Gutter Guard: Gutter Protection
The season of clogged gutters is upon us, and here at Sensible Home Products we want to take a moment to talk about Gutter Gloves flagship product Gutter Guard. As our name implies, we like to stick with brands and products that are Sensible – to the wallet, to the value of the home, and to the function and aesthetic they provide. That being said, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what Gutter Guard gutter protection does for you, and why we carry it in our line of home improvement services.
What is Gutter Guard?
Gutter Guard is a high tensile strength metal mesh that attaches over existing or new gutter systems to allow water to filter through the mesh and into the gutter, while allowing debris like leaves, sticks, pine needles and other such detritus, to pass harmlessly over the mesh and onto the ground below which can be raked up with regular seasonal yard maintenance. It is also low profile and aesthetically pleasing, because it doesn’t matter how useful something is if it looks terrible while it does its job. The upper lip of the mesh mounts flush to the roof’s drip edge, and runs down to the outer edge of the gutter, making a water permeable bridge for everything but water to traverse, thus preventing clogs and debris buildup, all while maintaining a clean-cut appearance.
We obsess over bringing our customers a gorgeous finish to their homes, and we wouldn’t offer this system if it in any way detracted from the detail work we do to beautify the exteriors we do. We offer this line of gutter protection because Gutter Guard keeps our work looking sharp for decades by keeping water where it is supposed to be: into the gutter, down the downspout and back into the water cycle.
Gutter Guard Safety Ratings
Gutter guards function and benefits absolutely should not be downplayed; this easily integrated system has a fine filtration medium mesh and meets UL standards for NSF P151 and NSF 372 rainwater catchment prefiltration standards, and contains no lead or lead byproducts in keeping with these standards.
What this means for our customers is that these systems are not only aesthetically pleasing, but they are the only gutter protection systems in North America that are rainwater catchment rated. You can rest assured that the water coming down through your downspouts is not only debris-free, but is also not being exposed to any materials minerals or heavy metals that could compromise your vegetable gardens, lawn or playscapes or expose your family to those risks the way that inferior systems and materials might.
Speaking of vegetable gardens, because of these NSF P151 and NSF 372 ratings, Gutter Guard boasts a certification as a pre-filtration system, which means that an industrious homeowner looking to capitalize on collecting rainwater for gardening or lawn care can use Gutter Guard as their certified pre-filtration system for water collection, and eliminate the need for a secondary filtration tank.
So whether you have a green thumb and want the benefit of storing up the excess from natures sprinkler system, or just want the peace of mind that the water traversing your gutter system is debris free and safe for your yard, family and surrounding watershed environment, Gutter Guard is the option we think is the most Sensible for this application.
What does gutter protection do for my house as a whole?
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the obvious advantages of gutter guards to the overall integrity of the home itself. The filtration of debris from the water coming into the gutter system keeps it from becoming backed up due to bio-matter buildup, seed germination, and assorted detritus blockages that could cause pooling or overflow. While backed up gutters may seem like an inconvenience requiring a ladder and a day off to most homeowners, they actually pose a more sinister risk than is first apparent.
The first and most obvious is the risk they pose to you, the homeowners, whose safety and satisfaction we care deeply about; any time we have an opportunity to keep you guys safely on the ground instead of 20’ in the air clawing gunk out of a clogged gutters in pouring rain and thunderstorms, we absolutely want to take it – we don’t even like to do that stuff if it can be helped because of the safety issues inherently involved.
The second is that pooling water poses a risk to the integrity of the siding itself, the sheathing behind it, and the framing behind that. Any time a gutter gets clogged, there is a sharp increase in the statistical risk of the overflowing water finding its way behind the siding and into the sheathing underneath. When wood sheathing becomes damp or saturated, it can become host to mold, wood burrowing insects/hive building critters, and also makes it easier for rodents like squirrels to chew through too. While we enjoy nature as much as the next group of people, we think it should be kept out of the bones of a house, and appropriate roof watershed management helps to keep the skin of the house intact to protect everything underneath.
In an absolute worst case scenario where gutters have been neglected and water management has been ignored, the framing inside the walls and behind the sheathing can even become structurally compromised due to water damage. We come across damage like this from time to time in the scope of work we perform here in Connecticut, and it is our recommendation that where it meets our customers budget and build, Gutter Guards are a huge boon in getting out ahead of the risks of gutter system overflow, and make gutter cleaning, protection and maintenance an absolute breeze over open gutter systems.
