Ask the Engineer What Makes Gutter Covers Work?

Sir Isaac Newton of the 17th and 18th centuries discovered the principle of gravity and gravity is the force that makes all rain gutter covers work.

Gravity pulls down the rain and the debris along with it. Where rain gutters are concerned the idea is to get the rain through any rain gutter guard and screen out the debris.

Screens were the most obvious first choice to accomplish this goal. The first screens had relatively large holes about 1/4" square in size. They certainly kept out large leaves but as the debris lay on top, dried, and became brittle, the rain water would pummel the brittle debris into the gutter in sufficient quantity to clog the gutter.

The only advantage is that these screens are inexpensive and millions of feet are sold and installed every year.

But after you've used them for a while and tried to clean them out at least once you would wonder why anyone would ever use them as they are more of a problem than they are helpful.

Screens are a major reason why homeowners purchase more sophisticated gutter protectors and are a great advertisement for the Waterloov Gutter Protection product.