Should You Invest in Leaf Gutter Guards?

Leaf gutter guards are simple, affordable and very useful devices that protect the health of your gutters as well as the health of your walls by ensuring that the gutters can properly direct the water away from them. Here are some more details about these great devices and the benefits of using them.

denver roofing installing leaf gutter guard

What Are, in Fact, Leaf Gutter Guards?

The principle role of the gutter is to hold up the water that rolls down the roof during and after rainy periods or when the snow starts melting at the end of winter and to direct it away from the wall of the house and into the ground. However, gutters tend to accumulate all sorts of debris – the wind carries dust that gets deposited in the gutters, birds and other rodents build nests in the gutter pipes during quiet, rain-free periods, twigs, branches and leaves fall off the trees surrounding the house and they end up in the gutters, too. Gutter guards are devices that get installed either on top of the gutter pipes or inside them in order to prevent the accumulation of unwanted objects and dust in the gutters, thus preventing the clogging of the gutter pipes and of the downsprouts.

The Benefits of Leaf Gutter Guards

Here are some of the most important advantages of having a Denver roofing company install leaf guards on or into your gutter pipes:

  • Enhanced gutter performance – gutter guards make sure your gutters are clog-free and directing water that could make your walls and your foundation wet away from the sensitive components of your building;
  • Prolonged gutter life – gutter clogging is harmful not only for the walls and the foundation. The clogs can promote the cracking and the corrosion of the gutter pipes as well – problems that are efficiently solved by gutter guards;
  • Affordability – gutter guards are inexpensive devices, a lot cheaper that new gutter pipes;
  • Reduced gutter maintenance needs – gutter guards can save you from a lot of work. They still need to be cleaned every now and then, but they are much quicker and much easier to clean that gutters without guards.

Types of Gutter Guards

There are many different types of gutter guards that you can choose from:

  • Reverse curves – they look like half pipes and they go on top of the gutter pipes to make the water that comes from the roof slip around the guard and to hold up any debris that comes with the water;
  • Metal screens – these types are fixed to the outer lips of the gutter pipe and they stop the debris that is larger than the holes in the metal mesh;
  • Sponge guards – this type is practically a large piece of resistant sponge that gets placed inside the pipe. The sponge fills the pipe, letting only water through and preventing the accumulation of debris.

To be able to choose the best type of gutter guard, you need to evaluate your particular situation, but all guard types are great for protecting your home and none of them is expensive.