Your eavestroughs are tasked with collecting debris that may fall from nearby trees or other sources. As you would imagine, cleaning all this debris out of your eavestroughs is a tall order and can even be dangerous if you don’t take the necessary precautions.

To minimize the debris that settles in your eavestroughs, you may have considered installing gutter guards. The question is, do they even work? Are gutter guards worth installing over the top of your eavestroughs?

Why Gutter Guards Are Bad?

Gutter guards may be considered “bad” to those who wish to do absolutely nothing to maintain their eavestroughs. The truth is, while gutter guards may help to keep debris out, they still need to be taken care of.

Plus, you’ll still find that your eavestroughs will still require some level of cleaning, so these components don’t actually eliminate the work you have to put in to ensure that your eavestroughs are completely free of debris. This is especially true in the autumn season when leaves tend to fall or during times of heavy precipitation when some blockages may occur.

Do Any Gutter Guards Really Work?

Your gutter guards are only as good as their construction and installation. Like anything else, if you have cheap gutter guards installed at the roofline of your home, they may not work as well as you’d like them to. Further, the way in which your gutter guards are installed also matters. Faulty installation conducted by those who lack experience and know-how can risk your gutter guards not protecting your eavestroughs from being overrun with debris.

The gutter guards themselves have to be maintained and cleaned, in addition to your actual eavestroughs. You may find that they’re difficult to remove and clean, but how difficult this may be will depend on the type of screen you have installed. You may want to hire professionals to help you clean these screens.

Do Gutter Guards Cause Problems?

There are certain issues with gutter guards that you may want to be aware of:

Debris can pile on top of the guards. While gutter guards may stop debris from going inside the gutters, it can pile up on top of the guards and impact the appearance of your home. This will require a cleaning anyway to remove the debris.

They may not allow snow in during colder temperatures. When the weather is freezing, gutter guards may not take in the water freely, which can cause icicles to form and drip outside the eavestroughs.

Bees and birds may nest under them. If you install a gutter cover over your eavestroughs, you may be creating a place for bugs and birds to nest. This can be a problem for you to deal with.

Do Gutter Guards Work in Heavy Rain?

Gutter guards may work well with average rainfall, but in cases of heavy rainfall, they may not work quite as well. That’s because the water may be too much for the guards to handle, which means the debris may pile up and be too much for the gutter guards to handle to keep it all out.

At the end of the day, it all depends on how quickly the waterfalls off the roof. If your roof is very steep, then the water can bounce off the gutter guards.

Are Gutter Guards Worth it?

For the most part, gutter guards do work well and can reduce the need for cleaning your eavestroughs. That said, they do not eliminate the need for cleaning. Instead, they simply reduce the number of times you need to clean them.

If you do choose to install gutter guards, you’ll want to make sure they’re high quality and are installed by professionals who have the experience and skills needed to do a good job.