# Oh those Gutters



## doozie (May 21, 2005)

It is fall in the forest.
We cleaned the gutters today, again.
Last week was the ladder and gloves, scooping out wet debris and leaves.
Today was blowing them out, we have a long attachment that fits on the leaf blower and reaches into the gutter from the ground, gah, leaves and roof gravel raining down on us. (I hold the blower, he guides the attachment in the gutter)
That’s it til spring when we have Oak catkins, and other spring debris, unless there is a clog that comes up.

Does anyone have gutter guards installed? Do it yourself or from a Company?
A lot of homes around here have been having them installed.

Just wondering if they really work, or if one brand of gutter guard is better than another.


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## Texas23 (6 mo ago)

From personal experience do NOT get this kind. After a couple of years, the mesh gets clogged with small debris.


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## harrylee (9 mo ago)

I take my blower up on the roof and blow from there. Its not a steep roof, 5/12 pitch I think. Not sure what your stability situation is, but at 70 I am still pretty sure footed. The wife did mention about what if I fell though.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i have gutter guards. had them installed by a company when i had the roof put on. they are not like the ones pictured. i saw the neighbor cleaning his a few days ago. what a mess! didn't take the guys very long to put them on. a man who is handy could likely do it. ~Georgia


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

Harry what kind of blower do you have? . are they heavy to lug around? i really need one for the leaves on the median but dont know what kind to get. ~Georgia


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## harrylee (9 mo ago)

newfieannie said:


> Harry what kind of blower do you have? . are they heavy to lug around? i really need one for the leaves on the median but dont know what kind to get. ~Georgia


Mine is a cordless DeWalt...It was $200 cdn, but I had the batteries from my other DeWalt tools. It blows good. It's about 8 lbs with the battery. 
There are cheaper ones out there.


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## bman (Jan 3, 2022)

Gutter guards are terrible if you are dealing with pine needles. Don't install if that's the case. Twice a year I would get up on a ladder and put some waterproof gloves on an pullout all the debris. The higher up areas I would hire out every two years. The main thing is that you don't want water coming down near your foundation. If you can redirect the flow far enough away from the foundation (french drains, etc), you can ignore your gutters or remove them entirely.


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## wkndwrnch (Oct 7, 2012)

I had these installed on the barn and the shop. I got tired of laddering up to the barn,to clean gutters. I am very glad I had them installed,the local contractor came in with 3 guys,they were done quick,nice job. The cost of labor was not much more than a DIY job. I still have not put gutter guards on the house,those gutters are pretty easy to clean.









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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

those are the covers i have on mine also. never had a problem


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## doozie (May 21, 2005)

I was thinking of using a foam insert on the garage only by the downspout, we pulled out a brick of catkins this summer at the bottom of the downspout, had to take everything apart to find it. Never saw anything like it before, haha.
We (he) can still climb ladders, we removed a pine needle problem right next to the house, many of our Oaks are drying from something moving through the area. The problem might resolve itself 
Just looking ahead for ideas/experiences, thanks all.


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## B. White (7 mo ago)

When I lived in a house with gutters I had places clogging from oak leaves and made my own. Pretty simple, but harder to describe. I had some 1X1 welded cage wire and cut a section that would fit at every downspout, which were at the end of the gutters. Cut the corners have 1" bent down over the outside edge of the gutter. I slid the other side under the roofing. I cut the portion in the direction of main section of gutter so I could push a section into the gutter and make a wire ramp. Each of these guards were only about 12-14 " long I think and as I said only big enough to protect the downspout. Heavy rains would send a lot of water down the roof with the leaves and between wind and rain the majority would wash/blow out of the area at the ramps. These were white oak leaves, so I would not expect as much success with pine straw.

If you looked up you could see the 1" wire squares exposed in that area. I understand that is not aesthetically pleasing to some, but I didn't mind living with it considering it stopped my problems and the cost savings over something store bought. It is a little tedious cutting and bending to fit, but it is a one time job.


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