You need to have confidence that the manufacturer will be around years later to fix any problems "All gutter protection systems will eventually fail," Carter said. He prefers gutter guards that are easy to remove and reinstall, or ones that can be flushed with water by the homeowner.
Some products, such as the two-decades-old Gutter Helmet and 10-year-old GutterTopper, offer lifetime cleaning services as part of their contracts. Sandy Smith, a Falls Church resident who had the Gutter Helmet system installed two years ago, said, "If I ever feel like something is in there, they'll come and flush it out."
A warranty would not have helped me much -- both the manufacturer and installer of my gutter guards are out of business.
While styles may appear similar, different manufacturers offer different features. Gutter Topper (www.guttertopper.com) has a patented bird-block to keep birds from seeking shelter under the top. The Gutter Helmet (www.gutterhelmet.com ) system has a strip of sticky caulking on the underside to seal openings made by screws used to secure the unit to the roof. Leaf Master (www.leaffilter.com ) has a fine steel mesh over the water entry holes.
Regardless of features, no gutter protection system available will absolutely prevent the build up of ice, said Ray Casario, sales manager of Gutter Covers of Maryland and Virginia, which sells GutterTopper. "It only helps to prevent ice dams," he said, with the emphasis on "helps."
Not everyone sees the need for gutter guards. Ann and Dan Beam of Alexandria contemplated them years ago, but were convinced that paying someone to clean the gutters twice a year -- at what was then $30 a pop -- was more economical. Today, fees for gutter cleaning can range from $75 to $200 or more for each job.
Spears of Action Sheet Metal, whose family has been installing gutters since 1974, said that at the request of customers, his company has taken down numerous fancy gutter protection systems over the years.
He said, "I would rather go to a larger gutter with no guards."
When customers ask him about gutter protection systems, Spears tells them, "If you have them, you probably only have to clean your gutters every one or two years, rather than three or four times a year, because it takes that long for stuff to build up."
In other words, don't install and forget. Every now and then, you still have to climb that ladder.
