leaf filter or leaf guard?

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Curious as well, we have our fair share of leaves. I clean eavestrough at least once a year. Not my favorite thing to do. A psi washer helps.
Imo either what u mentioned will still block drainage one way or another.
 
Ugh, I hear that. To make it worse, none of the leaves come from my yard, all I have is an evergreen in front.
 
We had a guy come out from one of the national companies....I think it was Leaf Guard. He had his samples and all that. Gave his whole spill.....now this estimate was for gutters and leaf guards. They wanted $12,500 for the whole job.....and at the end said they'd do it for 10K. I politely said no. Kitty was quick to remind him of the $50 WalMart gift card they said they'd give us even if we decided not to buy. LOL
 
We had a local guy come out to do ours. They look something like the leaf filters. He did the seamless gutters and covers for $1800. And we have a 2 story house. He told us the other ones are way over priced. We have had them on for over 4 years and they are great! Don't have to clean them any more. And if we have any problems he will take care of it for free.
 
We bought Leaf Filter for our house. Best investment ever. I don't even think about clogged gutters and/or downspouts anymore. They aren't cheap, but in this case, you truly do get what you pay for. The mesh of the cover DOES let water in, but no debris at all. I have known SEVERAL people who bought the cheaper systems with the larger holes. Those holes are big enough for a leaf stem to get stuck. After a few leaf stems get stuck, other leaves get stuck behind it. Next thing you know, you have a pile of leaves stopping the water from going into the gutter, and the water overflows onto the ground. DO NOT question this. The guy behind me had those cheap ones put on, and the leaves built up on top of the gutter covers, and the water was overflowing onto the ground up against his foundation, and his sump pump was overwhelmed, and he got water in his finished basement. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling I told you. I had recommended Leaf filter to him.

And forget about Leaf Guard. The premise of Leaf Guard is that the water will flow over the lip and back into the gutter (see attached picture). During a gentle or moderate rain that will probably work, but when it is raining cats and dogs, the water will be 'shooting' down the roof, and it will shoot right past the edge of that lip and right onto the ground.

Bottom line is that Leaf filter is the best. You get what you pay for. Leaf Guard will not work as advertised in a downpour, and the holes in the cheap ones will allow debris to enter the gutter and leaf stems to get stuck.

Your choice.

gutter.PNG
 
No problem here, other than the every 10 year fight with insurance companies as to why I don't have troughs...
housesnowloadmar2014 004.JPG
 
We've had had Leaf Filter for five years or so. It works well. My wife insisted after watching me on the ladder twice a year.

We ended up paying just over half of their original quote. It helps to look shocked at the number, and keep saying no. We also got a discount by being flexible on the time of installation.
 
Here's my experience I used to do about 70 roofs a year for a property Management company including two story and commercial three-story roofs. I was not a fan of gutter covers of any kind that I ran across. we have for some applications I'm sure they work fine. Eventually debris gets under the guards it's a much harder job to do your gutters and the parts will break and your up there trying to replace the screens well it's not worth it. With big leaves on a steep pitch it may work pretty good. Most roofs needed to be cleaned off anyway. Preferred method was backpack blower walking the edge of the roof kicking the leaves out as you go granted this is Oregon a lot of rain and not much snow your results May vary.
 
harrisonm said:
We bought Leaf Filter for our house. Best investment ever. I don't even think about clogged gutters and/or downspouts anymore. They aren't cheap, but in this case, you truly do get what you pay for. The mesh of the cover DOES let water in, but no debris at all. I have known SEVERAL people who bought the cheaper systems with the larger holes. Those holes are big enough for a leaf stem to get stuck. After a few leaf stems get stuck, other leaves get stuck behind it. Next thing you know, you have a pile of leaves stopping the water from going into the gutter, and the water overflows onto the ground. DO NOT question this. The guy behind me had those cheap ones put on, and the leaves built up on top of the gutter covers, and the water was overflowing onto the ground up against his foundation, and his sump pump was overwhelmed, and he got water in his finished basement. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling I told you. I had recommended Leaf filter to him.

And forget about Leaf Guard. The premise of Leaf Guard is that the water will flow over the lip and back into the gutter (see attached picture). During a gentle or moderate rain that will probably work, but when it is raining cats and dogs, the water will be 'shooting' down the roof, and it will shoot right past the edge of that lip and right onto the ground.

Bottom line is that Leaf filter is the best. You get what you pay for. Leaf Guard will not work as advertised in a downpour, and the holes in the cheap ones will allow debris to enter the gutter and leaf stems to get stuck.

Your choice.

View attachment 1716384066
Click to expand...
What we had a demo on was LeafGuard. I have to say it was VERY high quality. All stamped steel. No aluminum. He had like a 3 foot section with him. Buddy, I'm here to tell you, you could beat somebody SLAM to death with it, too. LOL

That said, I can certainly see how a lot of fast running water can overcome it. Probably pretty easily.
 
Leaf Filter is BY FAR the superior design. Leaf Filter, the company, is possibly a scam sold by potential shitbags, and I'll explain my experience from 5 years ago:

I called Leaf Filter. "A Leaf Filter representative will come to your home". I just want to know the cost, but whatever.

Guy shows up, pushy as hell, takes over an hour, won't tell me the price until he jumps through ALL the hoops, including using a piece of paper towel to show me how it works by running it under my sink (last I checked, paper towels don't act at all like dry leaves in water).

He finally quotes me $9000 to do my whole house. My house is a thousand square feet with single ridge roof, and a two-car detached garage and small shed. Thanks bye.

He calls me ten minutes after he left. "Oh they're having a Spring sale, it's HALF OFF, $4500". In other words, you tried to rip me off and it cost you a sale so now you're telling me what it should have cost to begin with. "I don't play games. Thanks, bye."

The next day, some other Leaf Filter guy calls. "I'm so-and-so's boss. He made a mistake, we can do it for $2500." I calmly and politely told him no and hung up. He calls back two minutes later. "We can do it for $1500, I have a crew that needs work, blahblahblah" and now I KNOW that they basically tried to rip me off for $7500. At this point I realize that Leaf Filter is a franchise deal. I call Leaf Filter, and they do not talk to customers. "Work it out with your local salesperson yadda yadda.". The guy starts calling me AND emailing me every two hours. I emailed back, "Contact me again, and I'm contacting the police." He stops.

Two days later, I decided to bomb out of work a little early, so I leave at 2p instead of 5p. I come around the corner to my house, and there's a truck full of ladders and crap in my driveway. I slam to a stop behind it, and run in the house, grab my buddies Smith and Wesson, and start looking around to see who is robbing me. I go outside and three guys come around the corner and all three have their hands in the air immediately. They are (rightfully) scared shitless. I'm 6'2" and my 8" Smith looks big even in my hands (God I wish that was true for other things).

They're installing Leaf Filters. The house is about 3/4 done, and the garage and shed are about half done. I've signed no work order.

The lead guy explains and I have him pull the work order. Not signed. He calls the boss. The same guy that's been bugging me. The guy offers to finish the work for $900. I tell him to **** off. I ask the install guys how much they're getting paid. "We get $200 per house". I told them to take all the materials to finish this job off the truck, and lay it in the yard. I move my car. I gave them $300 and said, "Don't tell your boss I gave you this money. Tell him you finished the work and he owes you for the job, and I'll handle him later. Even if he stiffs you, you got paid extra, did less work, and I'll finish it myself. If he stiffs you, call me. Now get lost and don't do another job without a signed contract or next guy might not have the self restraint I have." They peeled outta there like someone was putting out a fire on their asses with a pitchfork.

The guy called, threatened legal action, and laughed so hard I almost busted a ********. I told him to fax me the signed work order and I'd pay him $9k. I called Leaf Filter and said I had it installed and wanted to file a warranty claim over improper install, and even with photos they said, "Not our problem, take it up with your local installer.".

After 5 years, several pieces have warped in the sun (it's extruded vinyl). The stainless screens work well enough but in a harder rain, lots of the water still just runs over the side and then it's like you have no gutter at all. I hate to think about if that's back-flowing against my fascia boards. If I remove it, I have visible holes in my gutters. They did NOT do a good job installing it and it's clear, they assume you'll never climb another ladder if you pay to install it.

And I remember the salesman telling me that 'they wipe out every gutter before they install it'. He clearly mistook me for someone that doesn't think to check on **** like that. All the trash in my gutters was still there, except it was now trapped under their 'system'.

Like I said, I like their design, the vinyl extrusions said 'made in USA' on them, and the concept is sound, but there is a LOT of MLM going on and you REALLY need to know who is selling/installing the product. It's WAY TOO EASY to get some fly-by-night assholes that aren't really responsible to Leaf Filter in any way.
 
jos51700 said:
Leaf Filter is BY FAR the superior design. Leaf Filter, the company, is possibly a scam sold by potential shitbags, and I'll explain my experience from 5 years ago:

I called Leaf Filter. "A Leaf Filter representative will come to your home". I just want to know the cost, but whatever.

Guy shows up, pushy as hell, takes over an hour, won't tell me the price until he jumps through ALL the hoops, including using a piece of paper towel to show me how it works by running it under my sink (last I checked, paper towels don't act at all like dry leaves in water).

He finally quotes me $9000 to do my whole house. My house is a thousand square feet with single ridge roof, and a two-car detached garage and small shed. Thanks bye.

He calls me ten minutes after he left. "Oh they're having a Spring sale, it's HALF OFF, $4500". In other words, you tried to rip me off and it cost you a sale so now you're telling me what it should have cost to begin with. "I don't play games. Thanks, bye."

The next day, some other Leaf Filter guy calls. "I'm so-and-so's boss. He made a mistake, we can do it for $2500." I calmly and politely told him no and hung up. He calls back two minutes later. "We can do it for $1500, I have a crew that needs work, blahblahblah" and now I KNOW that they basically tried to rip me off for $7500. At this point I realize that Leaf Filter is a franchise deal. I call Leaf Filter, and they do not talk to customers. "Work it out with your local salesperson yadda yadda.". The guy starts calling me AND emailing me every two hours. I emailed back, "Contact me again, and I'm contacting the police." He stops.

Two days later, I decided to bomb out of work a little early, so I leave at 2p instead of 5p. I come around the corner to my house, and there's a truck full of ladders and crap in my driveway. I slam to a stop behind it, and run in the house, grab my buddies Smith and Wesson, and start looking around to see who is robbing me. I go outside and three guys come around the corner and all three have their hands in the air immediately. They are (rightfully) scared shitless. I'm 6'2" and my 8" Smith looks big even in my hands (God I wish that was true for other things).

They're installing Leaf Filters. The house is about 3/4 done, and the garage and shed are about half done. I've signed no work order.

The lead guy explains and I have him pull the work order. Not signed. He calls the boss. The same guy that's been bugging me. The guy offers to finish the work for $900. I tell him to **** off. I ask the install guys how much they're getting paid. "We get $200 per house". I told them to take all the materials to finish this job off the truck, and lay it in the yard. I move my car. I gave them $300 and said, "Don't tell your boss I gave you this money. Tell him you finished the work and he owes you for the job, and I'll handle him later. Even if he stiffs you, you got paid extra, did less work, and I'll finish it myself. If he stiffs you, call me. Now get lost and don't do another job without a signed contract or next guy might not have the self restraint I have." They peeled outta there like someone was putting out a fire on their asses with a pitchfork.

The guy called, threatened legal action, and laughed so hard I almost busted a ********. I told him to fax me the signed work order and I'd pay him $9k. I called Leaf Filter and said I had it installed and wanted to file a warranty claim over improper install, and even with photos they said, "Not our problem, take it up with your local installer.".

After 5 years, several pieces have warped in the sun (it's extruded vinyl). The stainless screens work well enough but in a harder rain, lots of the water still just runs over the side and then it's like you have no gutter at all. I hate to think about if that's back-flowing against my fascia boards. If I remove it, I have visible holes in my gutters. They did NOT do a good job installing it and it's clear, they assume you'll never climb another ladder if you pay to install it.

And I remember the salesman telling me that 'they wipe out every gutter before they install it'. He clearly mistook me for someone that doesn't think to check on **** like that. All the trash in my gutters was still there, except it was now trapped under their 'system'.

Like I said, I like their design, the vinyl extrusions said 'made in USA' on them, and the concept is sound, but there is a LOT of MLM going on and you REALLY need to know who is selling/installing the product. It's WAY TOO EASY to get some fly-by-night assholes that aren't really responsible to Leaf Filter in any way.
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DAMN!

1742955397553.gif
 
jos51700 said:
Leaf Filter is BY FAR the superior design. Leaf Filter, the company, is possibly a scam sold by potential shitbags, and I'll explain my experience from 5 years ago:

I called Leaf Filter. "A Leaf Filter representative will come to your home". I just want to know the cost, but whatever.

Guy shows up, pushy as hell, takes over an hour, won't tell me the price until he jumps through ALL the hoops, including using a piece of paper towel to show me how it works by running it under my sink (last I checked, paper towels don't act at all like dry leaves in water).

He finally quotes me $9000 to do my whole house. My house is a thousand square feet with single ridge roof, and a two-car detached garage and small shed. Thanks bye.

He calls me ten minutes after he left. "Oh they're having a Spring sale, it's HALF OFF, $4500". In other words, you tried to rip me off and it cost you a sale so now you're telling me what it should have cost to begin with. "I don't play games. Thanks, bye."

The next day, some other Leaf Filter guy calls. "I'm so-and-so's boss. He made a mistake, we can do it for $2500." I calmly and politely told him no and hung up. He calls back two minutes later. "We can do it for $1500, I have a crew that needs work, blahblahblah" and now I KNOW that they basically tried to rip me off for $7500. At this point I realize that Leaf Filter is a franchise deal. I call Leaf Filter, and they do not talk to customers. "Work it out with your local salesperson yadda yadda.". The guy starts calling me AND emailing me every two hours. I emailed back, "Contact me again, and I'm contacting the police." He stops.

Two days later, I decided to bomb out of work a little early, so I leave at 2p instead of 5p. I come around the corner to my house, and there's a truck full of ladders and crap in my driveway. I slam to a stop behind it, and run in the house, grab my buddies Smith and Wesson, and start looking around to see who is robbing me. I go outside and three guys come around the corner and all three have their hands in the air immediately. They are (rightfully) scared shitless. I'm 6'2" and my 8" Smith looks big even in my hands (God I wish that was true for other things).

They're installing Leaf Filters. The house is about 3/4 done, and the garage and shed are about half done. I've signed no work order.

The lead guy explains and I have him pull the work order. Not signed. He calls the boss. The same guy that's been bugging me. The guy offers to finish the work for $900. I tell him to **** off. I ask the install guys how much they're getting paid. "We get $200 per house". I told them to take all the materials to finish this job off the truck, and lay it in the yard. I move my car. I gave them $300 and said, "Don't tell your boss I gave you this money. Tell him you finished the work and he owes you for the job, and I'll handle him later. Even if he stiffs you, you got paid extra, did less work, and I'll finish it myself. If he stiffs you, call me. Now get lost and don't do another job without a signed contract or next guy might not have the self restraint I have." They peeled outta there like someone was putting out a fire on their asses with a pitchfork.

The guy called, threatened legal action, and laughed so hard I almost busted a ********. I told him to fax me the signed work order and I'd pay him $9k. I called Leaf Filter and said I had it installed and wanted to file a warranty claim over improper install, and even with photos they said, "Not our problem, take it up with your local installer.".

After 5 years, several pieces have warped in the sun (it's extruded vinyl). The stainless screens work well enough but in a harder rain, lots of the water still just runs over the side and then it's like you have no gutter at all. I hate to think about if that's back-flowing against my fascia boards. If I remove it, I have visible holes in my gutters. They did NOT do a good job installing it and it's clear, they assume you'll never climb another ladder if you pay to install it.

And I remember the salesman telling me that 'they wipe out every gutter before they install it'. He clearly mistook me for someone that doesn't think to check on **** like that. All the trash in my gutters was still there, except it was now trapped under their 'system'.

Like I said, I like their design, the vinyl extrusions said 'made in USA' on them, and the concept is sound, but there is a LOT of MLM going on and you REALLY need to know who is selling/installing the product. It's WAY TOO EASY to get some fly-by-night assholes that aren't really responsible to Leaf Filter in any way.
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Wow! What a nightmare!
 
4spdragtop said:
Curious as well, we have our fair share of leaves. I clean eavestrough at least once a year. Not my favorite thing to do. A psi washer helps.
Imo either what u mentioned will still block drainage one way or another.
Click to expand...
Do you hang Xmas lights on your gutters? That’s something else to consider with any gutter cover. Last year I installed gutter guards on the ones I don’t put Xmas lights/clips on. This spring I’ll lift a few sections to see how clear the gutters are after a fall/winter of them.
 
jos51700 said:
Leaf Filter is BY FAR the superior design. Leaf Filter, the company, is possibly a scam sold by potential shitbags, and I'll explain my experience from 5 years ago:

I called Leaf Filter. "A Leaf Filter representative will come to your home". I just want to know the cost, but whatever.

Guy shows up, pushy as hell, takes over an hour, won't tell me the price until he jumps through ALL the hoops, including using a piece of paper towel to show me how it works by running it under my sink (last I checked, paper towels don't act at all like dry leaves in water).

He finally quotes me $9000 to do my whole house. My house is a thousand square feet with single ridge roof, and a two-car detached garage and small shed. Thanks bye.

He calls me ten minutes after he left. "Oh they're having a Spring sale, it's HALF OFF, $4500". In other words, you tried to rip me off and it cost you a sale so now you're telling me what it should have cost to begin with. "I don't play games. Thanks, bye."

The next day, some other Leaf Filter guy calls. "I'm so-and-so's boss. He made a mistake, we can do it for $2500." I calmly and politely told him no and hung up. He calls back two minutes later. "We can do it for $1500, I have a crew that needs work, blahblahblah" and now I KNOW that they basically tried to rip me off for $7500. At this point I realize that Leaf Filter is a franchise deal. I call Leaf Filter, and they do not talk to customers. "Work it out with your local salesperson yadda yadda.". The guy starts calling me AND emailing me every two hours. I emailed back, "Contact me again, and I'm contacting the police." He stops.

Two days later, I decided to bomb out of work a little early, so I leave at 2p instead of 5p. I come around the corner to my house, and there's a truck full of ladders and crap in my driveway. I slam to a stop behind it, and run in the house, grab my buddies Smith and Wesson, and start looking around to see who is robbing me. I go outside and three guys come around the corner and all three have their hands in the air immediately. They are (rightfully) scared shitless. I'm 6'2" and my 8" Smith looks big even in my hands (God I wish that was true for other things).

They're installing Leaf Filters. The house is about 3/4 done, and the garage and shed are about half done. I've signed no work order.

The lead guy explains and I have him pull the work order. Not signed. He calls the boss. The same guy that's been bugging me. The guy offers to finish the work for $900. I tell him to **** off. I ask the install guys how much they're getting paid. "We get $200 per house". I told them to take all the materials to finish this job off the truck, and lay it in the yard. I move my car. I gave them $300 and said, "Don't tell your boss I gave you this money. Tell him you finished the work and he owes you for the job, and I'll handle him later. Even if he stiffs you, you got paid extra, did less work, and I'll finish it myself. If he stiffs you, call me. Now get lost and don't do another job without a signed contract or next guy might not have the self restraint I have." They peeled outta there like someone was putting out a fire on their asses with a pitchfork.

The guy called, threatened legal action, and laughed so hard I almost busted a ********. I told him to fax me the signed work order and I'd pay him $9k. I called Leaf Filter and said I had it installed and wanted to file a warranty claim over improper install, and even with photos they said, "Not our problem, take it up with your local installer.".

After 5 years, several pieces have warped in the sun (it's extruded vinyl). The stainless screens work well enough but in a harder rain, lots of the water still just runs over the side and then it's like you have no gutter at all. I hate to think about if that's back-flowing against my fascia boards. If I remove it, I have visible holes in my gutters. They did NOT do a good job installing it and it's clear, they assume you'll never climb another ladder if you pay to install it.

And I remember the salesman telling me that 'they wipe out every gutter before they install it'. He clearly mistook me for someone that doesn't think to check on **** like that. All the trash in my gutters was still there, except it was now trapped under their 'system'.

Like I said, I like their design, the vinyl extrusions said 'made in USA' on them, and the concept is sound, but there is a LOT of MLM going on and you REALLY need to know who is selling/installing the product. It's WAY TOO EASY to get some fly-by-night assholes that aren't really responsible to Leaf Filter in any way.
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$9,000??? wow! I have a 1800 ranch house with an attached garage, and I didn't pay anything close to that. I seem to remember that it was around $3500-4000.
 
harrisonm said:
$9,000??? wow! I have a 1800 ranch house with an attached garage, and I didn't pay anything close to that. I seem to remember that it was around $3500-4000.
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Yep. I was pissed because I knew my house was as simple as it gets and even though it was three buildings, that was still almost $50/ft. I would've passed but not been offended at $25/ft, and I probably would've signed up at the $15/ft-$3k mark.

I still have some of those extrusions. Maybe I should see if China wants to copy them lol
 
RustyRatRod said:
Yeah. Kitty don't play that mess. He tried to balk, but she was bout ready jap slap him so he got the hint and came across. lol
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Lmao... man, I am old. I had to laugh when you wrote Jap slap! I thought I was the only person alive anymore that still says that!
 
Had some put on one of the Apartment buildings the boss owns. In a hard rain its like you are standing under a waterfall. The water just shoots right off the roof. In a light to moderate rain it works well. Took them off the last time we replaced the roof and went with a stainless mesh that works well. Get up there with a hose every few years just to wash down the granules from the shingles.
 
We had 6” gutters and the fine mesh covers installed for $5k on our house, some of it 2nd story. Happy with the system so far, as we are in the pines and have a lot of pine needles every year. The 6” gutters were a must, and highly recommended.
 
harrisonm said:
$9,000??? wow! I have a 1800 ranch house with an attached garage, and I didn't pay anything close to that. I seem to remember that it was around $3500-4000.
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Sure, he could've gotten it for $1,500 after all the desperate attempts to make the sale.

Similar thing happened to us, quoted something like $15k then just kept dropping the price.

They call every once in awhile, I don't answer, what a joke of a company.
 
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