Pros and Cons of Different Gutter Guards and Leaf Filters

Sponge Gutter Filters:

Gutter sponges are shaped polyeurethane sponges, made of a similar material as your average kitchen sponge. Rainwater can flow through the sponge material, while your typical large gutter debris cannot. Gutter sponges are not customized, so the fit is imperfect in your gutter, resulting in some debris flowing past the edges or into the pores of the sponge.

Gutter sponges age poorly in the blazing hot Alabama sun, and require regular replacement.

Brush Gutter Filters:

Similar idea to a gutter sponge. Gutter brushes are bristly gutter filters, similar in material to your average pipe or bottle cleaner. They require no special skill to install, are cheap, but not terribly effective. Small debris flows easily between the bristles, and you need to clean the device regularly.

They also stick slightly out of the top of your gutters, where they are not terribly pretty to look at. They catch leaves and gunk, so they look like a porcupine covered in leaf debris stuck in your gutters!

Metal Screen Gutter Guards:

Gutter guards are a classic design that sit on top of your gutters. They use a variety of materials, some are plastic, aluminum, or even copper. Gutter guards catch large debris like sticks and smaller debris like leaves and helicopter seeds without issue. Against very small debris, like pollen, pine needs, or roofing granules, they do very little. Such debris can and will clog your gutters, and then ironically, your gutter guard makes the clog hard to clear by obstructing access!

Not an ideal solution by any means, simply because they require routine cleaning to prevent clogs.

Why Gutter Cap Instead?

Off-the-shelf gutter protection systems force you to make tradeoffs that you would rather avoid. Leaf filters that sit over your gutters, and needs to have fine enough of a filter to catch even the smallest debris, while being large enough to allow water through. Once the fine mesh is covered by leaves, during a storm for instance, the filter prevents normal water flow. That’s not the goal – quite the opposite, actually! The basic design of the leaf filter prevents it from being reliably effective.

That’s why we designed the Gutter Cap! The cap itself is solidly built alloy, with a small hump on top. Water flows directly over the hump, using surface tension to slightly stick to the surface, and flows harmlessly and consistently into your gutters. Heavier runoff like seeds, leaves, and debris of all kinds cannot follow, and are blown harmlessly off the edge of your roof. An ingenious and maintenance free system in every way, we think!

With this clever design, you just don’t have to worry about cleaning or filter replacements. Our designers tested and retested the Gutter Cap in all conditions, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.

Give Gutter Cap Birmingham a Call

Give us a call today to see what our Alabama and Birmingham gutter protection installers can do to protect your home!