Whether you’ve heard your neighbours singing the praises of gutter guards, or you’ve seen commercials on TV, you might be wondering, why get gutter guards and are they worth the cost? Here we explain what they are, how they work, why they provide a good ROI, and the costly damage they prevent to your home.
What Are Gutter Guards?
Gutter guards are installed on top of your eavestroughs to protect them from debris. Throughout the seasons, leaves, twigs, dirt, snow, and slush can all work together to create clogs that stop your eavestroughs from performing efficiently. As a result, gutter cleaning is recommended once or twice a year to keep them clog-free.
With gutter guards, you never have to worry about clogged gutters. They provide maintenance-free eavestroughs you’ll never have to clean again. Although they keep debris out, they still allow water to penetrate the screens, so it is easily and efficiently carried through your eavestrough system.
Gutter Guards Reduce The Risks For Water Damage
As you probably know, your eavestroughs serve an essential purpose. Their job is to ensure water trickles off your roof and into your drain system and downspouts, keeping it away from your foundation and property. Downspouts manage runoff, carrying water down to the ground safely away from your home, even in a torrential Ontario rainstorm. If your eavestroughs are clogged however, it can lead to the following issues:
Yard Flooding: Clogged eavestroughs can’t manage rain and melting snow, leading to yard flooding. Yard flooding can lead to soil erosion and issues with your landscaping, foundation, plumbing, septic system, basement flooding, and more.
Foundation and Basement Issues: When water builds up at the base of your home, it can cause serious damage to your foundation, such as cracks that lead to basement flooding. If it doesn’t cause outright flooding, it can cause seepage issues that lead to dampness, mould, and mildew.
Roof Damage: Efficient drainage is a must to protect your roof from damage. Clogged eavestroughs can force snow and ice upwards, getting under shingles. Not only can this lift shingles up, but it also causes the wood below to rot. Standing water on the roof can also damage the entire roofing system leading to leaks and, over time, complete roof failure. It also leads to mould and mildew growth in the attic and can even seep slowly into the rooms below.
Having pristine eavestroughs helps avoid all these issues.
Gutter Guards Improve Safety
Climbing that rickety ladder every spring and fall to clean out your gutters gets more dangerous every year. As you age, your balance and coordination tend to deteriorate, making it risky to perform basic home maintenance chores like cleaning the gutters. With eavestrough guards, you won’t have to worry about climbing that ladder, as your gutters will be virtually debris-free. A fall from a ladder can result in life-changing injuries that keep you from earning a living and enjoying the quality of life you deserve. Avoiding home accidents is one of the best ways to keep yourself safe, healthy, and active into retirement.
Gutter Guards Reduce Overall Home Maintenance
Leaky eavestroughs contribute to many of the exterior home maintenance tasks you perform, including:
- Cleaning discoloured siding due to mould from water and moisture
- Peeling paint on window frames, soffits, fascia, eavestroughs, etc.
- Damaged landscaping from soil erosion
- Masonry damage
Gutter guards eliminate the risk of clogs and leaky runoff leading to damage or staining to your home’s exterior and property.
Reduced Risk For Pests
While it might seem your eavestroughs have little to do with pests, exposed eavestroughs are often an open invitation for possible infestation. This includes issues with birds building nests in your eavestroughs, biting insects such as wasps and bees building hives, and moisture-loving insects like ants and termites burrowing into rotted-out wood in your eaves, soffits, and roof.
Rotting wood also makes it easier for wildlife to get into your attic, where they make themselves at home, including disease-carrying rats, mice, raccoons, and squirrels. Stagnant water in the gutters themselves is also the ideal condition for mosquitos.
Are Gutter Guards A Good Investment?
Yes. The cost to install gutter guards is much more affordable than the cost of water damage. Here is a breakdown of how much water damage can cost over the years:
- Foundation repair: $4,000
- Roof repair: $700
- Pest extermination: $180
- Mould inspection and remediation: $3,000
- Landscape erosion: $1,200
- Power washing to remove mould: $300
These are just a few examples of the possible costs you could face due to backed-up gutters. Compared to the cost of installing gutter guards, your gutter guard investment makes good sense.
Why Get Gutter Guards? Curb Appeal
As mentioned above, many of the contributing factors to your home’s curb appeal can be negatively impacted by leaky or clogged eavestroughs, such as stained siding, damaged masonry, rotting wood, and landscape erosion. With the help of gutter guards, water issues are managed effectively, and your home maintains a well-kept look that improves curb appeal. Water runoff can also cause other problems such as heaving driveways and walkways that crack and leave openings where weeds can set in. Not a good look for any home.
Gutter Guard ROI
Today’s homebuyers want a maintenance-free house that provides them with more downtime. They want a quality of life focused on relaxation and pursuing the activities they enjoy. The less maintenance your home requires, the more attractive your home becomes. You’ll see a higher ROI in your gutter guard installation as it creates that low-maintenance appeal. In fact, according to Real Estate Witch, although many millennials like the idea of buying a fixer-upper, 1 in 4 regret the decision to do so.
Over half of millennials are also concerned about having to make major home repairs. The deal-breakers on their list when purchasing a home are often related to faulty eavestroughs, including foundation issues, leaky roofs, and pests.
As you can see, gutter guards offer many benefits. They protect your eavestroughs to help offset the cost of installation by reducing the risk of costly water damage.
If you want more information on gutter guards, speak to the Weaver Exterior team today or request a quote here.