Threw $600 at a gutter guards system and now I'm climbing a ladder every week anyway

I bought this whole LeafFilter knockoff setup last spring after a big storm clogged my gutters so bad water was pouring down the side of my house. Cost me about $600 for the materials and I spent a whole Saturday installing them on my ranch house in Phoenix. Thought I was being smart, you know, set it and forget it. But now after six months the fine mesh is getting caked with dust and tiny seeds from the mesquite trees. I'm up there every few weeks with a shop vac blowing them out anyway. My neighbor just uses the old school gutter scoops and a hose and spends half the time I do. Anyone else have a fancy gutter fix that just created more work?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant_hart2mo ago

lol have you tried just pulling the guards off and selling them on FB Marketplace?

miles_sanchez1mo ago

Nah man I gotta push back on that... the fine mesh is doing its job, it's just not magic. You're in Phoenix where everything turns to moon dust, that's a whole different beast. My buddy in Tucson has the same setup and he just hits his gutters with a leaf blower once in the spring and once before monsoon season and they flow perfect. The problem is people think gutter guards mean zero maintenance forever but you still gotta blow off the surface every now and then. Without the guards you'd be scooping out actual leaves and twigs that turn into that black sludge. The fine mesh stops the big stuff from getting in there and turning into a clogged mess that'll rot your fascia boards.

the_ryan2mo ago

Tbh you just described my exact situation. I dropped $500 on those guards thinking I was gonna be done with gutter maintenance forever and now I'm out there with a leaf blower every couple weeks anyway. The fine mesh does NOTHING for that sandy dust that builds up in Phoenix, it just traps it in there and makes it harder to clean than a regular open gutter. My buddy still uses the old metal scoops and a hose and his gutters are cleaner than mine with half the effort. I should have just bought a better ladder and called it a day.