Anyone has experience using Leaf Filter or Gutter Glove gutter protection systems? (Washington: appointed, 2013)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Bottomline, I got inexpensive gutter covers from Home Depot, had them installed by a professional and plan to have the gutters cleaned every year. Total cost: $300 (labor and parts, included). Annual recurring costs: $100 until it's time to get new covers.
Yup that's what I ended up doing too. Just bought the covers from HD and installed them myself. I also got the mesh parts that go into the gutter spouts to make sure they don't get plugged up even if leaves got through the gutter screens. I probably spent about $120 in materials as I don't have a lot of gutters and a few hours.
Amazon customer review says it should be same as Mastershield.
It really boils down to what makes the most financial sense. Spending $25/sq ft of gutter did not make any sense to me when it would take me 35 years to recoup the costs. The alternative of putting in inexpensive gutter covers and bearing the inconvenience of cleaning my gutters every year was equally viable (for me) without jeopardizing or compromising the condition of the house. My friend actually has no gutter covers at all; instead he gets his gutters cleaned every six months.
So, in a nutshell, I'm sure all the gutter systems, including the one you have linked in your post, work. The real question is whether it makes sense to spend that much money when there is an inexpensive alternative.
Wow. I just had Leaf Filter out here for a quote and it was torture. They give an hour presentation on the product. Listen, I get it, it keeps the gutters from being clogged, now just tell me a price. Very, very high pressure sales. Like buying a used car off a roadside lot from Vinny. They did the whole, retail for your house would normally be five million dollars, but we can do it for just a couple of grand if you sign right now!!! I told them I am not signing today, but that I would think about it and would get back to them in a couple of days. They told me if I didn't want to sign right now, don't bother calling them back.
If you sell a high quality product at a reasonable price you don't need to do this. I'm not looking for you to take a loss selling to me, and I'm not looking to get run over either. There is a reason Carmax does so well. People are tired of this crap. I would have wound up getting it if not for the sales tactics. After reading this thread I am glad I didn't.
Wow....I actually work for one of the above mentioned companies. I am here to tell you...my product is cheaper than the first time you fall off a ladder and break something, cheaper than when the person you hire falls off the ladder and breaks something, cheaper than the attorney fees you will be charged if any of the two aforementioned happens, cheaper than replacing your facia board because of rotted and clogged gutters, cheaper than replacing your foundation of your home, cheaper than removing mold from your attic from clogged gutters. I could go on and on. Unfortunately everybody associates the total cost of the job to the two times a year they clean them out. That's not the only benefit for installing the product. If any of the products you are installing have a gap, a hole, an opening, a louvre, DEBRI will get in. Plain and simple. Any product that disturbs your roof shingles once they are installed, voids your roof warranty. ( yes that's true read your roof warrant)
Two things to consider:
1. If your purchasing gutter protection do you ever want to clean them out again? Ever? Then don't buy one with a hole, a gap, a louvre in it. What sense does it make to spend the money and have to remove what you installed to clean out your gutters. Waste.
2. Can you get a better deal by making the decision sooner than later. If its the money your concerned about, then why not take advantage of a deal they offer you. You do it every day at the grocery store, and even when you can save 1 penny on a gallon of gas.
The reason we offer you a discount while we are there is because it creates orders for the company on something your gonna do anyway, and it saves an additional trip out to the same house we just offerd the best price to that decides to think about it. Think about what? Saving money and protecting your house? I would save a customer all kinds of money if he decided to go ahead while I was there because it saves me a return trip, gas money, wear and tear on my vehicle, etc.. Plus I can go see other potential customers instead of returning to someone that I offered my best price to and they felt "pressured". Don't you think for a minute I feel pressured when you ask me to return for the same money I just offered you?
Anyhow my goal is not to offend anyone, just show you our side of the fence. It's ok to purchase something from someone you like, trust, that works for a company that has been in business for several years, is reputable, and loves you by rewarding you a price break to move forward on something you are going to eventually do anyway to protect the larger investment its attached to.
So people....have fun when we come to your house to show you a great "leaf filtering" product.
I've seen them all, and there is only one that works. Don't be fooled.
I had all three out and found the process somewhat torturous.
All pressured me to buy today, playing the whole "let me call my manager" act.
Leaf Filter was first and really tried to get me and cancel my other appts. They were the worst of the three.
Price started at $3100...then $2850...then $2600...then $1400 if I bought with a commercial job they had going on. I know I have around 130-140 feet. So this was $22/ft then down to $10/ft all during the appt because I kept saying NO. Had to kick the guy out.
Mastershield was a better experience than Leaf Filter. Nice enough guy, just couldn't explain the differences between his and the others. Price was $2800 then $2700 if I bought today. Looked a bit flimsy to me. I was worried about snow bending and breaking it. Still not sure if that is covered under their warranty.
Gutterglove had some great reviews online, so I was very excited for that appt. Product is very rigid and substantial. But once again, the guy was kind of pushy and arrogant. He said that they were rated #1 by consumer reports...same claim leaf filter used. Price was $3200...then$3000.
I ended up getting another product called Gutter dome. Very similar to Gutter glove, except the screen has a slight arch in it to help suck in water. My neighbor used them and loved it. So, I put myself through another appt. Very nice guy, who showed me the actual warranty and went over the differences. They matched Gutter Glove price of $3000. So far, so good.
I needed guards, but the experience getting them was exhausting.
I got a couple quotes and was extremely frustrated (felt like I was buying car rust proofing). I saw that Home Depot installs guards and had them out for a quote. They were fantastic. The guy couldn't have cared less if I did or didn't buy--a plus in my book. Great after care (the installers came back and changed the pitch of my gutters which had been off since originally I stalled, for free). Price was great. The product doesn't look top of the line, but it seems to be getting the job done six months on.
Let me see if I can give some insight to many people on here. I will start out being honest I'm a GutterGlove Dealer, I have been installing many systems that are out there and I also go out and fix any system out there, we will get this out of the way first off any reverse curve system I have ever came across has failed so I have nothing promising to say about any of those systems.
The Guy talking about only cleaning out your gutters once a year is blowing smoke you pay $100 or better to get your gutters cleaned and as soon as the wind blows or it rains in the fall or spring the job you just paid for clean gutter are not cleaned anymore. So a few times in the spring and a few times in the fall your looking at around $600.00 per year and the gutters wont even stay clean. only people that say its better to clean the gutters must be a gutter cleaning company and that would be understandable.
I personally have had a lot of complaints when Installing leaf Filter I'm sure it works at times but the System lays flat and leaves and such will build up on top a lot and cause problems the gutters will not clog that is true but it requires a lot of Maintenance to keep the top clean. The biggest thing the sales people say is systems that go under your shingle will void your warranty and that's just not true as long as you don't fasten to the shingle and none that I ever seen does that, that's just a scare tactic.
des doyle is a sales person or something for Master Shield just the way the describe the product (master shield) and that understandable. They mention patents and how many but a Patent does nothing for a products ability to work just a design. Higginbotham also had patents on leaf filter but sold the company knowing it wasn't a great product and now hoping Mastershield will be better and from what I see it is But for taking a large limb falling and saying it will bounce back just is not true, I don't think it would sag into your gutter like a lot of systems will but a hard could easily make that happen. Doyle talks a lot about gutter movement and Gutterglove would stop that but both systems are Installed the same way being screwed to the gutters so that's not a great claim to down grade Gutterglove, The movement would be the responsibility of the Gutter Installer But I haven't seen once in ten yrs of any system be responsible for making a gutter Kink.
Just do your own research and see what you think will best work for you. Anyone putting high pressure on you to buy kick them out of your house I Personally don't care if one or the other is not home I will Inform who ever of what I have usually leave a sample for them to show the other and call back once. I may run a special but I never push anyone to buy or lower the price to make it look like I just gave them the world, I give the best price I can at that's it. I run a 78% closing ratio on Gutterglove and a lot of my jobs I get people say they loved I didn't pressure them and call within a week to give me the ok. I guess once they got done listening to people blow smoke up their ears for hours at a time. If I'm at someone house for an hour its because of them not me, Or we are looking at cars or other interesting things not pushing product
These are supposedly expensive, but much better than the gutter helmets, gutter guards and the likes. If you have any feedback, please let me know along with the company that did the installation.
Thanks,
K
We put on gutter glove about 2 years ago. They had 3 price ranges and we chose the middle one, I believe it has a 15 year guarantee. It was worked beautifully so far. We have not had any gutters overflow or any problems. Before we had them put on, we could not keep our gutters clean enough to keep our gutters from overflowing during bad storms. It was a real pain to clean our gutters since we had two floors of gutters to clean the roof over the second floor and a lower roof over the porch and carport.
I was a salesman for a knock off of Gutter Shutter about 4 years ago. The company I worked for was very high presure with the today only deal cutting up to about 40% off the price. We had to give the entire presantation taking about 2 hours or leave the house without leaving giving a price. If all decision makers wernt there we couldnt give the presentation because the one there would always say they had to talk to the other one first. Now, the reason for the high presure was two fold, I was trained to do it that way, and if I didnt get the sale that day I didnt get the comishion on the sale. We didnt get any pay unless we sold it and we even had to provide our own transportation to the home and pay for our own gas! If you called back another day someone else would wright up the sale and get the pay. If all parties were not there I woul be working for free if I stayed.
The games were rediculous with telling people somthing special was going on right now and calling the manager over and over. I even got in trouble for closing a deal without discounts because I didnt call the manager. I worked there for 4 months and was the top seller for 3 of them but I left for a less stresfull position.
That said,
I would have trouble putting any filter on my gutter since the ones I have seen have a tendancy to have to be cleaned off. There may be better ones out now but make sure leaves and other things will not lay on top.
Be warey of helmets that atatch to the roof. They are normaly thin and bend fron ladders or snow and ice.
Leaf guards mounts on the facia board but is only supported from the helmit. The troft will sag with the weight of the water and cause puddling and bug problems.
Gutter shutter is the strongest I have seen but also the most expensave. There are knock offs that are cheeper but that verrys on location.
Look around but be patient with the salesman. He is only trying to get paid for the work he performs.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Leaf Filter
