Gutter guards in St. Charles, and the houses they pay on
Many of the companies selling gutter guards around St. Charles sell little else, so every gutter looks like it needs one. The pros this site connects you with clean gutters for a living and get paid either way. On some houses a good guard pays for itself. On others it is money for nothing, and you will hear that too.
Do gutter guards work under pin oaks and maples?
It depends on what the tree drops. Big flat leaves, from sycamores, maples and most oaks, land on a fine mesh guard, dry out and blow off. The small stuff is the problem. Oak tassels in spring, maple seed and the fine grit that washes off the shingles settle on the mesh, and in a wet spring they mat down into a layer water runs over instead of through. Sweetgum balls roll off a fine mesh and jam in a screen with big openings.
So where oaks and maples hang over the roof, as they do on plenty of older St. Charles streets, a guard turns two full cleanings a year into a yearly look and a brush-off. That is a real saving on the right house, though not a gutter you never think about again.
St. Charles houses where a gutter guard earns its price
- A two-story under big trees, where every cleaning means a tall ladder and the gutters fill twice a year.
- One run under one tree that clogs its downspout every fall. Guarding that run alone is the common, cheaper answer.
- A homeowner who would otherwise be climbing the ladder alone every November.
Guards installed run $9-$20 a foot, depending on the mesh, the roof height and how much downspout work goes with them. On a two-story that needs cleaning twice a year, a guard takes several years of skipped cleanings to pay for itself. The price ranges for guards and cleaning are side by side on one page if you want to run the numbers for your house.
Houses where gutter guards are money for nothing
A ranch on an open lot, or a house whose big trees stand at the back fence, gets by on one gutter cleaning a year, and at that rate a guard takes many years to pay for itself. The same goes for New Town and the newer subdivisions across the county, where the street trees barely reach the gutter line.
Gutters that are already failing are the other case. A guard on a sagging, leaking run makes a sagging, leaking run harder to fix. Put the money into gutter and downspout repair first, or into new seamless gutters if the run is past repair, and decide on guards once the gutter under them is sound.
Why the guard that goes up is a fine micro-mesh
Where a guard makes sense, the pros put up a stainless micro-mesh on a rigid frame, fastened to the front lip of the gutter and resting on the roof edge without prying up shingles. Fine mesh keeps out the tassels and seed that slip through coarse screens and fill foam inserts. You will not be steered to one brand.
The gutter underneath gets cleaned by hand first, the downspouts are flushed, and loose hangers and leaking corners are fixed.
Guards go on houses all over St. Charles County, and the answer to whether one pays changes with the trees on the lot more than with the town.
Find out if guards make sense on your house
Tell us which side of the house the big trees are on and whether it is one story or two. You get a straight answer, and a price if the answer is yes.
Or call (636) 246-0608. You reach a person, or you get a fast call back.
Asked about gutter guards in St. Charles
Once guards are on, is that the end of gutter cleaning?
Less often, not never. Seed, oak tassels and shingle grit settle on top of the mesh, and in a wet spring they mat down. A look and a brush-off once a year keeps the mesh open; the full hand cleaning of the channel mostly goes away.
Can I put guards on only the back of the house?
Yes, and on a lot of St. Charles houses that is the smart buy. If one big oak or maple hangs over one side, guarding that side and cleaning the rest once a year costs a fraction of the whole house.
Will gutter guards affect my roof warranty?
Some shingle warranties have conditions about anything slipped under the first row of shingles. The guards installed here rest on the roof edge without lifting shingles. If your roof is newer and has a written warranty, read it or ask the roofer before any guard goes on.
Will a guard keep ice off the eave in January?
No. Ice along the eave comes from heat escaping through the attic and melting snow that refreezes at the cold edge. A guard does not change that, and ice can sit on top of one the same way it sits in an open gutter.