Hi, I’m Travis one of the co-owners of K-Guard Gutters. Today we’re going to talk about screens and filters on regular gutters and why it’s not a good solution to fix your problem of clogged gutters or overflowing gutters.
Here is a regular open-top gutter and the most common thing for people to do (to fix any clogging) is go to your big box store and buy a screen.
They have different variations of gutter screens and many are do it yourself products. Some roofing companies will even put them in for you. The problem is that not only can they cause problems to your roof because they can void your roof’s warranty if they go up under the shingle, if they’re installed flat, they create what they call a shelf and debris sits on them over time. The problem is that small debris still gets through such as roof granules, seeds from your maple trees or what’s also known as helicopters or whirlybirds. I’m sure everybody’s seen the guy in the neighborhood that has screens with what looks like soldiers sticking out of their screen, which creates a problem. Eventually, the seed drops in, gets into the gutter system. If there’s any kind of dirt or debris in there, it acts as a soil platform and next thing you know, you have trees growing out of your gutters, literally.
The next common thing is to do a smaller screen, made out of aluminum. It’s going to do the same exact thing. It’s going to keep some of the bigger stuff out. Some of your bigger seeds. It’s still going to allow all of your roof granules, dirt, moisture, insects are a big thing that we see in gutters a lot of times, that people don’t like to talk about but I don’t know how many gutters that we’ve taken this product off and we could have started an ant or termite farm.
Last but not least, there’s a leaf filter out there on the market. There’s a couple different variations. This particular product does a good job of keeping the small debris out but it’s still creating a shelf. What that does is it impedes the flow. Here in the Midwest, we have really high pollen counts, so those seeds get stuck and impede the water flow. The last thing you want to do is water to be coming off the roof, into the gutter and have no point of entry to get into the gutter. Then it’s just going to overflow so we want to steer away from products like that.
That’s where K-Guard was invented, to solve all those problems. We’re going to allow at least 22 inches of rain per hour into the gutter system. We’re also going to shed all kinds of debris from your roof granules, leaves, debris. What you want is for any roof granules to come off the surface of your roof, hit the surface and then when the wind blows it falls off the actual house. The problem with filters is it’s hard for granules to move because it’s getting caught in the actual surgical stainless steel.
The last thing I did want to talk about before I left was warranties. With K-Guard you get a lifetime no clog warranty. You’re never going to have to paint it. It’s never going to fall away from the house. It’s never going to pull away from your fascia boards on your house. The problem with filters and cover warranties, if you read the fine print, it says you need to take a fine tooth brush, like a toothbrush and scrub them periodically to clean them. That doesn’t sound like it’s maintenance free to me. K-Guard is really truly, the only maintenance free option out there on the market so give us a call today. Thanks for tuning in and for more information, visit our website at www.kguardheartland.com
