Texas Gutter Guards: The Secret to Clog-Less Rain Gutters

Should you get gutter guards? For most Texas homeowners, gutter guards are worth the one-time investment for a rain barrel full of reasons. The most obvious being trees that clog up the works.

1. Leaves, sticks, seeds, and acorns.
Our great state is full of "shedder" trees that like to drop a lot of debris onto the roof and into our gutters all year long. Every Live Oak tree is a culprit (though it's one of our most revered shade trees) for losing leaves, acorns, and fallen branches. Cedar Elm, Mountain Ash, Black Cherry, and Sycamore are also common trees that shed seasonally and during winds or rainstorms.

2. Pine needle clumps and dams.
Our state also showcases several species of native pine trees that drop needles, cones, and branches. We have a lot of Loblolly pine, yellow and white pine, and Ponderosa pine across our service area. Slash pines reign from Dallas to Houston. The advantage of beautiful trees in your yard and neighborhood comes with a bit more home maintenance, and that includes caring for your gutter system.

More Reasons Why Gutter Guards are a Great Value

3. Avoid dangerous DIY gutter cleaning.
Though gutter guards cannot completely prevent the need for gutter cleaning, they offer many more benefits. Guards reduce how often you'll need to get on a ladder or hire a gutter cleaner.

4. Less damage and expensive repairs.
Depending on the type of guard installed, they can also hinder gutter repair and damage caused by heavy branches. The right style and material averts water back into the gutters instead of causing excess overflow and flooding.

5. Block access to pests.
Pests in gutters is a real problem for Texas homes. Covering your gutters goes a long way in keeping out roof rats, wasp nests, birds, and squirrels. It also helps reduce the chances of your gutters becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Best Gutter Guard Material and Style

The gutter guards we recommend are made of expanded wire or steel metal mesh with a strong aluminum support frame. They should fit snugly over the top of your guttering. The mesh allows water to pass through your gutters without allowing debris inside.

Fire-resistance is another important feature to help limit the spread of a surface fire. All it takes is a tiny ember to set off the debris on your roof. According to the Forest Service, people and their activities cause more than 90 percent of all wildfires in Texas. Keep your gutters clean to help limit potential fire damage to your home.

What About Maintenance?

Even though you won't need to clean them nearly as often, debris can still sit on top of leaf guards. It's not a perfect solution, but for most Texas homes, a leaf guard system is a night and day improvement over not having it. You can purchase an inexpensive extension pole with a brush to safely stand on the ground and sweep them off. Or use a leaf blower every once in a while. Don't forget to clear your downspouts as well.

We don't recommend plastic or foam gutter guard material, surface-tension guards, or gutter covers with large holes.

What are the Best Texas Gutter Guards?

We've tested many manufacturers and brands before narrowing it down to our top picks. We insist on criteria such as a strong manufacturer warranty for our customers, recyclable products, aesthetics so they look nice, and a commitment to constant improvement.

Senox

Senox is a great example of a manufacturer that produces some of the best gutters and gutter guards in the industry. And they go above and beyond. For example, they developed a translucent black coating for the inside of their gutters. It's non-reflective so that the human eye doesn't notice the transition from the gutter to the roof. They also partner with Sherwin-Williams to closely match their gutter colors to exterior house painting colors.

LeafBlaster Pro

LeafBlaster Pro by GutterGlove is another one of our preferred manufacturers. Their product is high quality, proven to be extremely effective in protecting your gutters, and acts as a pre-filtration device for people who participate in rainwater collection.

There are many details involved in choosing the best gutter guards for your home, like the pitch of your roof, and the types of trees on your property, size of the leaves, other debris, and tree sap they may produce. We can suggest the gutter guard option best for your situation.

What's Bad About Gutter Guards for Texas Property Owners?

Let's deal with the elephant in the room. You may have heard or read online that gutter guards are bad, they don't work, or that they're a scam instigated by the rain gutter industry.

Not all properties, homeowners, and gutter guards are created equally. The truth is that people get varying results based on three main reasons.

Product Quality and Installation
A cheaper product, one that isn't best for the property's specifications, or one that's incorrectly installed won't work as well. It will also require more maintenance.

Weather
In northern parts of the country, where they experience heavy winters for months out of the year, gutter guards need TLC. You have to clear ice dams, limit the weight of snow on top of them, and perform other preventative measures to avoid roof damage. That's not an issue in Texas.

Tree Types and Coverage
Texas homes set in more heavily wooded or landscaped areas will need cleaning more often than homeowners with only a couple of trees in the yard. Some homes have more pine trees, and needles will occasionally get stuck in the mesh. Over time, they should be cleaned. Regardless, a property with a lot of trees needs even more protection. It's common sense.

The bottom line is that guarding your gutters with the right product and experienced installation is better in any of these situations than not installing them at all.