I'm thinking about purchasing Steelco gutter screens for my house. I'm presently using cheap plastic screens from my local home store and they're not working out. I don't have pine needles to deal with.
What do you think of the Steelco screens? I know they won't stop everything, but hopefully a good rain will wash away what does make it into the gutter.
Thanks.
I had metal screeen and pine needles. Did not work. I doubt they would work any better than plastic screens. I also bought add on helmits which did not work. The only thing I found to work was Leafguard gutters. I bought them for pines and my parents bought them for oak trees. Neither have had a problem.
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I like my Steelco screens. I've had them for over 10 years and couldn't be more pleased for the price I paid. The gutters are still fully open to catch the rain off the roof and they keep out the big stuff that can clog the downspouts. They cost a fraction of the replacement gutter systems, like leafguard. About every 3-4 years, I go up with the water hose or the blower and do a little maintenance on them, but I don't have to remove the screens, just blow right through them. They are WAY better than the plastic crap, which has a wide, flat mesh and sags under a hot sun. Your mileage may vary.
My neighbor has some kind of gutterhelmet stuff on her house. Her deceased husband paid a bundle for them. In a good rain, I watch the water just shoot off her roof. They don't work very well. Back in Oct, I went up the ladder and cleaned a lot of debris from the little gap that the water is supposed to go through. That's a problem with some of them. There was also some sediment in the gutters, but not enough to worry for now.
Matt
The helmets depend on the slant of the roof so they cannot work unless the roof happens to be at the right slant. Leafguard work well (see my other post in this thread) but I will add that during the heaviest rains at the toughest inside corners there will be some overflow but the leafguard acts like a ski jump and the overflow ends up 10 feet from the foundation where it should not be a problem if your lot is reasonably slope.
Leafguard eh , 10ft ? Thats right about where it would go in my neighbors window. BWAAAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAA
Thanks Matt. I quickly received the sample Steelco screen and fitted it to the gutter. My only concern is how the front edge seats against and up into the gutter with the folding clip. It seems to me that over time the clip would loosen somewhat, and the screen would drop a small amount. If this were to occur, debris could work itself into the gutter through the gap at the front edge of the screen. Also, since the screen is lower than the front of the gutter, does debris build and pack into the front part of the screen? I'm probably over analyzing this.
Have you noticed anything like this? Thanks.
I don't think you are over-analyzing the issues. As I get older it becomes clearer to me that construction details is where things fail.
The important thing to remember is to **pre-bend** the clips. Bend the clips over into position **before** you place the screen on the gutters. If you do this, it will make a tighter fit. I see no reason why the fit should loosen over time any appreciable amount. Also, remember, NO product will make the gutters 100 percent maintenance free. Eventually (3-4 years) some light maintenance may be needed. But nothing a water hose can't take care of.
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