Product Reviews

GutterDome Gutter Guard Test Results — NCR Consumer Advocacy Group

The 24-month comparison test above is the review that put GutterDome in front of the other ten brands it tested. Its findings and the ratings that followed are summarised on this page from the report itself.

The NCR Consumer Advocacy Group’s original review pages are no longer online; the reports are held in our records and summarised above.

Bobby’s Best — Gutter Guard Review

There is a phrase that I often hear about the two certainties in life; one being death and the other being taxes. To that, I would add a third, which is having to clean leaves in the fall. While I love the big oak trees that surround our house, the leaves are a lot of work to get off of the lawn and become even more problematic when they clog up the gutters. Oak trees also have additional droppings in the spring, which makes cleaning out the gutters in our neighborhood a 2-3 times a year project. When the gutters get clogged, the water that pours down the side of the house can also cause leaks or expensive ice dams in the winter. While I am comfortable cleaning some of the first floor gutters myself, the ones on the 2nd and 3rd story of our house are beyond my safe reach. After paying a few hundred dollars each year for professional gutter cleaning, I decided to try another route and test out a permanent gutter cover. These products are designed to cover the gutter allowing water to flow through, but not debris. The nice folks at GutterDome provided us with a sample of their product and we had it installed by ASG Seamless Gutters, who did a great job.

I regularly receive tons of direct mailings from gutter cover companies, but a majority of the products that these companies sell are ridiculously expensive for the cheap plastic that they are made from. One of the main differences of the GutterDome product is the construction, which is comprised of surgical grade stainless steel bars with wire mesh that prevents debris from entering your rain gutters. The construction is solid and the product fastens to the front lip of your existing rain gutters with self-drilling screws and goes in quickly. It is also not something that you really notice once it is installed, due to it's low profile.

After a few months of testing and some major rain storms, I have been impressed with the product. It seems to work very well and has held in place. The debris that would otherwise end up in the gutter simply rolls off the roof when it rains. The only thing I would caution is that you may need to make some changes with stacked gutters (ie downspouts that bring water from one roof down to a lower roof). The reason is that if the downspout from the higher roof dumps out too close to the edge and is pointed downhill, the flow of water will be too fast for the GutterDome (or any gutter cover) to digest and the water will run over the cover to where you may not want it. The two solutions to this problem are to connect the downspout directly into the lower gutter or have it go across the roof at a 90 degree angle to spread out the flow, so that it can be absorbed.

The average installed price on GutterDome ranges from $14/ft - $24/ft depending on several factors including stories, roof condition, access, conditions of gutters, etc. and the final price is determined by the Authorized Dealer doing the installation. With an average cost of $2,000 - $3,000 for an entire house, you will be looking at a 5-10 year return on investment. Although it can be pricey, you will never have to deal with cleaning your gutters again, which is something I am very much looking forward to crossing off of my to do list.

Reviewed on a real home over several months of storm testing. The original bobbysbest.com page is no longer online.

Dad Does It — Can a Boring Product Still be Incredibly Useful?

GutterDome Review: Can a Boring Product Still be Incredibly Useful? Some products are exciting, fun and a thrill to own. Well guess what? Today we have a special treat, our review of a product that is NOT exciting, NOT fun in

any way and really NOT a thrill to own. Wait don't hit that back button on the browser yet, the product may not be any of those things, but it is incredibly useful. Today we are reviewing GutterDome, a cover for your gutters that keeps out twigs, leaves and anything else that might clog up your gutters. I know, clearly not the most sexy of products, but because of its potential usefulness for Dads and Moms, we decided to take a look.

What Makes GutterDome Different Than All The Other Gutter Covers? As the video shows, GutterDome is a cover for your gutters that keeps out leaves and other debris. The idea of putting something over your gutters to prevent clogs is not new, but GutterDome does have some unique features. First, the GutterDome itself is incredibly solid, constructed from the highest quality 6063 extruded aluminum that has been tempered to a T5 strength. They also use a clear anodizing process (Anodic Oxidation) that creates a layer of oxide that protects the extruded aluminum and makes it immune to corrosion. Finally, that steel mesh you see in the video is actually made of a fine plain weave surgical-grade stainless steel. No, I don't know exactly what all those specs mean, but I do know that GutterDome feels really solid and it is clearly built to last.

Does the GutterDome Really Work? When GutterDome first contacted us asking for a review we explained that we never review a product we have not had a chance to test in a real world setting. We figured that would be the end to that, it was not like they were going to come and install some GutterDome so we could do our review -- right? Wrong! Much to our surprise, the folks behind GutterDome agreed to install a few pieces so we could test it out. This was a clear indication that GutterDome, Inc. really believed in their product. We have had no shortage of crazy rain storms, so we have been able to see the GutterDome in action in the pouring rain. The results from the GutterDome have been very impressive. It really does appear that nothing gets through that steel mesh, except rain water. The mesh is very fine, so even little gravel pieces or very small debris did not make it into our gutters. As the video shows, we also did a number of tests on the ground. We would cover a section of GutterDome in debris and then spray a hose on it. We were never able to get any debris to go through the mesh. We also did some torture testing -- banging on the mesh and running twigs against it -- to see if it would tear or rip. I guess that surgical-grade steel mesh is super strong, because we could not tear it.

Dad's, Don't You Have Better and Less Risky Thing to Do Than Clean Your Gutters? You may ask, why are we even talking about something as boring as gutter covers? Fair question. Yes, getting domes on your gutters is not exactly thrilling. However, never having to clean your gutters again -that is exciting. Also, just think of the fun things you could do instead of climbing on a ladder every year and pulling gross wet leaves out of your gutters. Oh, and did we mention GutterDome could save your life? Well, not exactly -- but it turns out anything that keeps you off a ladder can be considered a life saver. Consumer Reports writes that every year there are roughly 180,000 emergency-room visits and 150 deaths associated with household ladder use. Wow, I think I may just throw out my ladder and learn to levitate.

What Does GutterDome Cost? Figuring out the exact cost of GutterDome can be challenging. GutterDome needs to be installed by an Authorized Dealer and a number of factors determine the final price (roofing material, condition of roofing material, roof access, condition of existing rain gutter system, etc). GutterDome did tell us that the average cost for an installation is about $2,000 -- $3,000. At this price, it will take 5-10 years to offset the cost of hiring a company to clean your gutters each year. For people who don't have to clean their gutters each year, the price of the GutterDome may be a deal breaker. On the other hand, if you live in an area where cleaning your gutters is a yearly (or more) experience, the idea of never having to think about your gutters again may be very appealing.

Conclusion Does GutterDome stop leaves and debris from clogging your gutters? Yes, yes it does. Do you need GutterDome? That depends. If you have no problem cleaning your gutters or hiring someone to clean your gutters on an ongoing basis, then you don't need GutterDome. If you nd it appealing to never have to worry about your gutters again and instead would like to spend your time on more enjoyable things, then GutterDome is a great solution.

Full disclosure as published: the reviewer received a section of GutterDome to test and received no money for the review.

HomeAdditionPlus.com — Prevent Leaves, Pine Needles and Other Debris from Clogging Your Rain Gutters

If you have rain gutters without gutter domes installed on top of them you're probably finding yourself several times a year cleaning and unclogging them. Even worse, if your rain gutters are uncovered and you're not cleaning them out regularly you may be exposing your home's fascia and soffit boards to water damage and mold growth. Also, in colder climates, rain gutters without gutter shields, and that are not cleaned out regularly, can lead to major ice dams and gutter and roof damage during the winter months. Clogged gutters can also lead to erosion around the foundation and even basement water problems. Living in New Hampshire I've personally seen many of these types of problems with uncovered and clogged rain gutters.

Not only is cleaning out gutters a time consuming process, it's also a dirty business and dangerous. By installing gutter domes on top of your rain gutter system you can prevent from having to deal with these hassles and risks. Gutter shields or gutter domes are also easy to install.

Gutter shields simply slide up underneath the bottom row of shingles and are held into place over the rain gutters with self drilling screws that screw into the outer surface area of the gutters. GutterDome, Inc. for example offers a gutter shield product that can be used on wood, plastic, vinyl, galvanized steel, copper or aluminum gutters. Their gutter dome product also fits on various shapes and rain gutter widths including 4-5 inch and 6-7 inch wide gutters. In addition, their gutter dome product is manufactured out of surgical grade stainless steel so it won't rust.

With gutter shields the only maintenance required is to occasionally hose or blow off any residual debris that may adhere to the top surface of the gutter domes. And, if for any reason you still need or feel compelled to clean the rain gutters, all you need to do is grab a screwdriver and remove the few screws that hold the gutter domes in place. So stop climbing ladders to dig out water soaked leaves and pine needles from your rain gutters and install gutter domes. You'll save yourself time and money in the long run and even more importantly protect one of your biggest financial investments, your home.

Reproduced from the original article, which is still published at homeadditionplus.com.