FAQ's re Leafguards Seamless Gutters to Keep Gutter Systems Clean.

What is the Job of a Gutter Protector?
Being a gutter cover is pretty tough work--24 hours a day, 365 days a year, year in and year out, the gutter guard has to defend your gutter, in all kinds of weather and wind storm conditions, against an assault of leaves, blossoms, twigs, birds, squirrels, balls, toys, and so on.
With all of this to do, it’s amazing that 90% of the homeowners with Waterloov^® protecting their gutters never have to do anything to maintain their rain gutter systems.
However, there are some homes located under a canopy of trees--no daylight to be seen from late May to the end of November. It’s these homeowners who would normally have to clean their gutters 5-to-6 times in the fall and another 3-to-4 times in the spring to keep their seamless gutters clean and free flowing that find "suit and tie" maintenance a welcome alternative to cleaning seamless gutters..

Do Gutter Covers Ever Clog?
The truth is that in this harsh environment, there is no gutter cover in the world that would be maintenance free. The questions are why and how is the maintenance done?
There are three basic designs for leafguards gutter systems:
1. Single vane type such as the name we can't mention manufactured by Cooley and Hart Corp..
2. Single vane type with built-in trough with sieve openings.
3. Louvered systems.
All others (step and slotted filter types) fall in the category of screening systems and are not considered gutter protectors because their openings are predominately on the horizontal surface where debris is held by gravity and clogs the sieves or openings.

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How Much Debris Passes the Gutter Cover and Gets Into the Gutter?
The single vane type passes approximately 11% of the debris into the gutter systems and rejects the other 85%. The trough type passes from 4-to-11% of the debris into the trough and/or gutter. The louvered systems pass from 1/2-to-3% of the debris into the seamless gutters. Of the hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of pounds of debris assaulting the gutter covers, this means that something has to clog somewhere and maintenance will be required.

How do Gutter Protectors Differ?
They differ essentially in two different ways:
1. How they interfit with the roofing or how they don’t interfit with the roofing.
2. How they get the water into the gutter.
Some of the gutter protectors on the market like Gutter Topper and Gutter ? (the one we can't mention manufactured by the multibillion dollar corp., Cooley and Hart), get nailed into your roofing which could can cause roof leaks. Another gutter protector is Englert's LeafGuard, which misses an opportunity to integrate with the roofing and give additional ice protection.

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How do Gutter Covers Differ in Getting Water into the Seamless Gutters?
How they differ is the front part. The first type of gutter protector ever invented was a single fin, a single vane; it has a single vane all the way across the front. This is present in both Gutter ? (the one we can't mention), and Elko Gutta-Guard. Water from these protectors comes off the top surface, adheres to the rounded front surface, and goes into the gutter. Literature that describes these products gives the impression of the debris being jettisoned off, when in reality the debris often sticks to the surface, and goes into the gutter.

Around the early 90's, the single vane design was improved with the next generation of gutter covers which in addition to the single vane contained troughs with sieve opeinings. The goal is to keep a lot of the tree debris from getting into the gutter systems. But realistically, if you have debris adhering to the nose, it'll get into the sieve trough and cause a problem there, right?. Sure the debris that gets into the gutter may not be as large as with only the single fin, but the amount of debris will still cause the gutter to clog. Another product on the market that uses this principle is LeafProof. The opening is so tiny it's hard to see how anything gets in including water, but it's amazing how that debris follows it tight contour and ends up in the gutter. One of several downfalls of the sieve trough and single vane devices is that maintenance has to be done. Someone has to come out, take the panels off, clean out the gutter and service them.
The third generation is the louvered system which Waterloov^® brought to the market place in 1989. There are two rows of louvers and no openings along the front for debris to wash in. Water still gets into the gutter systems even though the louvers might get blocked.

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How Do the Louvered Systems Compare with the ? (one whose name we can't mention) Type?
This type, with or without troughs and sieves, clog either the gutter and/or the built-in sieves of the protectors with debris. Result, because of the physical construction and the fact that most of these systems are nailed or screwed to the roof, the installing company must be called to send a serviceman to remove the panels from the roofing, clean the gutters, and then reinstall the system.
The installing company usually has one of two philosophies:
1. "For the $22+/ft or so per foot that I charged the homeowner to install this system, I can afford to send a service man every year, if I have to, for free to clean the gutters." And they do exactly that in which case the homeowner is purchasing a "service contract" instead of a "performance warranty"
2. The installing company in a different section of the county will install the exact same product for $9 or $10 per foot will send a service man every 2-to-three years as required as long as he's in business and guess what? He will charge--a "Hidden Charge" of several hundred dollars--to clean and reinstall the gutter cover system. Hidden because unless you ask about this when you buy, you won’t be told about this extra charge; instead you’ll be told, "if anything goes wrong, we’ll fix it for you," with generally no mention of any charges to do the fixing.

Is There an Advantage to the "All-in-One" Gutter Protector?
There are distinct disadvantages to the "all-in-one" gutter systems to keep out debris. Specifically the ones that have come to the market place such as Englert's LeafGuard and Kneutson's system (actually a two part system that looks like Leaf Guard) sold by Dixie seem "to be" and touted themselves "to be" the product of the 90's in the fact that it's all in one instead of two pieces. The idea is that if a new gutter is needed, rather than put in new gutters and then select a gutter cover to go on top, just select one unit--makes a lot of sense until the practicality is studied. One problem with the device is that there is a very wide opening in the front--large enough for small birds to get in and nest. Another disadvantage is that the carrying capacity of LeafGuard is approximately half that of a regular seamless gutters. Because it carries less water, larger down spouts and more of them are required to handle all the water. Another problem occurs when there are inside or outside corners on a house. They all have to be sealed. It’s a challenge to seal something that's already enclosed. Now with a regular seamless gutters seals are only guaranteed for one year anyway because with aluminum there is constant expansion and contraction. In summer the aluminum gutter expands and lengthens and in winter it contracts and shortens. It's simply anticipated that a joint will crack and break at which time the joint will drip. Whereas, with a gutter protector on top of a gutter, it's simply taken off the gutter protector, fixed, and replaced. On the other hand, if an all-in-one device develops a leak, it’s practically impossible to fix the leak in the all-in-one seamless gutters because the top can't be removed. Additionally, if a tree limb crushes part of the all-in-one seamless gutters, the whole length must be replaced which makes it impossible to repair and incredibly expensive to replace.

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Which System Works the Best?
Homeowners find that the Waterloov louvered system passes the least amount of debris into the seamless gutters. The discriminating louvers keep out any debris large enough to cause clogging inside no matter how harsh the external environment. And, if any clogging ever occurs, it's highly visible on the louvers themselves--no sudden surprises with an entire gutter overflowing without warning.

What Things are More Important to Consider Than the Product Catching Water?
1. How it's connected to the roof. The last thing anyone would want to do is invest in a gutter protector to solve one problem and end up having other problems such as leaks in the roof.
2. Birds getting into the gutter protectors.
3. Clips that fail causing gutter covers to collapse and fall into the gutter.

Does the Installing Company Have to Service the System to Remove Clogs?
No. With Waterloov^®, the homeowner, rather than being at the mercy of an installing company to send a serviceman, can easily take matters into his own hands without mess or fuss with what has come to be known as "Suit and Tie Maintenance." Of course, the suit and tie are optional. No more changing clothes, messy hoses, getting out the ladder, putting it up and climbing it. NO MORE OF THAT AT ALL! The homeowner simply takes his light weight telescopic pole and brush assembly, and in the same amount of time that it takes to walk from one end of the gutter to another, brushes off the offending debris from the louvers. So easy, an eight year old can do it.

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What the Difference Between Gutter Covers, Leafguards, Gutter Guards and Gutter Protectors?
Essentially they are the same and interchangeable terms. However, there is one product that is named "Leaf Guard" by Englert Corp. of Perth Amboy, NJ. and another named "Gutter Cover"