louvers limit any debris that enters the gutter to 3/4" in length. Thus only about 8% of the debris that enters the fin type or the fin and trough type gets into the double row louvered system. And because the water entering the gutter from the gutter guards sweeps down the front inside face of the gutter a swirling action is created in the bottom of the gutter.

This swirling action constantly keeps any fine debris such as roofing grit, fine tree debris, parts of blossoms stirred and moving downward toward the downspout where it flows down the downspout making Waterloov the only self cleaning gutter protector design in the market place with twenty years of experience in all kinds of heavy debris conditions.

The design of the louvers allow gutter to be self cleaning and the entire system requires no servicing from ladders.

Should You Be Concerned if Your Gutter Guard Clogs?

Should you be concerned if your gutter guard clogs?

The answer to this question is "Yes" and "No."

It all depends on the type of gutter cover system you have installed on your gutters. Many gutter guards and leaf guards clog where you can't see the clog and don't know about it until it's too late and you end up with a big surprise when the gutter overflows and your basement floods.

Then some gutter guards clog are somewhat visible so you know that you have to get a ladder to clean them out.

Fortunately there is one gutter protector that makes it easy to know when maintenance is needed because any debris buildup is visible on the outside of the system and easy to clean without a ladder.

Click here to read more about all the different gutter cover devices and their benefits and faults.

Did Gutter Guards Cause My Ceiling Water Stains?

It was the day after Thanksgiving that I visited a customer who had the Waterloov Gutter Cover System for about ten years.

The wife noticed the beginning of a leak in the ceiling and wondered if the gutters could be the cause. She thought that the gutter covers had let enough debris in to clog the gutters.

We must get about two or three calls like this every year. I remember one on Mother's day a few years ago with a customer complaining that water was coming through the light socket in the middle of the ceiling. She too thought that the gutter guards were the culprit.

Even though it was a flat roof, I was certain the leak wasn't because of the leaf guards, but nonetheless, I checked because it's something we do--customer support. Sure enough the leak was caused by a tree limb that had been fallen from a nearby tree with such force that it penetrated the roofing. Finding the cause of a leak is usually not that easy.

With the Thanksgiving service call the culprit looked like it could be from a three inch vent pipe going through the roof. The flashing for the pipe was supposed to be installed under the shingles on the top portion of it. However, it was just laid on top of the shingles with caulk to seal it to the shingles--an obvious place for water to enter.

Fortunately the husband was home and what I suggested made sense to him even though his wife was still certain that the gutters were clogged and causing the problem. The good news for me was that the gutters were clean and open when I opened them up to check.

I'll keep posting new service calls as they come up and I'd like to hear about your experiences with roof leaks and gutter guards.

The Last Step In Gutter Covers - Ask the Engineer

In my previous posts I wrote about gutter screens, micro mesh gutter guards, fin type gutter covers, fin type of gutter guards, dispersal units and flip clean gutters. In this post, we'll look at what one inventor patented in 1983 that takes the fin type gutter cover system to its logical endpoint.

The main problem with fin type covers is that they do not provide any way to filter out large debris from washing into the gutter along with the rainwater. This type of system also requires the use of some type of clip to connect the cover to the gutter and control the dimension of the opening.

This inventor in his original and subsequent patents envisioned a solid top and a rounded front nose just like the fin type leaf guards but instead of a single long fin he added a vertical front which has two rows of interspersed louvers or fins without creating a trough. So you might say it has many many fins of limited size each of which is approximately 3/4" in length and limits the size of debris that can enter into the gutter. The addition of a vertical front also enable the solid top portion to be attached to the gutter without the need for clips.

What makes this improved system work is a combination of gravity and surface adhesion plus a unique screening system. Gravity carries the water and debris downward and surface adhesion causes the downward flowing water to adhere to the louvers and be guided into the gutter. The interspersed fins effectively reject larger debris flowing along with the water into the gutter.

Because the amount and size of louvered openings debris entering the gutter is limited to such a small size that the gutters inside never accumulate sufficient debris to cause a problem or clog. There is no chance of any debris falling into the gutter and very little chance of debris blowing or washing into the gutter.

Other inventors have tried to overcome the fin type covers' problems by extending the lines of the nose curve into an S curve that attaches to the gutter lip. This approach eliminates the need for clips and somewhat filters the debris but the bottom portion of the S curve creates a trough which collects large debris that washes over the nose and either clogs or needs to be cleaned by hand from a ladder.

The inventors vertical faced multi-fin idea is now the Waterloov gutter protection system which has been successfully protecting raingutters in the harshest of conditions for twenty years. Where this design excels is in leaf and debris conditions that overtax the other types of gutter protection.

Ask the Engineer about Flipping Gutters

In the last several posts I looked at what makes gutter screens, hooded fin type gutter guards, hooded fin type with a sieve trough gutter covers and rain dispersal units work. Now we'll look at what makes the flipping type of gutter work.

Some inventors reject the whole idea of using screens or covers to keep gutters clean in favor of finding better ways to clean gutters. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just empty the gutter all at once safely from the ground?

Gutters that flip just like with the rain dispersal units, the existing gutters need to be removed before the product can be installed.

And now as I think of it, one of the fin types that I discussed in an earlier post also requires that perfectly good existing gutters be removed and replaced with and all-in-one leaf guard. The gutter and the gutter cover are made of one continuous piece of aluminum. If you want to see how effective they are just click here to see photos of them after a year of two of service.

Back to the flip clean system. Existing gutters are removed, special brackets are installed to which the new gutters are attached. The hangers are hinged such that the entire gutter can flip downward and dump its contents by using a long pole to release the gutter. It then can be pushed back and locked into position.

What makes it work is gravity alone. Whatever falls into the gutter is simply dumped. The problems with this device are that you can't see what is in the gutter before you dump it so if you forgot to dump it last year, you might end up with a putrid dam of water on your head. The gutters are also known to warp rendering the invention useless. And of course if you have twenty gutters on your home, each one has to be dumped.

Where the old gutters turned a corner the new gutters cannot. In order to be dumped each run of gutter must be a separate unit which interrupts the smooth clean appearance that continuous gutters normally have. Also second and third story gutters may be very difficult to reach to unhinge.

This gutter flipping approach to cleaning gutters does keep the homeowner off ladders but it certainly doesn't eliminate cleaning gutters or make the chore much easier. Only solid top gutter covers that filter the size of debris without a trough can do that.