Why Gutter Guards Fail

Gutter guards can fail for a variety of reasons that are outlined below.

1)  Temperature damage

Gutter guards made of certain materials, such as vinyl, are prone to warping and melting when it’s hot, and contracting when it’s cold. These abrupt environmental changes can have a huge effect on the effectiveness of your gutter system.

2) Inability to clear debris

The goal of every gutter guard is to prevent debris from clogging the gutters. However, often times the gutter guards will get clogged themselves, requiring the homeowner to have to clean them manually in order to keep working. This can happen for a number of reasons. One of the most common ones is the angle of the gutter guard. If it sits flat on top of the gutter, I is simply creating a shelf for debris to pile up on instead of accumulating in the gutters themselves. MasterShield, on the other hand, is installed at an angle that matches the slope of the roof so that any debris will be effectively removed by the flow of water.

3) Filter “caking”

Filter caking occurs when small particles of debris get trapped in the mesh of a gutter guard, preventing water from getting through the holes and into the gutter. This occurs in products that aim to force water and particles through the holes of the mesh rather than across them. MasterShield directs the flow of water across the gutter guards, washing away filter cake in the process.

4) They don’t stop ALL debris

Many gutter guards can stop large debris like leaves, but fail to keep out smaller things like dirt and pine needles, which can easily clog your gutters when they accumulate.

5) Galvanic corrosion

When two different metals touch in the presence of an electrolyte, it causes one of the metals to corrode much faster than normal and the other much slower. This significantly reduces the life of the gutter guards, and is fairly common in the market.