Q – As I clean out my gutters yet again, I have just decided that I have had about enough with cleaning my gutters. What kind of gutter cover do you recommend?
Donny – Alpharetta
A – A good gutter cover is an essential part of taking care of rainwater.
Here are a few things that you should look for when selecting a gutter cover.
- Using a cover that is a one-piece unit with the gutter itself is generally a solid way to go.
- Do not use for a cover any kind of wire mesh. No matter what the label says, they will not keep gunk – i.e. pine needles and leaves - out of your gutters. In fact, you should avoid any covers that lay flat in your gutter.
- Let me take that one step further. Any gutter cover that lies flat in your gutter will not perform the job you want it to. I don’t care that you can go up a ladder and place them in your gutter all by yourself, or if it made from a polymer discovered by NASA, it is NOT the protection your gutter need.
- While there are a few good, quality gutter only companies out there that can install a good cover, a quality roofing company will be able to do the same.
- Do, if possible, get new gutters when you get new covers. Upgrade your house with some 6″ gutters which will manage more water.
- Do get covers from a reputable company that offers a clean, repair, or replace warranty with their gutters.
- Use your common sense. Are you looking at a gutter cover that has ridges, or slits, or openings in it’s design to “allow water but not debris” to get into your gutter? Then it will almost assuredly allow other objects like pine needle, or critters, or bugs, or shingle granules to get in.
One word of advice before the following one final word of advice. If you are getting a new roof it is perfect timing to negotiate new gutters and gutter covers. Have the whole system outfitted at the same time. That makes you a smart shopper.
One final word of advice. Getting gutter covers does not exclude you from ever having to check your gutters for debris again. Quality covers will keep a goodly amount of the gunk out, but nothing can keep everything out. You will hear cover company after cover company after cover company tell you otherwise, but a lot of experience has taught me that they are wrong.
You will still want to keep your eyes on your gutters to make sure all is well from time to time.
This is a great time of year to address your gutters. They don’t call this season ‘Fall’ because the leaves stay in their trees.