I just looked after a heavy downpour, my gutters with the el-cheapo home depot guards are pretty much spotless of debris other than some of the roofs ceramic gravel coating. Roof needs to be blown off though.

Time will tell I guess.

If you haven't blown them off in a while and you have a heavy rain, the leaves and debris don't block the gutter, do they?

I'm scheduled to have my Leaf Relief installed on Monday and I'm really nervous since there is NO WAY I'm getting up on a ladder with a leaf blower!

For the price of most if the gutter systems you could have the gutters cleaned a couple times a year for a long time.

brickeyee not sure where you live, but in my town, I don't see anybody advertising to clean gutters. I'm sure you can find some neighborhood kid to climb up on a ladder to do it, but after he falls and my insurance gets through paying, and hopefully his parents don't sue, some kind of leaf guard system looks like a good deal.

Try looking in the yellow pages under 'handymen'.
No one around Washington DC directly advertises either, but there are at least a dozen companies that do the work.
What is the purpose of insurance if you are so paranoid?
They would cover even if the parents sued.

Of course you could also be sued if the kid trips on the front steps selling wrapping paper...

brickeyee, you obviously know nothing about insurance and liability. Insurance will cover you to the maximum your coverage allows. Anything over that amount and they go after your personal assets. God forbid someone falls off your roof and dies, no amount of rider will cover you. We just had a funeral last week where a man fell off his own roof and died, so its really not that far fetched. Anybody can sue, but someone you hire has a much better chance of winning then a kid selling wrapping paper. Most handyman services are not insured. Its not just someone getting hurt, if an uninsured worker rips your gutter off, breaks your front window and dents your new Lexus, they just walk away and say " sorry " Sure you can take him to court and sue, but the chance of recouping your loss is pretty slim. So I will be " Paranoid " hire insured workers and spend a few dollars on prevention. This board is for everyoneÂs opinion and this is just mine. IÂm sure you will disagree.

"Âyou obviously know nothing about insurance and liability. Insurance will cover you to the maximum your coverage allows. Anything over that amount and they go after your personal assets. God forbid someone falls off your roof and dies, no amount of rider will cover you."

No, I know a lot about insurance and carry a very large amount to go with my PE license, including errors and omissions and general liability.
I can be heed responsible if a failure occurs in anything I have stamped off that can be shown to be my fault. Doctors kill patients one at a time. Engineers tend to get them in groups.

What I am not is paranoid about it.
Any Âhandyman company in my area has insurance and workers comp.
Many also are even bonded since they technically operate as contractors.

I never said to hire the kid down the street, that was your rather poor straw man.
Posting something stupid and then attributing it to someone else is rather poor form.

Sounds like a marketing opportunity in your area.

ItÂs almost funny how you are always right. Just reread my last post and see no mention of the kid down the street, I do see mention of your handyman scenario and your kid selling wrapping paper scenario...I never posted anything " stupid " your word, and attributed it to someone else. If all your handymen are licensed and some bonded then you are in a much better area them I am. congratulations. I know how things are in my area and thatÂs all I speak of. Of course us folk down here in south Louisiana can't be expected to know much....

It takes us years to grow into being men...but only a few typed words to get us to become children again.
Its clogged gutters guys......thats all it is.

Posted by msehome (My Page) on
Sun, Sep 24, 06 at 19:23

"I'm sure you can find some neighborhood kid to climb up on a ladder to do it, but after he falls and my insurance gets through paying, and hopefully his parents don't sue, some kind of leaf guard system looks like a good deal."

You did indeed post about using the "neighborhood kid".
Excellent mis-direction by refering to "Just reread my last post and see no mention of the kid down the street..." when it was in another previous post.

I said use a handyman, not a kid.
Some may not be insured, but the ones that are will advertise tha fact since it does remove some liability from whoever hires them.

brickeyee relax...if you want to be right...ok your right...I bow to your superior wisdom and intellect.

I have a house in Fairfax, VA....typical Colonial style. I'm wondering if anyone can put me in the ballpark on cost of gutter helmet and similar systems? Is Gutter Helmet really the best? Is it the most expensive? Will other imitators do just as good/nearly as good a job at far less cost?

My experience in the DC area is prices range from as low as 10 bucks a foot to as high as 30 a foot for just the covers. Sales tactics vary accordingly.
Often the product comes with a service plan that provides follow up and/or repair if the gutters do leak or get clogged. Typical warranty runs 10 yrs to whenever.
Best combo of product, service and stability (a long warranty is no good if the co goes away) was about $12' a foot for the cover. Decent for a 20 year service plan.

I've used a few different companies for gutters on my projects. Two that have been around for a long time and have good service and prices are S&K and 4 Seasons Home Improvement. Both these are in MD, where my projects are, but I believe they both cover VA also.
g'luck

Mary 228,

Do not worry about the debris on the gutter guard. It will decay over time anyway.

I was quite happy with the way my Leaf Relief (Alcoa) product performed during the torrential rains we experienced this past weekend in the Chicago area.

As for debris remaining on top of the cover, it eventually blows off, except for one inside corner at the bottom of a deep valley. I have access to this area through a bedroom window (a hockey stick is perfect for scooping the sodden leaves out), which I have done even during a heavy rain to prevent water gushing over that corner (which it did before gutter guards). But one year later I am quite pleased. And as far as cost, (the OP question),I paid $500 for my house, which, after years of paying for gutter cleaning twice per year of $80-90, will pay for itself in less than three years. Wish I had done it years ago!

How well these work depends to some degree on the size of the leaves that are native to your area. These things tend to work well for the larger leaves, but apparently redwood needles (and probably other fir needles, maybe some smaller leaves as well) follow the water around into the gutter. So you can end up with a gutter full of junk with a hat on it (*smile*).

-Roger