Gutter guard projects can either be completed by do-it-yourselfers for under $200 or completed by professional installers for over $4,000. That’s a wide spread.
To narrow that range and come up with a rough idea of the cost for your particular installation, consider the following factors:
WHAT TYPES OF GUTTER GUARDS ARE THERE?
Gutter guards come in at least five different varieties. There is substantial variation among these five types, as well as within each one.
In rough order, from cheapest to the most expensive, are screen gutter guards, foam gutter guards, brush gutter guards, reverse curve surface tension gutter guards, and micro mesh gutter guards.
Having an idea of what type of gutter guards you want will help you get a handle on the cost of the project.
HOW DOES THE SIZE OF THE ROOF AFFECT GUTTER GUARDS?
The size of the roof will also significantly affect the cost of a gutter guard project. To be precise, the total length of the edges of your roof.
Or to be more precise, the total length of your eavestroughs. Or to be super precise, the total length and configuration of your eavestroughs.
Gutter guards are sold by the linear foot. The price per linear foot can vary between $0.25 for inexpensive, do-it-yourself guards, to over $10.00 for professionally installed, high-quality guards.
If you’re doing the installation yourself, remember to add some extra length to cover waste. An average sized American home has about 200 feet of gutters.
GUTTER GUARD INSTALLATION: DIY OR HIRE PROFESSIONAL HELP?
The decision of whether to install the gutter guards yourself or have a professional do it will have a major effect on the total cost of the project. Beyond cost considerations, that decision will also have a significant impact on several important warranties that protect your house.
There’s no doubt that hiring someone to install your gutter guards, or purchasing them from a company that includes installation in the purchase price, adds significantly to the cost of the project.
The cost depends on a host of factors, such as:
- the labor market in your area
- the overall difficulty of the job
- the discovery of any unforeseen installation problems
- the type of gutter guard you choose
- the layout of your property
- the configuration of your gutters
The simplest and least expensive gutter guards are pieces of plastic mesh that you cut to size and place over the top of your eavestroughs. These can be bought for as little as $0.10 per linear foot.
Gutter guards are best used with gutter girders, which are plastic arches that support the guards and give them the necessary curvature. These sell for as little as $0.15 per linear gutter foot.
The total cost of a do-it-yourself project with these materials for an average 200-foot American roofline would run about $50.
However, the old adage that you get what you pay for definitely applies here. Cheap plastic mesh doesn’t stand up very well to winds, snow, or ice.
You may start finding pieces of those gutter guards in your flower bed after a thunderstorm or a moderate snowfall. The more durable kinds of gutter guards are also more expensive.
Professional gutter guard installation usually comes packaged with the gutter guards themselves. Package deals of this sort can cost $10 per linear foot or even more, depending on the aforementioned variables.
This puts the total price at around $2,000 for an average 200-foot gutter system.
DOES INSTALLING GUTTER GUARDS VOID HOME WARRANTIES?
One risk of choosing more expensive and labor-intensive gutter guards is that, if they are installed in ways that require nailing into your shingles, they may void your roof warranty, your homeowner's warranty, or your gutter warranty.
Furthermore, most manufacturers of more robust gutters will not give or honor a performance warranty unless their products are professionally installed.
This presents the handy consumer with a dilemma: save money and do the job yourself but void your roof warranty in the process, or spend a lot more money for professional installation of the guards in order to preserve a warranty you may never need?
It’s important to understand, that while professional installation will ensure that the manufacturer’s performance warranty will be offered on the gutter guard system, it will not necessarily solve the problem of voiding your roof or whole-house warranty.
The smart consumer here will carefully review his or her warranty documents and ask pointed questions of the installer, to make sure that valuable roof and whole-house warranties are not inadvertently voided.
MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR GUTTER GUARDS
Gutter guards are not maintenance-free solutions to eavestrough clogs. You will still need to perform annual gutter- and gutter guard-cleaning in order to keep them flowing smoothly.
The first step is to clean the guards themselves. Guards that fit over the top of gutters, such as micro mesh guards, screen guards, and reverse curve guards, should be cleaned with a blower or a brush so that their tops are free of debris.
This same cleaning process should be extended to the roof itself since leaves and other debris left on the roof will decay and the resulting crud will wash into your gutters.
Guards that fit into the gutters, such as foam and brush types, should be removed completely and blown or hosed off to remove materials that have become lodged inside them.
The second, more difficult step is to clean the gutters themselves. Again, even gutters with good gutter guards can still fill up with particulates, blowing dust and sand, small seeds, bits of decomposing matter from your roof, insects, and other obstructions.
Remove the larger leaves and pieces of debris by hand. Then, using a garden hose, run water through the gutter and into the downspouts.
Some people recommend plugging the downspouts, filling the gutters with water, and then removing the plugs to get a more vigorous rinse, but be careful: pouring gallons of water into your gutters without allowing them to drain adds a lot of weight to them and might cause them to pull away from your house.
The good news is that with gutter guards, cleaning out your eavestroughs will be a lot cheaper (if you do it yourself) and easier (if you hire someone to do it for you).
ARE GUTTER GUARDS WORTH THE COST?
So far, we’ve examined the factors that go into installing gutter guards, but we should also consider the option of not installing them at all.
While gutter guards serve important functions, mainly preventing debris from filling up or clogging your eavestroughs, they can also create some disadvantages.
Installing them significantly reduces the amount of material that flows into the spouts, particularly small branches, twigs, and seeds such as acorns. But having gutter guards do not eliminate the need to clean the channels periodically.
Gutter guards can be a hindrance when cleaning, especially if they’re fixed in place because they obstruct you from getting into hard to reach places to wash away accumulated gunk.
In these cases, removing gutter guards may or may not be an option; you could clear away inexpensive mesh guards yourself, but this would most likely require considerable time and effort, more so if you have to replace them afterward.
Other types of sturdier gutter guards, such as those that are professionally installed, might require the same professional assistance to remove them, thereby inflating maintenance costs.
On the other hand, gutter guards are beneficial for particular homeowners such as those who live near ample foliage or where rain is a regular occurrence. They’re also attractive options when selling a home.
All this means that your particular situation will determine whether installing gutter guards is worth the additional costs and effort. If the benefits outweigh the drawbacks and you decide that gutter guards are the option you’re looking for, you can read our review of the top 10 best gutter guards of 2019 to learn more.