Gutter guards for pine needles?

[kooshball]

I have a mix of pines and deciduous trees around my house and want to get some good gutter guards put up at least on the high gutters. Does anyone here have experience with gutter guards and pine needles? I suspect that they may be the more difficult debris to shed but have no experience with gutter guards.

All suggestions are welcomed! Thx.

 

[Gofor]

I have the foam insert type that Lowes sells. The pine needles still build up on top, but don't restrict the water flow. The needles are easy to brush off, but it still means you have to get up close to them to remove the unslightlyness. They could pose a problem with ice damming, I guess, but that is not a problem here in Wayne county. I don't know if a leaf blower attachment would work because I have not tried that.

I have tried the expanded metal mesh type before, but the needles just ended up getting stuck in the mesh. Water still flowed better, but they were difficult to clean out. My sister had them on her house, but the small leaves matted on them and the water just overflowed off the side instead of going through the gutter. She did not have long needle pines. Inexpensive, but I would not recommend them.

I have not tried the fine mesh or wrap-around types. With about 100' of gutters, that is a bit out of my price range.

 

[jlwest]

Your pine trees might be too close to your house.

 

[kooshball]

Your pine trees might be too close to your house.

It is a house in the woods…so yes.

 

[junquecol]

Leaf Guard brand. Not cheap, but worth it in the long run. In working years had to replace some facia boards, damaged by Carpenter bees, House in pine trees. Took gutters down to find only roof granuales in them, no pine needles.

 

[drw]

In houses that I have owned I have had both Leaf Guard and Leaf Filter brands...both will do the job (both are expensive). I currently have the Leaf Filter brand installed primarily because the gutter seal is complete, nothing but very fine debris gets through.

 

[pop-pop]

Leaf Guard brand. Not cheap, but worth it in the long run. In working years had to replace some facia boards, damaged by Carpenter bees, House in pine trees. Took gutters down to find only roof granuales in them, no pine needles.

Agree. They were pricey ‘bout thirty years ago but have never plugged.

 

[kelLOGg]

Leaves are easy to block but pine needles, not so. I have aluminum coverings with small holes (~1/8") over my gutters; the pine trees aim very well, hit the hole and the needles pass into my cistern where they rot and cause a buildup on the bottom of the cistern. It is interesting that 2 of you have had good experience with Leaf Guard. On their ad I see on TV they address leaves but not pine needles.

 

[John Jimenez]

When we bought our house a few years ago, we had gutter helmets installed. I read mixed reviews about how the gutter helmets work on pine needles, but they have worked perfectly for us.

 

[Michael Mathews]

I have the wrap around type where the water rides the curve over the radius and into the gutter. The biggest issue I have is the dirt tends to fill the gap between the curve and the lip of the gutter. Then the water just runs off the front of the gutter. This requires a power washing in the fall and spring to clean the dirt to make them work again. They work ok, but the dirt is a PIA!

 

[jlwest]

I have a mix of pines and deciduous trees around my house and want to get some good gutter guards put up at least on the high gutters. Does anyone here have experience with gutter guards and pine needles? I suspect that they may be the more difficult debris to shed but have no experience with gutter guards.

All suggestions are welcomed! Thx.

Maybe you don't need gutters on the second floor.

 

[SabertoothBunny]

I have clip on metal wire mesh covers on my gutters, haven't had a problem with clogging since they were added years ago. So yes, covers will help but with pine you will need to clean then periodically due to buildup.

 

[kooshball]

Thx for all the replies folks! The more I think about all the compromises on this, the more I wonder how well the commercial telescoping vacuum / blower wands might work. My main goal here is to avoid waking on my standing seam porch roofs to get to the top gutters. I understand that no gutter guard is maintenance free and if they are installed it would be impossible to clean or maintain them without being up close either on the roof (8/12) or on a latter standing on top of my metal porch roof (not ideal).

Has anyone here successfully rigged up a long vacuum or blower wand for 2-story high gutters?

 

[Yelverton]

I installed some of the micro mesh guards that Costco sells and they've performed very well and were very inexpensive, ~$50 per 25ft. We have a few pine trees but mostly oaks, so this isn't exactly the background you're looking for, but my impression is that the size of the mesh would largely prevent pine needles from going through. Just food for thought.

 

[John Jimenez]

My neighbor made a two story blower wand out of regular aluminum gutters. It works great!