My advice (for what it's worth) is to be cautious about the sort of gutter guards you attempt to install. You can go to just about any reputable hardware store and purchase disreputable gutter guards. These would be the sort that either come in three foot lengths and incorporate some sort of screening mechanism to prevent the debris from piling up in the gutters or the 50 foot role of six inch wide screening that also lays over the gutter (placed under the lowest layer of shingles) to likewise keep debris out of the gutters. To the extent that these types of guards do keep debris out of the gutters they do tend to work; instead the debris typically piles up on top of the guards. I installed three foot plastic guards on my home in Wheaton and found that branches would somehow fall into the holes and get stuck there. Then leaves and seeds (along with other branches) would catch on these "anchored branches" and create a real mess on the roof.
What I understand works really well are the type of guard that essentially armors the gutter with a solid sheet of metal and is designed so that leaves, branches, seeds, etc. slide off (because the guard material is flat) while the water follows the design of the guard and drops into the gutter to be flushed away as gravity dictates. looking at these types of guards from the side view they appear something like a numeral "7" laying on its' side so that the top of that "7" is pointing down into the gutter while the vertical leg of this "7" forms a seamless surface with the roof itself. The idea is that adhesion causes the water to trickle down the top of the "7" into the gutter while debris slips right over the edge. But again, there are excellent versions of this type of guard and types that don't quite get the job done. You do want the type of guard that feels like a grainy surface because these "grains" help debris to not stick whereas the smooth surface types tend to "hold" on to some smaller debris. Unfortunately, the good guards are likely not available at your neighborhood Menard's, Lowes or Home Depot. They are typically sold by approved contractors and so are much more expensive than the guards you can buy and install yourself. But The fact of the matter is that the ones you can install yourself only change the nature of the problem rather than solve it so that would only be throwing money away. I know this from personal experience. ---------------- Bill Gallik E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying "Damn...that was fun!" To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit The New Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following Address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the new archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
