Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: house materials: gutters, snowstops, doorknobs...

[Kay (argyle]

The screen or mesh gutter covers are pretty worthless -- Some people here
tried them.  Leaves block the mesh, and elm seeds go right through.  

However, we got Gutter Topper (brand name) covers installed on our unit
about five years ago.  Despite three overhanging trees, we have never had to
clean out the gutters.  The cover is at the same angle as the roof, and
unobtrusive even when you're looking down at it.  Leaves slide overtop and
off, and water curls around the lip and goes in. (Snow also slides off.)

Partly as a result of our experience, and motivated by a $2,000(!) gutter
cleaning bill one year, last year the community installed the same brand on
about four or five additional buildings, picking the ones with trees above
two-storey straight drops.  Total bill was around $3K ($10/ft?). The goal,
when budget allows, is eventually to do all the buildings.

Supposedly Gutter Topper covers also reinforce the gutter and help it resist
high winds (not a problem at our location, thus not a factor in our
decision).  The company's video shows the cover's behavior in high winds,
compared to "our competitor's" (Gutter Helmet -- from the sample I handled,
much thinner metal).  If I remember right it took sustained winds of 150+
mph before the Gutter Topper tore loose.

Kay