LeafGuard just finished installing gutters on our house this week (replacing our standard gutters)…read more I'm writing this review because I feel they deserve it, and to provide insight based on my reasonably significant experience with gutters as a homeowner over the past 25 years.
I actually first installed LeafGuard on our previous house in 2003. My impression at the time was that it was well-designed and lived up to its promise of me never needing to clean my gutters again. Please note that I do not shy away from cleaning gutters myself. However: 1) some gutter locations are high and dangerous to access, and 2) gutters really should be cleaned twice per year. Over the course of, let's say 20 years, you end up with 40 real opportunities to get seriously hurt.
In 2010, after moving into a different house, we took bids from LeafGuard and others to replace the aging, standard gutters. Like I said, I already knew and liked LeafGuard, but we were mindful of our expenses. The standard gutters were a lot cheaper. And that particular gutter company convinced me that hiring a gutter cleaning company would be easy and cheap (they suggested less than $200 per visit). I went with standard gutters.
As it turns out: 1) gutter cleaning companies regularly go out of business and/or simply disappear. And 2) they are rather expensive. As in $500 per visit. So me, Mr. DIY, ended up cleaning the easier-to-reach gutters myself (using my tall ladder), and I would hold out until I absolutely "needed" to call a cleaning company for those clogging, impossible-to-reach locations. And then wait weeks for the company to come to our house.
How this adds up is that I regretted not going with LeafGuard in 2011.
Finally, we get to this year, 2025, where we have performed a major addition to our house and have also replaced our shake roof (and added plywood sub-roofing). We needed to replace all gutters. There was absolutely no way I was going to go with standard gutters. I took bids from: 1) LeafGuard, and 2) Guardian, the local company that installs K-Guard. (Note: I cancelled my appointment with Leaf Filter because those systems, in my experience and after about 5 minutes of reflection, are kind of a joke because they require regular maintenance, and don't do well with pollen.)
So it was down to LeafGuard vs. K-Guard. LeafGuard is the original. If you compare the two, you'll see how K-Guard copies LeafGuard and how K-Guard falls a bit short. I'm not saying that K-Guard is lousy -- it's not. But it is not as well thought out as LeafGuard. I learned during the bidding process that since my original installation of LeafGuard in 2003, they upgraded their product in 2009 in several noticeable ways. Notable examples for me included the type and texture of paint (to optimize performance), the crimping they use along the gutterline for rigidity, little things like a subtle bump in the hood to improve water adhesion, and the downspout filter (which you'll just have to see for yourself).
The sales reps for both LeafGuard and Guardian (who sells and installs K-Guard) were excellent. But LeafGuard won the day with their very-evolved design and guaranty that if my gutters ever clog, they will clean them out for free. (K-Guard, as I recall, offers the same thing, but don't let them tell you that LeafGuard gutters cannot be cleaned out, because that clearly is not true.)
The gutters were installed yesterday. My contractor (we are still remodeling) was very impressed with the product and their workmanship. We talked about it at length. The installers were two of the most focused guys I've ever seen. Happy to answer questions and review design choices, but when they worked, they were focused. The finished product is -- and I cannot believe I'm saying this about gutters, of all things -- exquisite. The components and craftsmanship is second-to-none.
That's all I've got. I hope that was helpful. I think it's nice to reward a company that does such an excellent job with a helpful and thorough review.
