Hi. I’m Travis from K-Guard Leaf Free Gutters. Today, we’re going to talk about gutter comparisons.
On your house, you most likely have a regular, conventional style gutter. Everybody’s tried to protect these in different ways. Most people go to your local big box store and buy what they call a screen. They come in all different size holes and different types of products. Some of them are rubber coated, some steel, and others are aluminum.
The Problem with Screens (Don’t buy them)
The problem with that it may protect big stuff from falling in there, such as acorns and pine cones. But what it doesn’t do is protect you against the oak tree peat moss and helicopters that will sit on the side and eventually they rot. Then the seed falls through, the leaf particles biodegrade and eventually end up in the bottom of the gutter clogging it. Which eventually causes the gutter cleaning that you’re going to have to have to add to the original cost, so they become more expensive. So, people have just thrown this out. They tried it, it doesn’t work.
The Problem with Covers
The next product that you have is hard surface covers. Most commonly, you’ll see these advertised on TV as well. You can also buy some versions of these at big box stores. The down side to these is they go up underneath your roof shingles. When you do that, you’re going to void your roof warranty if you have GAF or a Owens Corning roof. It says right there in their disclaimer not to alter their roof shingle application at any time.
They install underneath the shingles and up over your open top gutters. The problem is you’re covering a faulty system that might have leaks and might be causing nail rot, because water’s getting into the fascia board and you also could be possibly voiding your roof warranty depending on the shingles manufacture ring warranty.
Complete Systems
Your third option is a complete system. There’s two types of complete systems out there. There’s a one piece system, and then there’s a two piece system. K-Guard is the only two pieces system on the market. While the the original of the one piece system was great, it works off the nose forward principal of liquid adhesion where water’s going to stick to the surface and go into the gutter. They noticed real quick that the idea was great, but the size was too small.
This particular company raised the depth and made it larger, 4/58” wide. It mounts right at the flood or above the flood plain, depending on the installation. It works off the principal of liquid adhesion. The one problem about is that you need a really tall splashing cap here in the back.
Because this splashing cap is really small, what happens is on gutter runs of more than 10 to 20 feet long, they have to install a back splash to get it behind the roofs drip edge. The roof’s drip edge is there to protect to fascia board from ever getting wet. If your roof does not have a drip edge, you need to consult your local roofer. If it has a drip edge, and the gutter’s not properly tucked behind it, it will cause a problem, causing wood rot onto the fascia board. Water will go up and behind the gutter, run down the fascia board, get trapped and sandwiched in, so it doesn’t have time to dry and eventually causes wood rot. We’ve replaced this system multiple times.
Another problem with this complete system is it’s still pretty narrow. It’s only four and five eighths wide and there’s no support of the trough. On an old gutter system, you had support of the actual trough of the gutter. On this system, yeah, it’s great, doesn’t clog, but the problem is over time, because of the way it screws, it starts to sag over winter after winter after winter, eventually allowing birds to be able to force their way in. It starts out real tight and eventually just starts to sag and “smiles” at you.
Why K-Guard is the most advanced system on the market
K-Guard is a two piece system. Our bracket fully mounts above the flood plain. The screws mount a full inch above the floor plain. We have a tall 1 ¼” inch top drip edge allowing K-Guard be installed with longer runs and stay behind the drip edge. Not only does it protect better, it just looks better!
We also a rear drainage channel, which is unique via our competitors. That’s probably another big defect of the other complete system. We’re in the Midwest and install in Kansas City, Topeka/Manhattan, to Columbia Joplin and everywhere in between. We get crazy winds, right? When the water blows towards the house with those crazy rains what happens? Water has no place to go. It’s going to hit the splashing tab and have three directions, left, right, and up. If it goes up, it’s going to go right back down that fascia board again.
Here, we have a rear drainage channel. That’s made for two reasons. It protects when the wind’s blowing towards the house, giving water a place to go. Secondly, it helps prevent ice damming and icicles in the winter, which can improve safety of the property. In the winter, water comes down your roof shingles as it melts under layer below the snow or the ice, because your roof is a little warm.. As soon as it hits metal, it’s going to freeze, but if it hits metal that’s touching the house, it’s going to stay warm. That’s why they put this rear drainage channel in there, that way the water has a point of entry into the gutter system, hopefully eliminating all, or most, icicles.
The Largest Complete System on the Market
Last, but not least, K-Guard is the largest complete system on the market. It handles 40 percent more water than any competitor. That means it’s never going to clog. Other benefits include lifetime warranty on the paint and you’re also never going to have to worry about it pulling away from your home or pulling away from the homes fascia boards. We guarantee those three lifetime warranties.
We serve all of Kansas and Missouri so give us a call at 913-730-8836 for a free estimate.
