Gutter Covers And Steep Roofs

Will gutter covers work on a Mansard (very steep) roof?

Maybe,  many gutter guards are not recommended for very steep or very shallow roof pitches greater than 12 on 12 or lower that 3 on 12.

How about your gutter covers, can they be installed on a mansard roof and how is it done?

Yes, the Waterloov Gutter Guards have been installed successfully for twenty years on Mansard roofs.

The Waterloov leaf guards can be installed on any  pitch of roof even almost vertical. The gutter protectors are installed either by bending the back of the waterloov gutter guards to match the near vertical roof and slid in under the roofing shingle or a ledge can be installed against the roofing with the rear edge of the Waterloov leaf guards laid on top of the ledge.

The Waterloov panels can be manipulated in the field or modified during production to fit any roof pitch and just about any gutter location.

Contact the manufacturer for specifics at 1-800-841-RAIN or by e-mail www.waterloov.com

Icicles and Ice Dams with Gutter Guards

I received a call from a customer with icicles. She was not very happy and blamed it on the Waterloov gutter covers she's had since 1994.
I don't really know what the big deal is about. I've had icicles on my home even before I installed the Waterloov gutter guard nearly twenty years ago. And I have ice dams too. My home is a ranch and the icicles have at times gone all the way to the ground.
But I understand why I have icicles--I literally have no ventilation in my attic space which is used as a living space.
Click here for the technical explanation.
The only good news is that icicles are not limited to the Waterloov system--they happen with all gutter covers. The best way to deal with them is by installing heat tapes.
For me personally I'd rather knock off a few icicles a couple times a year than clean my gutters three or four times a year. But actually I'm so lazy that I rarely bother knocking off the icicles.
I did notice that because of an ice dam, a short portion of my gutter is being pushed away from the house. It's actually the gutter covers that are keeping the water from flowing in behind my gutters. I had new gutters installed about fifteen years ago, so I guess I really can't complain.
That gutter has handled quite a few ice dams since then.

Ask the Engineer about Keeping Downspouts Clear

I received the following email today.

"I’ve read your excellent article on each type of rain gutter cover and their pros and cons. Good gutter covers, usually professionally installed, do work well but none are perfect in terms of keeping everything out and/or needing some sort of maintenance from time-to-time.

I have been in the rain gutter business for over 17 years and have come to the following conclusion: As long as the outlet in a rain gutter is clear, water will ALWAYS flow out of that gutter. Conversely, a gutter can be pristine clean but if the outlet is clogged water will NEVER flow out of that gutter. It’s all about the outlet.

I have also concluded that good gutter covers combined with the ability to check and/or clean an outlet quickly, easily and safely creates “the best of both worlds” for the homeowner. You see, if a homeowner has good covers, then the ONLY area in the gutter they need to be concerned with is the outlet.

To that end I have developed, manufactured and presently sell a product that enables users to check and clean their outlets – 1, 2 even 3 story – in less than 1 minute from the safety of the ground. The SpoutOff makes good covers better. Functionally the covers are better because the outlets can actually be checked (looked into) so the user knows FOR SURE that their covers are working.

From a sales point of view, The SpoutOff overcomes the objection (often not stated) of “How do I know FOR SURE the covers are working? An intelligent user understands that if their outlet becomes clogged, damage will occur but they will not know until the damage manifests itself, and then it is too late… all because they cannot “see into” their covered gutters. Bee hives are the best example here… bees get into covered gutters, build a hive, the bees leave, the hive stays and eventually works its way down and clogs the outlet – not good!

Although we approach making gutters work (meaning always moving water away from a building) differently from covers, The SpoutOff does not compete with covers but rather complements covers making the covers better and providing the user with the best “system” for moving water away and knowing their gutters are working.

I truly appreciate your clear and objective view on covers and welcome your thoughts on The SpoutOff… the good, the bad and the ugly – you can’t hurt my feelings as this is how I continue to learn."

*****

Go check out his product.  It seems that no matter how much I write about Waterloov or how many videos I take of the product after even 15 years experience, people just don't believe that gutters and downspouts remain totally free and open with Waterloov Gutter Covers installed, but they do remain clean and free flowing.

*****

This was my answer:

"Thank you for your reply. I'm glad that someone is reading the articles. If you knew how truly effective the Waterloov leaf guards are, you'd never waste your time or money patenting anything else. Who in the hell living in a million dollar home wants to have to wonder about his downspouts? See it's all about removing any uncertainty about clogging inside and being truthful about what might happen to the gutter cover itself, i.e. they all clog preventing water from getting into the gutter.


I'm sorry to offend you but your invention is like inventing umbrellas for fleas as far as Waterloov gutter guards are concerned--I'm sure the Gutter Helmets and Gutter Toppers might need it. If you truly want to solve clogged rain gutter problems, you'll use the best gutter cover--Waterloov gutter guards--and never have to wonder about downspouts.


If I had to tell my customers that in addition to the Waterloov gutter covers in heavy debris needing occassional maintenance on the outside that they also should check the downspouts, then I might as well sell them any one of the useless hooded products that claim to never clog inside and never even mention to them that they will need to service the gutter cover itself.


Be energized, healthy, and well,


Richard Kuhns B.S.Ch.E."

Ask the Engineer about Using a Brush System to Keep Gutters Clean

After over twenty years I'm amazed that there are still people trying to invent a better gutter guards than the Waterloov Gutter Protection System.

The video below shows a new gutter brush product.



Can you imagine what this product will look like after a year of service? After collecting a year's worth of tree debris? Yes, someone will have to go up a ladder (I thought the idea of quality gutter protection was to keep people off ladders), pull out the brush and clean it off. Now can you imagine cleaning off a brush full of putrid yuck?

I don't think this inventions is an intelligent choice for the homeowner wants to eliminate climbing a ladder to clean his/her gutters.

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?

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 gutters 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 where 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 can do that.

Ask the Engineer about what makes Rain Dispersal Units work.

In past posts I've been talking about the evolution of gutter covers. While most inventors were working to improve screens and solid top leaf guards there were a few who followed a different path. These few asked why improve on gutters when you can replace them with a product that forces rainwater away from the foundation and isn't a trough to collect debris.


Rain Dispersal units have been around for years. At first glance they look like they might be the answer to eliminating the chore of cleaning dirty smelly gutters. But they is a risk in that you have to remove your existing gutters completely in order to install the dispersers and if they don't work, then you're stuck with removing them and having to pay to have gutters reinstalled.
In other words, you'd be back to square one and out of pocket a considerable amount of water and money. At least if you choose the wrong gutter covers or leaf guards, you still have your gutters intact.

Well, let's take a look at rain dispersers and what makes them work. And then what could go wrong with them.

Basically the rain dispersal system is a series of angled vanes mounted horizontally to your fascia board. In theory as the rain water flows off the roof it hits the vanes with sufficient force (kinetic energy) to disperse the water droplets outward away from the foundation of the building.

They look promising until you ask yourself a couple of questions. What happens in slow rain fall when the rain water just drips off the roof-line? And what happens to the leaves and twigs that fall onto the dispersal fins?

Remember that what makes the device work is gravity and kinetic energy. Dripping water has insufficient kinetic energy to disperse in the vanes. It simply drips onto the vanes and drips from them straight down onto the ground leaving a drip line all around the foundation.

And what about the wet debris that lays on top of the unit? It blocks off the vanes so the rain water as it hits the dispersal unit is not dispersed but simply runs off onto the ground.

Again, maintenance involving the use of a ladder is required to clean off the top of the dispersal units. Certainly not a solution to ladder free maintenance.

Ask the Engineer More about How Gutter Guards Work

In the last posts I covered screens, membranes, filters and the hooded fin type of gutter cover.

In search of the perfect gutter guard inventors needed to improve upon the fin type of gutter guard since it allowed too much debris into the gutter in mild-to-heavy debris conditions. What they did was add a trough along with a sieve in the bottom of the trough. They added it to portion of the gutter guard that extended downward into the gutter to limit the size of the debris that is allowed into the gutter. Basically it's a trough with openings to allow water into the gutter.

It seems like a step into the right direction. The inventors dilemma was what size to make the openings in the trough. If the openings were too small then all of the debris that would normally enter the gutter from the fin leaf guard accumulates in the trough and clogs. If the openings are too large than the debris can enter the gutter and clog. Each manufacture of this type of cover arrived at their own determination of what the optimum size of the openings should be. In reality there is no optimum size because what works for one type of debris (large leaves) doesn't necessarily work for another (pine needles) type of debris.

After it deteriorates in the trough a sufficient amount of debris still gets into the gutter to clog the gutter.

What makes the fin and trough type of gutter guard work is the use of surface adhesion just as with its predecessor (the fin) and gravity. The inventors reverted back to the screen type which operates only by gravity in the trough in their attempts to advance the the technology in a significant way but failed to doing so.

Again, maintenance involving the use of a ladder is required to remove the gutter guards and clean the downspouts and reinstall the gutter covers. Maybe a slight improvement over basic fin type gutter guard, but not a solution to ladder free maintenance.

More on How Gutter Guards Work with the Engineer

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.

More with the Engineer about What Makes Gutter Guards Work

In my last post I looked at what makes gutter protection work -- gravity and some kind of screening product to keep the debris out.

The first approach to screening was exactly that--flat screening made of metal or plastic with large holes. Being that basic screening left a lot to be desired, inventors tried to make them more sophisticated.

They shrunk the size of the holes and tried different shape openings eventually making the screens into filters and permeable membranes. The membranes get glued into the gutter and may be an inch or more thick. The filters get installed on the top of the gutter and some are made of a fine stainless steel mesh.

The manufacturers of these improved screens have impressive displays of their gutter guards. But then the true display is how the product works after a few years of service. Since both of these types are flat to the top of the gutter, they collect debris on top of them. And yes, for a period of time the rain water finds its way through the debris and into the gutter but after a few years the debris becomes like mud. Yes the filters would work great if the debris were like coffee grinds, but it's not. The mud eventually blocks the openings in the filters and membranes and requires maintenance.

That means someone has to go up a ladder and flush the gutter guards or gutter covers to clean them. Another disadvantage is that some of the membranes break down after about five years rendering them useless in that they can't even be cleaned, they themselves become clogging debris in the gutter. And adding insult to injury, the parts of the membrane that might not break down, is glued into the gutter and often can not be removed without replacing the gutter.

Unlike the inexpensive traditional screening, these filters and membranes can cost as much as $20/foot.

These are just two more types of gutter covers and gutter guards that are great advertisements for more effective gutter protection I like Waterloov.

The Engineer discusses Self Cleaning Gutters?

In a recent post I wrote about self-leveling gutters. The fact that low spots in gutters that could otherwise be breeding grounds for mosquitoes get filled in to create a false bottom is amazing. No other gutter protection product does this.

This self-leveling feature helps to enable the gutters to clean themselves.

How can this be possible? A self cleaning Gutter?

There are two things that need to happen for gutters to clean themselves.

First, the size of any debris that can enter through the gutter guard must be limited to less than 3/4" in size. Debris this size or smaller is easier for the water to move along the flat bottom of the gutter unimpeded by larger leaves and sticks. Some gutter protection products like brush and foam inserts sit directly on the gutter bottom. The bottom needs to be unobstructed.

Second, all the water to enter the gutter needs to run down the gutters front wall. The water then sweeps across the flat bottom of the gutter causing a swirling that stirs any loose debris and carries it to the downspout. Water entering through screens and filter products tend to keep this fine debris on the bottom where it builds up.

Although some helmet type products allow the water to flow down the inside front wall of the gutter they do not restrict the size of the debris. The design of the nose of other helmet type products causes the water to bypass the front wall and fall directly on the flat gutter bottom. Both conditions make it impossible for the gutters to keep themselves clean over time.

If a gutter protection product stays clog free over as many as 20 years and when opened up is found to have only a small amount of fine grit on the bottom, only then can it be truely called self cleaning.

The gutter protection product that was designed with both of these features is the Waterloov gutter protector. It has a solid top as well as openings and louvers in the front face that restrict the debris to less than 3/4 of an inch and force the water down the inside of the front wall of the gutter.

Ask the Engineer About Self Leveling Gutters

Gutters often have one or more low spots that accumulate standing water. If water accumulates more than a half inch, that's more than can evaporate in the four days it takes mosquito larvae to mature thereby turning the gutters into be a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

One of the benefits of the Waterloov Gutter Cover System is that unlike other solid top gutter covers it passes only small debris that accumulates in the low spots of the gutter and fills them in and acts as a false bottom. No water accumulates any more. This is what is meant by self leveling gutters and Waterloov is the only product that does it.

Take a look at your gutters to make sure they are secure and not sagging in the middle. Extreme sagging can be an indication of facia problems or a substandard installation. It may be time to have your gutters rehung or replaced.

Eliminating standing water isn't just beneficial for you it's a public service.

Other gutter guards that clog

I found a comment posted by a roofer about a particular brand of gutter guard that he found clogs.

This picture came from a page that shows an installation of this product.

Photos that shows other gutter guards in real environments are our best advertisement. You will never see leaves inside of Waterloov.

Silly Way to Clean Gutters

Surfing the web and found an entertaining approach to cleaning gutters. Everyone knows that you can go up a ladder and use a hose to flush gutter clean. Of course you have to remove the leaves by hand and then flush the gutters.

Well, the inventor of this product decided to skip the ladder and use a pipe to get water up to the gutter and then a hook direct it down into the gutter. It's something any third grader would probably think of. But what about all the debris in the gutter? I guess all those leaves and twigs are going to be washed to the downspout and then flow down the downspout?

I find it amazing that anyone would think that device would be of benefit much less purchase it. Again, other products are our best advertisement for the Waterloov Gutter Protection System.

Can Pine Needles Get Into My Gutter Guards?

A customer called a few days ago to tell me that her Waterloov gutter covers were clogged. She had the product for ten years and was fearful that the gutters were clogged. I asked if anyone had ever brushed her gutter guards and she said no.

Sure enough, pine needles were crusted on the lower gutters (more so than the upper gutters). Fortunately it had just rained and it wasn't necessary to wet the louvers. Just a couple swipes with the brush on the end of a telescopic pole and the gutter guards looked like new.

Nothing had gotten inside the gutters and she was amazed how nicely they cleaned up. Once she saw how easy it was to clean them she purchased a telescopic pole and brush to do it herself.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all gutter covers, gutter guards, gutter filters, and screens were this easy to maintain.

Don't Take Off My Gutter Covers

Recently a homeowner reported that she was getting water running down the inside of her double window and was wondering if there was something about the gutter covers that could be causing it.

She had an overhang of about 8" with a gutter hung with strap hangers--no fascia board. I told her that I'd be glad to look at the gutter but from past experience didn't expect to see any connection between her problem and the gutters and that the one way to tell for sure would be to remove the gutter covers and see if the problem still persists without the gutter covers.

She was quite adamant that she did not want the gutter guards taken off. She would not give up her gutter guards, period.

I removed one gutter cover at the point of the leak--it was a brand new roof with brand new gutters and the gutter covers were installed under the second course of roofing. There was no way that water was finding it's way into her home from the gutters. There was not even evidence of streaking on the gutters that would indicate that water was bypassing the gutters and being blown into the windows.

I gave her roof and windows a careful look and unfortunately could not locate the source of the leak, but one thing for sure, the Waterloov Gutter Cover System was not at fault.