Redpill me on gutters.
I had guards like this put on a couple years ago and one blew off last winter so I went up to fix it and found out they're all massively clogged. I think they're installed wrong, my gutters are vinyl with hangers/brackets every 18in or so on the outside of the gutter, and supposedly these guards should be cut to fit around those and clip in, instead they're just resting on top of them and some have bowed inwards.
Had someone come look to install new ones and they quoted $1400 to replace the whole front gutter because they don't carry guards that work with mine. Bleh.
I'm thinking it might be better to just take them off and get on a ladder once a year with a pressure washer and blast out all the crap.
This front side of my house that has this problem is about 20ft off the ground so it's kind of shitty to get up there, my ladder doesn't reach as a step ladder, I have to lean it against the gutters just to get high enough.
WWYD, remove and clean, replace the whole gutter with a new one with proper guards, or is there some solution for gutters with brackets?
The brackets look like this. They prevent clicking in the guards because they're spaced more closely than each guard is wide. Some work with tin snips could solve it and make a hole for the part of the bracket that's in the way, but it's much harder to do that balancing 20ft up, so I think that's not a great DIY solution. Now if I had some tall scaffolding...
gutter guards do not work
leafs and junk just pile up on top of the guard instead of in the gutter, small silt still goes through the holes and lays in the gutter too.
get a couple lengths of pvc pipe with a couple elbows at the end, connect your shop vac, suck the shit out of the gutter once or twice a year instead. no fricking around no ladders no dicking.
make sure theres a trap at the bottom of the downpipe if it goes into underground pipe.
MOST gutter guards don't work. The only ones worth a damn are the black aluminum ones with the square holes in them. However, they're not maintenance free, like a lot of people thing, and you still do periodically have to go up and clean the gutter guards off. This is generally easier than having to clean a gutter and downspout out though.
So they're basically easier to work with, but you still have to get off your big fat wienersucking ass and clean the gutters.
>get a couple lengths of pvc pipe with a couple elbows at the end, connect your shop vac, suck the shit out of the gutter once or twice a year instead.
Came here to suggest this as well. And put a mirror or camera on a stick to check the status of the gutter. Or a drone if you have one.
Just tie a scoop to the drone
This
I had the guards with the little diamond openings on top and they got filled with helicopters from maple trees and the wasps liked to build little nests on the bottom of them so I got stung 3-5 times minimum when I had to clean them, which was at least once a year just like gutters without guards.
>Gutter guards don't work
Wron
>Most don't work
True
>Only ones with holes
The holes are what make them not work
You have to use the ones that are solid and the water flows over and back into the gutters like leaf guard which you can purchase at home Depot for cheap
Pic related
These won't clog and only very small debris can come back with the curve but that size should flow fine
> Installs 5 inch gutters
> Installs covers with a 1/4 inch gap for drainage
I'm sure these work great in the desert anon.
What are sizes?
gutters dont work in heavy rain anyways
>only the ones with holes don't work
Gonna have to say that the LeafGuard and similar is absolutely terrible for icicles.
Just take off the guards and get an extension ladder so you can clean the gutters out when you need to. No pressure washer or shop vac needed either, just wear rubber gloves and scoop the crap out. That’s how I do it. Takes less than an hour for a medium sized house. The hardest part is just moving the ladder
If you live anywhere that sees cold winters, you'll be putting in a new roof a couple years after installing them. Especially if your roof doesn't have a steep pitch.
Whyy do people climb on ladders instead of just getting on the roof
My roof is fairly steep and it's just 2 sloping sides 20ft up, it's precarious either way.
Just use leaf guard then move after 5 or so years
I just took my gutters down after years of trying all that crap. Getting up on a ladder to clean gutters all the time is bad design.
Thats why you get on a roof with a broom
>OP fell for the gutter guard meme
>paid some felon to half-ass them on
>can't believe they came apart and don't work
>you guys think I should climb an unsafe ladder and try to Black person-rig some bullshit solution that won't fix the problem?
PrepHole everyone.
OP here
I already decided I'll just take the guards off.
It also gave me a genius product idea - a gutter you can turn upside down and just dump the contents out.
>It also gave me a genius product idea - a gutter you can turn upside down and just dump the contents out.
Who TF is gonna want to get on a ladder and remove their gutters to clean them?
You seem to have the wrong kind of autism.
Oh shit it exists, at least one product came right up
https://flipcleanguttersystems.com/
looks legit.
surely someone has to sell a long ass pressure wash attachment to reach and clean gutters?
They make several versions of those. I guess they work, if you don't mind take a shower of leaves and needles and shit as you stand underneath it.
Would not even care if it saves me 10 trips up and down a ladder.
The only problem with those is that gutters aren't all that durable things. Especially if you got a chinsy aluminum one that the contractor only used one hanger every 4 feet on. So when you get a big honking pressure washer blasting on that thing, it's pretty easy to warp or even rip down a gutter if it hasnt been installed right (which a lot of gutters aren't)
soldered copper with copper hangers nailed to the roof with copper nails. is the only option.
guaranteed lifetime of 100 years.
sure its expensive but if you build a new house you do it once, if you have to replace the galvanized shit in 30 years with the increased wages the copper is already cheaper.
It's great until the tweakers rip it down to scrap it for their habit.
Get these.
http://ecogutterguards.com/
I've had them for about 5 years now and they never clog. The wind eventually blows away whatever leaves might build up.
I have a house that's a two floors high plus an attic; thankfully, I'm able to use a fairly short ladder to access the roof from a balcony.
Should I install the gutter guards from the roof, or do I need to go rent a longer ladder?
i did gutter maintenance for a while in college, don't pressure wash them!!!!! use a garden trowel (preferably plastic) to scoop and use a normal garden hose to rinse it out.
yeah i dont see the problem with having to clean them just get up there with a ladder and scoop that shit out. i dont have a big problem with clogged gutters because i also trim my trees that overhang the roof as part of basic home keeping.
>basic home keeping.
bruh.
If those are on your property, you ought to pare them back significantly.
The brand you can get from Costco works pretty well. Adhesive gasket strip or you can screw them in, but it depends on your gutter which install method to use. Make sure you get some tin snips. The key is just making sure you install them at the proper angle and using a brand where the holes are tiny or non existent. We have trees in our yard that dump on the house year round and the guards have held up pretty well, over time you still have to get up there and brush them off but like some others have said it's a lot easier than scooping all the shit out every so often. I laugh at people all the time when they admit to having purchased an install from a shill company like Leafguard. My wife made the mistake of calling them for a quote and some shill ex army clown who couldn't get a real job when he retired showed up and tried to sell us gutter guards for 5000 dollars while licking his lips thinking we were rich. I spent a little over 100 dollars and did it myself.....it's pretty easy to do.
Frick I want copper gutters so bad but it's like $4k more
I would skip the gutter guards. The reduce flow of water faster, which leads to more water just spilling over the edge...defeating the purpose of having the gutters to begin with
i feel like gutters in general are a scam. a roof overhang and french drain should be all you need.
I have both but also gutters. The rocks in front of my house never get wet, I still have to water the plants there despite so much rain this year.
Good for the basement I suppose, it stays dry and the foundation stays in good health. Just a few normal looking vertical cracks, I hear it's the horizontal cracks that you have to worry about.