|
News & Info
|
 |
 |
Seller Signup...
Quality Service, Seller or Tradesperson? Sign Up Now!
|
|
Home & Garden Articles
What Makes Leaf Guards Work and Are They Effective?
Thu 03 Sep 2009 - 17:19
What Makes Leaf Guards Work and Are They Effective?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Richard_Kuhns]Richard Kuhns
All leaf guards and gutter guards work with gravity. The more advanced ones also use the principle of surface adhesion.
Over a hundred different gutter guard devices can be broken down into six different types:
1. Made of metal, wire, or plastic are the screening devices. What happens is that the debris accumulates on top of the screening device gutter guard where it becomes brittle and then is crushed into fine pieces by rain fall. The fine pummeled pieces of debris then have no place to go but to fall into the gutter and gravity works against the gutter guard. Routine maintenance is required to remove the gutter guards, clean the gutters and then reinstall them.
2. Membranes, filters, and brushes installed on or in existing gutters. Ironically they try to pass themselves off as gutter protectors, but they are basically screening devices working with gravity alone. Debris falls on them, accumulates, and eventually becomes like a paper mache (a barrier to water getting to the bottom of the gutter). Essentially they are no more effective than screens. One actually gets glued into the gutter which makes it impossible to clean and the one that's a brush has to be removed and shaken or cleaned and then put back into the gutter. The others that go over the top of the gutter have to be cleaned off and it can only be done from a ladder.
3. Fin type with a solid top and rounded front nose. This type of device works by the principle of surface adhesion and gravity. Gravity carries the rain water downward as it adheres to the front nose of the gutter cover and is carried into the gutter. The problem is that a significant amount of debris also adheres to the surface and is directed into the gutter. Because there is only a single fin, this device does not discriminate the size of the debris meaning full sized leaves can enter the gutter along with the rain water. Fill a glass with water and slowly pour the water--you'll see how adhesion works as the water trickles down the side of the glass.
4. Rounded front nose (fin) with trough and solid top. These work much like the fin type just discussed--only difference there is a trough with sieve openings to keep the debris from entering the gutter directly. Ask yourself, "Where is the debris that follows the fin going to go?" Into the trough, right? And here it either clogs the trough or breaks down and goes into the gutter to clog.
5. Flipping type and rain dispersal systems. The rain dispersal system operates via the rain water having sufficient kinetic energy to be dispersed when it hits the dispersal unit which has to be located at the right position to work. The problem is that there is not enough force with a slow rain causing soil erosion around the roof line.
The flip clean system simply works with gravity. Periodically the homeowner uses a long pole to unlock a mechanism on the gutter which causes the gutter to drop open thereby dropping the contents onto the ground. Seems practical but then what happens with upper gutters that are ten feet or so in from an outer wall? And should you wear a rain coat? And what about clogged downspouts?
6. Flat solid top with rounded front nose and a louvered vertical surface. Surface adhesion and gravity are used in making this gutter cover work much like the fin systems. The big difference is that instead of having one longitudinal fin collect the water, there are two rows of interspersed louvers collecting the water. This means that only tiny debris can enter the gutter even in the heaviest debris conditions leaving gutters free flowing and clean after twenty years.
Because the water collectors of this leaf guard are located on the front vertical surface as opposed to sieves in a trough as in the fourth type of gutter guard, any debris that accumulates on the collectors is visible from the ground and can easily be removed by the homeowner from the ground using a telescopic pole and brush. Since it's not a dirty job,they call it "Suit and Tie" maintenance. Only a small percentage of homeowners need to ever do this and it's usually done in the amount of time that it takes to walk the length of the gutter. This design, by an engineer, makes any gutter self cleaning.
For photos please go to http://www.waterloov.com/Articles/Pictures.htm To find out more about advanced gutter protection--self cleaning gutters--please visit http://www.waterloov.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Kuhns http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Makes-Leaf-Guards-Work-and-Are-They-Effective?&id=2863129
Looking for information on General Home Improvement, Find a supplier at HomeWise.ie
back to General Home Improvement articles
back to all home & garden articles
|
|