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NFT: Has anyone used Leaf Filter?

tbonfig : 12/6/2018 4:11 pm
Just had a sales guy here and gave me a quote which seemed reasonable. I had sales guys so I always start googling afterward and found positive/negative things, as you'd expect.

I'd prefer the collective wisdom of BBI for something of this import

So what say you, BBI - anyone here have Leaf Filter leaf guards on their gutters?
Ugh  
tbonfig : 12/6/2018 4:21 pm : link
Now I'm going down the rabbit hole of reviews.

Apparently these micromesh guards collect a ton of debris on top.
I have had Leaf Filter for several years  
Steve in South Jersey : 12/6/2018 4:36 pm : link
Have not gone up the latter to see if anything is collecting on top of the filters. Water still flows strongly through my down spouts so the gutters must be clear of leaves.

I remember part of their sales pitch was that they don't put anchors under your shingles like some competitor products.

Do your research but I have been happy with them.
RE: I have had Leaf Filter for several years  
tbonfig : 12/6/2018 4:44 pm : link
In comment 14207822 Steve in South Jersey said:
Quote:
Have not gone up the latter to see if anything is collecting on top of the filters. Water still flows strongly through my down spouts so the gutters must be clear of leaves.

I remember part of their sales pitch was that they don't put anchors under your shingles like some competitor products.

Do your research but I have been happy with them.


Thanks Steve, appreciate the feedback.
My dad had them on his house for a long time.  
gmangill : 12/7/2018 7:18 am : link
(15-20 years?)... He was getting a lot of moss on top this past year... also, what appeared to be plants growing thru the mesh from the gutters.

I pulled out the ladder and up I went to investigate... Moss was growing heavy on parts of the mesh.. I pulled the mesh off an found the gutters 2/3 full of very fine dirt/sand/muddy "stuff"...

My dad called a professional gutter cleaning co. they pulled the mesh/screens off the gutters and cleaned a TON of fine material out of the gutters.

the company said they would re-install the mesh but recommended against it for the reason I described above.. the mesh does let small particles thru... over time they build up to a ton of "sludge" in your gutters that cannot be washed away due to the density

keep in mind that the guards do work in the short term

good luck!
I researched them.  
Bubba : 12/7/2018 11:19 am : link
My home is surrounded by oak trees. Whereas the leaves should be a problem in the fall the seed threads in the spring are a different matter. They cling to everything and would most likely clog the screens eventually. We currently use a service that comes twice a year at $150 a pop and cleans the gutters. As of now I will just continue with this process. Bottom line it depends on what kind of debris you expect to collect on your roof.
RE: My dad had them on his house for a long time.  
tbonfig : 12/7/2018 11:26 am : link
In comment 14208107 gmangill said:
Quote:
(15-20 years?)... He was getting a lot of moss on top this past year... also, what appeared to be plants growing thru the mesh from the gutters.

I pulled out the ladder and up I went to investigate... Moss was growing heavy on parts of the mesh.. I pulled the mesh off an found the gutters 2/3 full of very fine dirt/sand/muddy "stuff"...

My dad called a professional gutter cleaning co. they pulled the mesh/screens off the gutters and cleaned a TON of fine material out of the gutters.

the company said they would re-install the mesh but recommended against it for the reason I described above.. the mesh does let small particles thru... over time they build up to a ton of "sludge" in your gutters that cannot be washed away due to the density

keep in mind that the guards do work in the short term

good luck!


Thanks - this guy was a good salesman. Freakin' got me good. Then I started looking up reviews and such and the main takeaway is that this shit is extremely overpriced (I'm almost embarrassed to say what he quoted me) and there's the concern about the build up on the mesh screen.

Thanks everyone
What's a reasonable quote?  
jcn56 : 12/7/2018 11:37 am : link
I installed something similar that I picked up from Costco. Granted, I didn't have a lot of gutter to cover, but the covers cost me $120, and took at best two hours to install.

Have you considered DIY? I would say that it doesn't become no maintenance, though - while it prevents the gutters from getting clogged, the screens themselves get clogged over time. It just makes maintenance a lot easier and prevents a full blockage.
RE: What's a reasonable quote?  
tbonfig : 12/7/2018 11:44 am : link
In comment 14208385 jcn56 said:
Quote:
I installed something similar that I picked up from Costco. Granted, I didn't have a lot of gutter to cover, but the covers cost me $120, and took at best two hours to install.

Have you considered DIY? I would say that it doesn't become no maintenance, though - while it prevents the gutters from getting clogged, the screens themselves get clogged over time. It just makes maintenance a lot easier and prevents a full blockage.


Hey jcn

I'm going to pass on the DIY option on this. We have a few floors on the house and it is not the easiest to get to some of the rooflines with one person. We have 300 linear feet of gutter, if that gives you any idea, but there is a local guy that would install steel guards for like $1,300, which is not bad given the house.

I don't even want to share what the other guy quoted.
Oof - that's not cheap  
jcn56 : 12/7/2018 11:56 am : link
I can respect the guy's got to make a living - but did he say how many hours of work they'd need to get them up there?

In my case, I did 170 linear feet of gutter. Granted, mine were relatively easy to access (given that I hate ladders, my ladder is way too heavy, and whenever I'm on a ladder I morph into having two left hands).

Are you having a problem with the gutters backing up? In my case, it was purely preventative - I had one gutter get clogged, and figured I'd do it since I'm surrounded by trees. If I had to peg a value on the guards, though, I don't think I'd come anywhere near a grand. You're still on the hook for cleaning them every season.
RE: Oof - that's not cheap  
tbonfig : 12/7/2018 12:04 pm : link
In comment 14208411 jcn56 said:
Quote:
I can respect the guy's got to make a living - but did he say how many hours of work they'd need to get them up there?

In my case, I did 170 linear feet of gutter. Granted, mine were relatively easy to access (given that I hate ladders, my ladder is way too heavy, and whenever I'm on a ladder I morph into having two left hands).

Are you having a problem with the gutters backing up? In my case, it was purely preventative - I had one gutter get clogged, and figured I'd do it since I'm surrounded by trees. If I had to peg a value on the guards, though, I don't think I'd come anywhere near a grand. You're still on the hook for cleaning them every season.


HAHA - that's not cheap? Oh man. So the guy that came from Leaf Filter yesterday quoted me....$10,700!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't that insane? Then he started going into super sleazy sales tactics like well if you sign up we can save 15%, but if you sign with me right now you can save 30%. Dude had me good though. He was a legit good sales person.

My skeptical mind thought the whole thing would cost $10K before even meeting with anyone.
Well, two different services  
jcn56 : 12/7/2018 1:55 pm : link
One guy was offering you gutter guards, and the other one was offering to bend you over and throw the gutter guards in for free.

Ask yourself this - if you hired a handyman to install basic gutter guards you can pick up from any home improvement store (I'll say they cost you ~150-300 based on my purchase), how much would that guy charge you to get the job done? I'm thinking probably not $1400.
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