Do You Believe the Gutter Filters Really Work?

I ran across an interesting blog post that to the inexperienced would be a vote for using filters designed with micro mesh openings in the top flat surface.

The post is about testing different filter screens to see which handles the most water. He placed them on top of a gutter that was under the discharge of a leader from an upper gutter to demonstrate the ability of micron filters to collect a lot of water and also handle roofing grit. Of the three or so micron mesh filters he tested, they all did a comparable job of handling large volume flows and roof grit.

He acknowledges that no gutter guard would normally be exposed to the volume of water coming from an upper gutter. But from my experience all of them are because upper gutters always drop water onto roofs leading down to lower gutters.

There are several questions and observations I'd like to make. First, twenty years of experience with our Waterloov System never suggests that roofing grit is a problem or has been a problem.

Secondly, why use tests? I mean if a gutter filter really works, why not go to an installation that has been in a heavy debris area for ten years and show us the results--what they look like on top and what they look like inside? That's something we do all the time and we're not limited to ten years, but instead twenty years.

Thirdly, my experience and one of their competitor's videos indicates that the real problem is debris that accumulates on top of the filter.

From the video you'll see that debris does accumulate on top of any filter system and after a couple years you must wonder how this debris that can block off the filter's openings is cleaned or removed? Someone would have to go up a ladder to clean them. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of having an expensive gutter guard (these system cost $17-$20 or more per foot)

Wouldn't it make sense to use a gutter guard that can be cleaned easily from the ground with a telescopic pole and brush? The Waterloov Gutter Cover System has an impeccable twenty year track record, can easily be cleaned from the ground if required, never clogs in the gutter and keeps homeowners off ladders.

To me it's apparent that gutter filters are nothing more than sophisticated gutter screens. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.