Leaf Guard Installation for
Auburn, Augusta, Farmington, Gardiner, Greene, Lewiston, Mechanic Falls, Winthrop, and throughout Central Maine
Let's face it; a clogged gutter cannot do its job and renders your gutter system useless. You must maintain your gutters to make sure they can protect your home. You can clean the gutters one to four times a year depending on location and trees, or you can install gutter guards to help with this project. If the idea of cleaning, either for time or danger, is not going to work, it is time for plan B, gutter guard. But which one will work for you?
There are thousands of gutter guards out there; 98% of them are junk and not work buying. Most gutter guards promise to keep all the debris out of your gutters, only to let you down. You then have to clean the gutters with the guard and find the guard just makes it harder to deal with. The fact is that only a few guards on the market are worth buying. Like the gutter itself you really need quality, or you are wasting your money. We have yet to find any guard on any store shelf that is not a waste of money.
We have tested hundreds of leaf guards in various types and shapes. We offer only guards that are at the very top in value for the dollar spent.
Here are our four top picks:
Armour Guard
This is my top pick and the best for protecting your gutter system. Armour Guard is a micro mesh guard that will keep 100% of the debris out of the gutters. Nothing but water can enter the gutters. There is no reason to remove the guard and clean the inside. Debris and leaves fall on the guard and the wind will simply blow them off. Most customers will be 100% maintenance free.
For those in heavy pine areas or where wind cannot get to, you may need to brush off the top of the guard if there is debris build up. This only takes minutes, once a year, and is a lot easier than cleaning them out up to four times a year in pine areas.
Armour Guard is the only micro mesh guard that will strengthen the gutter system. Armour has the extruded, one piece, 1/4" thick base, making it the strongest guard we have ever found. This base adds a great amount of strength to the system helping with snow slides, ice, and falling branches that can damage a gutter system.
We recommend Amour Guard on any house style with every type of debris.
Clean Flow
Clean Flow is a micro mesh guard that will keep even the smallest debris out of the gutter system. Even pine needles will not clog the inside of this guard. 95% of all the debris that falls on the Clean Flow will just blow off with a mild wind. If you are in heavy pine areas or located where wind cannot reach, you may need to brush off standing debris before winter to prevent the debris from freezing. This normally only happens inside of the valley areas.
We recommend Clean Flow on lower pitched roofs 8 x 12 or less without metal roofing. If you have snow slides, ice buildup, steeper roofs, or are in an area where branches drop on the house, we recommend moving up to our Armour Guard for added strength.
Ultra Guard
Ultra Guard is our economy leaf protection. Ultra Guard is great in regular leaf areas. Any larger leaves cannot enter your gutter system and will blow off the gutters. Keep in mind that smaller debris like pine needles and seeds can enter. You will have to maintain your gutter system to make sure there are no clogs. The Ultra Guard will help cut your cleaning drastically and, in some cases, eliminate them all together. Keep in mind, we do recommend at least checking every spring and just before winter.
We recommend Ultra Guard as a more cost-efficient maintenance aid. It is not guaranteed to keep your gutter system from clogging. We do not recommend this gutter guard for pine areas. For pine areas or less maintenance, please see our Clean Flow Guard or Armour Guard.
Gutter Protector
Gutter Protector is our heavy hitter when it comes to ice and snow slides. Protector belongs to the solid cover family. All these guards use the principles of water adhesion to draw the water over the top and into the openings on the front. As water enters the gutter, the debris is deflected to the ground. What we like about this product is there are no standing edges to catch snow. Therefore, if you have a house with a lot of snow slides, that snow will have a hard time hurting the gutter system. As the snow avalanches off the roof, it simply slides over the gutters.
Some small debris can enter the gutter and could require maintenance. Fast moving water or heavy rains can overshoot the guard.
We recommend this guard only on houses that have many snow slides that will damage gutters. We do not recommend this on houses with valleys. The house will need a wide fascia board for mounting.
Strainers
Strainers are simply put over the downspout hole to help prevent any debris from going in and clogging your downspout or underground drain. If you have an underground drain and do not wish to install leaf guards, strainers or drain guards (below) are highly recommended to protect that drain pipe.
These strainers do require maintenance as the debris will wash and build up in front of them. Once too much debris is built up, the gutters will overflow.
Drain Guards
If you going without gutter guards or using a guard that lets smaller debris in, drain guards will help you protect that underground drainpipe. If your drainpipe gets clogged, it becomes costly to get it cleaned out. Drain guards are installed on the downspout and will filter the debris into a screen that is easily removed from the safety of the ground. Simply remove the screen, dump it out and put it back; it's that simple.
Drain guards are my recommended product over strainers as they are maintained from the ground and a lot safer for cleaning.
