Every year there are approximately 630,000 non-occupational ladder falls per year.
Most of these ladder falls stem from homeowners looking to get higher in a room, but more often than not, climbing a ladder to fix something on the outside of their home.
Whether they’re placing lights on their roof, painting an old shutter, or the most common – cleaning their gutters out – ladder falls are nothing to play with. And we share this not to scare you, but to let you know that there is an easy fix when it comes to you and your ladder safety:
Stay off the ladder.
In all seriousness, the older we get the best it is to avoid dicey situations such as ladders. Anything over ten feet can lead to some severe injuries even if we think we have the situation under control.
With most gutters being well over ten feet, the trick to staying off the ladder when it comes to gutter cleaning is having the right leaf protection. Today, we will discuss just that – what is the best leaf protection option for your home’s gutters?
Leaf Protection for Your Gutters
Table of Contents
When we were kids we loved leaves.
Raking them to jump in the piles, taking them into school to paint, and watching them fall from the trees was something to remember. However, our love for leaves changes when we have to clean them out of a gutter.
The dry, brittle, and once colorful leaves take on a new appearance when they become saturated and wedged in our home’s gutters. Not to mention, leaves can cause an assortment of issues for our home’s stormwater management system including:
- Gutter issues (gutters falling, needing to be replaced)
- Mosquitoes
- Water overflowing
- Erosion
- See why keeping your gutters cleaned is vital here.
This is why our once love but not hate relationship with leaves is so important to bring up. Without clean gutters, these seemingly insignificant leaves can cause some major issues if not taken care of each fall.
That is why gutter cleaning is recommended two times per year if you’re a homeowner. But at about $300 per year, the question remains, is it worth paying someone to clean your gutters or is it better to do it yourself?
Or better yet, should you add leaf protection to your gutters?
Related: Read Why Gutters Are Vital here.
What leaf protection does:
Not all leaf protection is created equally, something we will cover in a few.
When it comes to your home’s rain gutters, what they do very well is collect large amounts of rainwater, channeling them down the gutter trough to the downspouts, where that rainwater is then dispersed appropriately.
However, as we mentioned earlier sometimes during this (like the video shows below) this can all be interrupted by the presence of leaves collecting in your gutters. In a matter of days enough leaves can accumulate in your gutters to cause damage.
Wet leaves become very heavy and can back up your gutters/downspouts. This backup means your gutters are holding water, not draining it – hence why some homeowners opt for leaf protection for their rain gutters!
Leaf Protection
Leaf Protection for your gutters is exactly that – it’s a form of protection that will keep leaves out of your gutters. While there are different types of leaf protection, your options typically include “Gutter guards.”
Gutter guards can come in several forms including screen guards, surface tension gutter guards, and fine mesh gutter guards. While the materials and design of each can vary, of the three, surface tension guards are your best bet.
Screens are the cheapest, but they also end up causing more issues and it’s better to simply have your gutters cleaned. Fine mesh guards can be stronger, but they are often flat and leaves accumulate on them too, so what is the point in protecting your gutters from leaves if you have to clean the leaf protectors?
That is why we will explain your best option for leaf protection!
Your options for leaf protection:
When it comes to selecting leaf protection or gutter guards, as we stated earlier, not all gutter guards are created equal.
We always tell customers that you need to select leaf protection that is:
- Maintenance-free (what’s the point in cleaning gutter guards?)
- Will not break easily (cheapest is not always the best)
- Has a warranty or some sort of guarantee
- Doesn’t let birds in either (they like to nest in gutters)
So while finding the perfect gutter guard for leaf protection might seem hard to find, there is one that does it all.
Raindrop Gutter Guards!
You can get a leaf protection cost estimate right here online (FREE):
DIY Gutter Calculator
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Select a Size
5" gutters come with 2"x3" downspouts, 6" gutters come with 3"x4" downspouts and drain 400% faster than 5" gutters
Choose Your Color
Please select a color that best works for your home.
Wicker
Dark Green
Dark Grey
Eggshell
White
Ivory
Light Grey
Musket Brown
Red
Cream
Clay
Brown
Bronze
Black
Estimate Footage for 5" Gutters
Please provide the estimated total footage needed for gutters on your home.
Please slide to equal total footage needed for gutters.
Please slide to equal total footage needed for downspouts
Lifetime No Clog Warranty
Raindrop Gutter Guards are an absolutely fantastic way to save time and extend the life of your gutters, roof, and home. By adding Raindrop Gutter Protection System to your order, we guarantee a lifetime of free flowing gutters.
Please slide to equal total footage needed for gutter guards on your home.
Choose Your Color
Please select a color that best works for your home.
Wicker
Dark Green
Dark Grey
Eggshell
White
Ivory
Light Grey
Musket Brown
Red
Cream
Clay
Brown
Bronze
Black
Estimate Footage for 6" Gutters
Please provide the estimated total footage needed for gutters on your home.
Please slide to equal total footage needed for gutters.
Please slide to equal total footage needed for downspouts
Lifetime No Clog Warranty
Raindrop Gutter Guards are an absolutely fantastic way to save time and extend the life of your gutters, roof, and home. By adding Raindrop Gutter Protection System to your order, we guarantee a lifetime of free flowing gutters.
Please slide to equal total footage needed for gutter guards on your home.
Final cost
Here is your final cost, please fill out the form below to get started!
Summary
| Description | Information | Quantity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discount : | |||
| Total : | |||
Why use Raindrop for leaf protection:
Real quick, if you read about our Raindrop gutter guards here, you will see that Raindrop is:
- Maintenance-free
- Has a lifetime no-clog warranty
- They actually protect your gutters by covering the entire gutter and mounting under your roofs drip edge
- Save you money over the long run
Are we bias? Yes we are, but rightfully so. Raindrop gutter guards are by far the best leaf protection option out there and here is why.
For starters, Raindrop is a surface tension gutter guard that is strong enough to withstand mother nature, but also lets the water get into the gutters unlike other surface tension guards.
Raindrop gutter guards are designed to let nothing bigger than a pine needled into a gutter, which simply washes away. This is why we guarantee them with our lifetime no-clog warranty!
Last point, the save you money!
To outfit a typical home, gutter guards will run you right around $1,500 on average (give or take). Typically this means they will pay for themselves in what it costs for annual gutter cleaning in 3-5 years!
With a lifetime no-clog warranty, this means that after 3-5 years you literally have a guaranteed free gutter cleaning forever! Not a bad gig?
>> Learn everything about Raindrop here.
The Verdict
The results are in, when it comes to leaf protection you have one of two choices:
- Clean your gutters every year
- Get Raindrop gutter guards
While the obvious choice (cough, #2) is pretty evident, if you insist on taking out a ladder, grabbing your gloves and spending one Saturday every November cleaning your gutters, go right ahead!
OR, you can man leaf protection automatic and never have to worry about it again. Simply ask the pros here at Gutter Gurus to help you!