In previous posts I looked at the basic screening systems, filters, and membranes. These would be the simplest form of the logical approach to use gravity to separate debris from rain water. Even using the finest quality of stainless steel mesh still allows debris to accumulate on top of the gutter guard which must be cleaned off. Someone has to go up a ladder and clean the tops of these devices. Basic screens and membranes can be very difficult to clean. Some filters are much easier to clean, but none of them eliminate maintenance involving the use of a ladder.
In the mid part of the last century, inventors worked out how the principle of surface adhesion along with gravity could be applied to leaf guards. The goal was to get rid of openings in the top horizontal surface and the inventors found that they could use a solid top with a rounded front edge to guide the water into the gutter. They invented variations of a longitudinal fin.
Of course there had to be an opening to get the water into the gutter and that was located between the fin and the front gutter lip. It's a space about a quarter to three-eights of an inch wide that extends the entire length of the gutter.
The hopes of the inventors was to have the leaves and tree debris swept to the front of the fin and have them jettisoned onto the ground while the water adhered to the fin and went into the gutter. Certainly for much of the debris this happened, but often times the debris simply stuck to the surface of the gutter cover fin and followed the water into the gutter in sufficient quantity to clog the gutter.
Again, maintenance involving the use of a ladder is required to remove the gutter guards and clean the downspouts and reinstall the gutter covers. Certainly an improvement over basic screens and membranes, but not a solution to ladder free maintenance.
As we will see in future posts other inventors were following a different path because they saw the one extended opening as a potential problem and an obstacle to overcome.
In the mid part of the last century, inventors worked out how the principle of surface adhesion along with gravity could be applied to leaf guards. The goal was to get rid of openings in the top horizontal surface and the inventors found that they could use a solid top with a rounded front edge to guide the water into the gutter. They invented variations of a longitudinal fin.
Of course there had to be an opening to get the water into the gutter and that was located between the fin and the front gutter lip. It's a space about a quarter to three-eights of an inch wide that extends the entire length of the gutter.
The hopes of the inventors was to have the leaves and tree debris swept to the front of the fin and have them jettisoned onto the ground while the water adhered to the fin and went into the gutter. Certainly for much of the debris this happened, but often times the debris simply stuck to the surface of the gutter cover fin and followed the water into the gutter in sufficient quantity to clog the gutter.
Again, maintenance involving the use of a ladder is required to remove the gutter guards and clean the downspouts and reinstall the gutter covers. Certainly an improvement over basic screens and membranes, but not a solution to ladder free maintenance.
As we will see in future posts other inventors were following a different path because they saw the one extended opening as a potential problem and an obstacle to overcome.
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