Over the past eight or so years, gutter hoods or surface tension leaf protection products have made a huge comeback. These aren’t new products. The first patent for this type of leaf protection came out in the early 1900’s. They just got a new sales force behind them.

My experience is that they just plain old don’t work. I’m not picking on any one style of hood, and I have personally talked to people who love them. But the bottom line for me is that they plain old don’t work. In a heavy rain, the water jumps right over the top, small leaves and debris can follow the curve of the hood just as well as water can, the inside miters are awful and they create a huge ledge for debris to sit on.

Some hood products are actually caulked down under the second course of shingles! Ive been told that this won’t void your roof warranty, but you won’t be doing it to my roof.

Small birds and especially bees love to build nests in them.

Most of all, there expensive!

In 2009, the average installed price in my area is $14 to $18 dollars a foot!

So, if your house has 300 lineal feet of gutters at, lets say, $15 a foot, that’s $4500 just for the leaf protection. How long could you get your gutters professionally cleaned for $4500? Many years!

Not only could you have them cleaned, but with the top of the gutter open, you can re-seal and maintain the rain gutters so they are at the peak of performance when you need them.

The choice is yours.