Rain gutter screens
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If you live in an area with lots of trees, you probably spend time at least twice a year climbing up to the gutters or eavestroughs and cleaning all the debris out to prevent waterfalls and ice dams.
Climbing up to do this work can be dangerous by itself so its worth checking into soem of the different kinds of gutter screen available to make this trip unnecessary.
Often something a simple as 1/4" x 1/4" galvanized wire mesh screwed to the top of your gutters is all thats necessary to keep them clean. Some companies have come up with novel pre-cut wire mesh that clips inside your gutters, making the job even easier.
Another way to screen gutters involves using polyurethane foam sections that are used to fill up the entire gutter. The foam used has a large open cell design so it does not prevent the gutter from holding water but it does prevent any leaves or debris from getting in.
One caution with the foam systems is that fireproof material must be used. Ordinary foam might catch fire if an ember from a wood burning fireplace landed on it. House fires have occured this way due to dry branches building up in open gutters.
Fancier designs involve custom folded metal trim that fits over top of your gutter like a hat and slides under your shingles to be sure that water drains away from your roof.
The custom metal hats are designed to seperate the water and direct it into the gutter while letting leaves and twigs simply get blown off the smooth surface of the gutter.
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