Gutter Guards in Kansas City: Worth It or Not

A gutter guard is a cover over the top of the trough that lets water in and keeps the bigger debris out. That's all it is. Leaves and twigs mostly stay on top and blow off when they dry.

What gets through depends on the design, but something always does. Shingle granules wash off every roof in every rain. Seed pods break apart. Pollen and dust settle in the bottom of the gutter and turn to sludge. With guards, that buildup happens more slowly, and it's harder to get at when it does need cleaning.

So the question isn't whether guards work. It's whether fewer cleanings are worth the cost on your particular house.

Fine mesh screens use a stainless or aluminum mesh stretched over a frame. They stop almost everything, including small seeds. Their weak point is the top surface. Pollen, roof grit and cottonwood fluff can coat the mesh until water starts sheeting over it instead of through it. They need brushing off now and then.

Perforated metal covers are solid panels punched with holes. They're tough and they shed leaves well, but the holes are big enough to let maple seeds and smaller debris through, so the gutter still fills slowly underneath.

Hood or reverse-curve guards wrap water around a rounded nose and into a slot. They keep most debris out. In a downpour, though, water moving fast off a steep roof can jump right past the curve and over the front, especially below a valley.

Foam and brush inserts sit inside the gutter. They're cheap and easy to put in, and they trap debris in themselves. Over time they clog, hold moisture and have to be pulled out and cleaned or replaced.

What's growing over your roof matters more than which guard you pick. Oak leaves are big and blow off a guard easily. Maple seeds, sweetgum balls and pine needles are a different story; needles in particular stick in some covers and slide through others.

Cottonwoods along creeks and river bottoms are a problem for mesh every June, when the fluff mats down into a felt that blocks water. If your street has them, plan on brushing the guards off after the cotton drops, or choose a design that sheds it better.

On an open lot with no big trees nearby, guards rarely earn their cost. Two cleanings a year on a single-story ranch is a short job.

Our summer storms can dump a lot of water in a short time. Any guard reduces how fast water gets into the trough compared with an open gutter. On a steep roof, or under a valley that concentrates runoff, that's when you'll see water spill over the front. Sometimes the fix is a wider gutter or a diverter at that corner rather than a different guard.

Winter brings its own trade. Snow and ice sit on top of a guard, and on north-facing eaves that can add weight and keep an ice ridge at the edge longer. Guards don't cause ice dams, which come from attic heat, but they don't prevent them either.

One install detail matters for your roof. Some guards are designed to slide under the first course of shingles. Lifting that course can break the sealant strip that holds those shingles down in wind. We prefer guards that fasten to the gutter lip and sit under or against the drip edge without disturbing the shingles.

A guard on a bad gutter is still a bad gutter. If the trough is pitched wrong, water will sit in it under the guard. If it's undersized for the roof, it will overflow with or without a cover. If the fascia behind it is soft, the extra weight of a guard and wet debris won't help it.

That's why we look at the whole edge first: slope, size, downspout count, hangers and the board the gutter hangs on. If the gutters are in good shape, guards can go on what you have. If they aren't, it usually makes sense to deal with that first. Our pages on seamless gutters and soffit and fascia repair cover what that involves.

Guards make sense on two-story and taller homes where ladder work is risky, on lots under heavy tree cover, and for owners who know they won't get up there twice a year. They make less sense on a low house with few trees or on gutters that are already failing.

If guards fit your house, we'll include them in the gutter scope. If they don't, we'll tell you that, and why.