Discount Roof | Valparaiso Roofing Contractor

Should You Use Gutter Guards?

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Cleaning your gutters can be a pain. From climbing a ladder to finding a way to thoroughly remove the buildup, there can be many complications. This leaves many homeowners looking for a way to keep their gutters clean and prevent buildup in the first place. That’s where gutter guards come in.

In this article, we will discuss gutter guards, including their pros and cons, installation process, and who you can talk to about installing gutter guards on your property. Read on to know how to protect your gutters.

gutter guards fitted to home gutters; gutter guard installation

What Are Gutter Guards?

Gutter guards are designed to direct debris away from your gutters while allowing water to enter. Most often, they are composed of a wire mesh that lines the length of your gutters. Similar to a screen, these gutter guards sit over your gutters to prevent any debris from accumulating inside. The mesh spacing is small enough to stop debris, such as sticks, leaves, seeds, and more, while allowing water to pass through and into your gutters.

There are also other types of gutter guards. The most common gutter guards used today include:

  • Reverse curve: These gutter guards sit on the edge of your roof, sloping down toward the gutters. They encourage debris to fall off of the roof, while water follows the guard down into your gutter.
  • Bottle brush: This style has bristles on top, which catch the debris while allowing water to travel through and into the gutters. In addition, these bristled gutter guards discourage animals from nesting in your gutters. Smaller debris can get through this guard, however.
  • Foam: This gutter guard is a piece of plastic that fits snugly in your gutters, causing debris to fall out of the gutter while water passes through. This style is cheap and easy to install, but it can be prone to mildew growth.
  • Screen: Gutter screens sit atop your gutters, blocking the debris as it travels down your roof. The water can pass through the screen and into your gutters.
  • Mesh: Similar to screens, mesh gutter guards have many holes in the metal form that allow water to move through while debris is blocked. Mesh gutter guards tend to be finer and more effective. In addition, there are micro-mesh options, which are even more effective in keeping out debris.

Regardless of the style, every gutter guard has the same main purpose: Keep debris out, but let the water flow through your gutters. This not only protects your gutters, but it protects your roof and home as well.

Gutter Protection Extends the Life of Your Roof & Gutters

When debris clogs your gutters, it can cause a variety of complications. First and most simply, building debris can increase the weight on your gutters. This will pull on them, damaging the gutters themselves, as well as your exterior walls, roof, and more.

In addition, clogged gutters can allow water to accumulate on your roof because it cannot effectively flow off. This causes several problems. For one, stagnant water on your roof can penetrate below your shingles or other roofing materials. This will dampen the inner parts of your roof and cause leaking into your attic, walls, ceilings, etc. Unfortunately, this water accumulation facilitates mold growth and rotting.

In the winter, water accumulation on your roof can lead to ice damming. Ice dams occur when water remains on your roof and freezes. This freezing causes ice to build on the lower sections of your roof, which increases the load and damages the roofing materials. Also, it allows more water to remain on your roof, which can again seep into the roofing materials and travel into your home.

To prevent these detrimental effects related to water accumulation on your roof, regular gutter maintenance is a necessity. Luckily, gutter guards are able to prevent frequently clogged gutters while making maintenance easier. Because of this, gutter guards can protect your roof from ice dams and water damage.

Benefits of Gutter Guards for Your Home

Gutter guards bring ample benefits to your home. As discussed above, every style of gutter guards have the potential to protect your home and prevent roof damage. Below, we will discuss the benefits of gutter guards in further detail.

  1. Protect Your Gutters & Roof: This one is simple. Gutter guards keep debris out of your gutters. This allows water to flow easily, while preventing buildups that can weigh down your gutters and pull them away from your roof. Overall, this keeps your gutters and roof operating at maximum capacity.
  2. Avoid Blockages in Your Roof Drainage System: With gutter guards, the debris is directed away from your gutters. This allows water to flow more easily through your downspouts.
  3. Prevent Freezing & Ice Damming: When water can flow easily off of the roof and through the gutters, you don’t have to worry about it accumulating on your roof. This means you won’t see freezing and ice damming during the winter months.
  4. Mitigate Mold & Mildew Growth: In addition to preventing ice dams, keeping the water off your roof also protects your home from mold and mildew growth. With moisture on your roof, mold can grow within the roofing materials, in your attic, and throughout your walls and ceilings. This mold growth can be a health hazard and also cause rotting of the materials used to support your home. Because of this, gutter guards can actually protect your entire home.
  5. Keep Pests out of Your Gutters: Many creatures like to make a home in your gutters. Birds, squirrels, wasps, spiders, and bees may be found lurking in your gutters. By installing gutter guards, you can discourage nesting and keep the pests out.
  6. Save Money on Roof & Gutter Repair: By protecting your gutters, roof, and home from everything discussed above, you will save money. Roof, home, and gutter repair can get expensive. When you install gutter guards and properly maintain them, they can prevent unnecessary repair bills.
  7. Save Time & Energy: When you don’t have to worry about gutter and roof repair, you can spend your time and energy on something else! With leaky roofs or drooping gutters, you will experience higher stress levels. To prevent unnecessary stressors, you can install gutter guards to protect your property.

While gutter guards do require some maintenance themselves, they bring many benefits to property owners. They can decrease the risk of water damage, ice damming, mold growth, pest infestation, and more. Installing gutter guards can keep your home protected for many years.

Are There Any Downsides to Installing Gutter Guards?

The main consideration when installing gutter guards is that they DO require some maintenance. You cannot just install them and forget about them. While gutter guards keep debris out of your gutters, they can still accumulate debris themselves. This means sticks, leaves, and anything else that usually lands in the gutters may stay atop the gutter guards. Luckily, it won’t be in the gutters, so water can still run off of your roof. However, this accumulation does still need to be removed to keep your gutter guards and gutters working effectively.

In addition, if gutter guards become damaged, they may no longer be fully effective. Gutter guards may be damaged during the installation of seasonal lights, while using a ladder to access the roof, from storms, when limbs fall, or on other occasions. Because of this, it is important to check your gutter guards, as you should inspect your roof, after any event that could cause damage to them.

When properly maintained, gutter guards are typically highly effective! While it’s important to keep these considerations in mind, the benefits of gutter guards are also numerous. For more information about gutter guards, contact Discount Roof today. We can answer your questions and guide you down the right path to protect your property.

Gutter Guard Installation

Most gutter guards are designed for easy installation. They typically sit on top or inside of your gutters. Depending on the particular style of gutter guard you choose, they can be more challenging to install. For the best gutter guard installation, it’s always best to call in your local roofing professionals, like the roofers at Discount Roof. A trained professional knows the ins-and-outs of gutter guard installation, while also maintaining the integrity of your gutters and roof along the way,

By calling a professional roofer, you can be certain that your gutter guards are installed correctly so that they work most effectively. In addition, the work by a roofing company is often covered by a warranty, which means they will come out to fix any issues that are related to your gutter guard installation. If you have any questions or need to schedule gutter maintenance, the Discount Roof team is happy to help. Give us a call!

In Review

Gutter guards come in many styles, including foam, mesh, screen, bottle brush, and reverse curve. While each design is different, they all serve the same purpose: Prevent debris from entering your gutters while allowing water to flow easily through. Overall, gutter guards bring many benefits, such as preventing damage to your roof and home from water, ice damming, and mold growth. This will save you time, money, and stress! For the best gutter guard installation, you should always call in a professional roofer, like the team at Discount Roof.

signs that your gutters need to be cleaned; leaves in the gutters

Contact Our Roofing Team Today!

At Discount Roof, our team has over 30 years of experience in the roofing industry. We have built a reputation for being the most honest, reliable roofer in the region. If you have questions or want professional gutter guard installation, we are the team for you!

To schedule your gutter services or inspections today, call Discount Roof! We are here to help.