As we wind up the first season of the Ultimate Gutter Guard Challenge, Johnathan removed the gutter guards from the garage to reveal what was inside the gutters. In a nutshell, the gutter guards did a very good job overall keeping most leaves and debris out of the gutters.
The gutter guards were installed from March 2020 to May 2021 for a total of 14-months.
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MasterShield Wins 2021 Ultimate Gutter Guards Challenge!
The best overall performing gutter guard for the 2021 Ultimate Gutter Guard Challenge was MasterShield. It handily beat the other systems. It's ability to shed leaves and debris and absorb water made it a real standout. By installing under the shingles, it had the most positive forward slope, which helped most leaves, pine needles and debris to easily shed from its surface. It also did the best job overall capturing water of the 9 gutter guards we tested.
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The best performing gutter guards that kept the most leaves, pine needles and debris out of the gutters were micro mesh gutter guards that has the finest screens installed on them. MasterShield, LeafFilter and Gutterglove Pro* led the pack. MasterShield and LeafFilter had end caps installed or used the screen from the cover to act as the end cap. Gutterglove Pro had exposed end caps.
This was followed by LeafSolution, Micro Max (referred to as LeafLock and Gutter Love in our test videos), Gutterglove Easy-on, and Homecraft / HydroShield micro mesh gutter guards. The latter 4 gutter guards had more porous screens than the top performers.
LeaFree allowed the most material inside the gutter because it has a slot/channel across the front of the gutter panel. It many regards it performed better than we anticipated, but there are reasons why this type of gutter guard may not be your first choice.
As we pointed out in the video, some of the gutter guards had end caps and others didn't. If you saw a gutter guard with a fine screen on it, yet it had larger leaves inside the gutters when we removed the covers, then the leaves likely entered the gutters from the openings on the sides. It would have been more ideal to test the gutter guards with end caps on all the covers.
Despite our best efforts, some leaves and debris were able to sneak in from the sides whether or not the gutter guards had end caps installed. It goes to show that even the best gutter guards aren't perfect, no matter the installation method, environment and weather conditions.
While we calculated the water amount of debris collected inside the gutters, and we captured rainwater in buckets at different stages during the test period, your best way to judge what might work best in your environment is to watch the videos at different times of the year.
Spring was probably the toughest time for any of the gutter guards. The shear amount of flowers that fell from the Locust tree really tested the resolve of the gutter guards shortly after they were installed. We showcased several episodes of when it was raining -- sometimes during torrential rains and other less taxing times.
The bottom line is that it would be best to look at the overall performance from beginning to the end of the testing period to make a determination what works best. While some gutter guards did a really good job deflecting debris, others did not. While some took in a lot of water, others did not. While most did a good job keeping leaves and debris out of the gutters, others didn't do as well.
The smaller the debris and the closer the trees to your home, the more likely you'll want to consider top-performing micro mesh gutter guards. As the leaves get larger and farther away from your house, you can consider other systems that we'll showcase in future episodes.
Could we say that you absolutely want to avoid one type of gutter guard at all costs regardless of its performance?
Yes!
Do not buy gutter guards made from plastic or PVC or vinyl.
The only gutter guard company that sells and installs its own plastic gutter guards is LeafFilter that we tested. While there are some admirable qualities of LeafFilter, it did poorly shedding debris and its ability to withstand expansion, contraction and warping, due to its vinyl frame, has shown it to be a poor long-term performer.
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*Some watchers have said that the gutter guard that we claimed was Gutterglove Pro was not. The version of the product we used dated back some years and looked to be a modified version of the original Gutterglove Pro. However, we have learned that other companies licensed the original Gutterglove Pro design, and it may be a variation on the original Gutterglove Pro design. Whatever the case, if you own an older version of Gutterglove Pro, you would expect similar performance. We now have the current version of Gutterglove Pro and may test then in a future series.