Every house is a complex system. When all the parts are working correctly you’ll have a dry, warm place in which to weather a storm. When parts of that system stop working correctly, you’ll have a very, very long night instead. Keeping your house in working order sometimes requires expensive repairs, replacements, or renovations—but sometimes all that’s required is some simple and affordable maintenance you can do yourself.
Case in point: your gutters. Those metal tubes attached to your roof provide a vital function: They direct rainwater away from your walls and foundation. When they become clogged with debris they don’t perform that function very well, and you find yourself on a ladder scraping dead leaves and dirt out of them—which is why you should install gutter guards to help keep them clear. You could pay a company or contractor a lot of money to install fancy gutter guards, but you really don’t have to. A lot of gutter guard systems are easy to install (some don’t even require tools!).
The easiest DIY approach: gutter brushes
Gutter brushes are tubular bristles typically made of galvanized steel; they look like enormous pipe cleaners. They’re simple to install: Simply purchase the correct size (most gutters are five or six inches wide) and insert the brush into your gutters. You can cut them with a snipping tool to fit, but you actually don’t have to—you can usually simply bend the brush back over itself if it’s a bit too long.
The brush works by snagging debris before it can settle down into the base of the gutter. The brushes themselves will generally last just a few years, and require occasional cleaning to maintain their effectiveness, but they’re cheap and all you need to install them is a ladder.
Recommended product: GutterBrush is an affordable brush product that’s effective and comes with a 10-year warranty on the material. VEVOR makes a slightly cheaper gutter brush product that works just as well, but only offers a one-year warranty.
The short term solution: foam inserts
Another gutter solution that is extremely easy to DIY is a foam insert. These are simply triangular lengths of dense foam that fit into your gutters, blocking debris from entering the channel while allowing water to filter through and flow through the space left by the angle of the foam. All that’s required to install them is a pair of scissors or other cutting tool and a ladder.
The downside to foam inserts is their durability—or lack thereof. These will definitely have to be replaced every few years (or possibly every year, if you have a lot of rain) because they degrade quickly. The upside, aside from the ease of installation, is the cost: Foam inserts are by far the cheapest solution for keeping your gutters clear. As a result they’re ideal short-term solutions.
Recommended product: GutterFoam EZ makes it about as simple as it can get to install foam gutter guards. It comes with a three-year warranty, which is about as good as you’re going to get with a foam product, and it’s very easy to work with and install.
The best option: screens
A slightly more challenging DIY installation, screens are plastic or metal mesh sheets that install on top of your gutters. The screens do the best job of keeping most of the dirt and junk (and nesting critters) out of your gutters and generally last the longest. They range in difficulty from super easy to slightly difficult, but all of the products mentioned here are well within the capabilities of anyone comfortable being on a ladder and using a power drill (at the same time).
Recommended product (easiest): The Frost King plastic mesh product is cheap and easy to use. You just cut it with any pair of scissors to fit the length of your gutter, then fold it into the channel so the edges catch on the lip of your gutter and hold it in place. That’s it. They don’t last too long, and strong storms may blow them out of your gutters, so they’re not the ideal choice—but they’re definitely the easiest.
Recommended product (easy): Amerimax makes a whole line of gutter products, and their snap-in guards are designed to slip under the last row of shingles on your roof and then snap onto a standard gutter. This makes them relatively durable and pretty effective at keeping your gutters clear without requiring any drilling.
Recommended product (more difficult): Finally, a gutter screen that’s attached via self-tapping screws will last longer and be more weather-resistant, though it will require a bit more effort. Raptor Micro-Mesh Gutter Guards can slide under shingles or attach to the edge of your roof and then to the lip of your gutter, providing a stable and long-lasting solution. These are made from stainless steel, and as such require metal snips to work with, but cutting them to size isn’t that much of a challenge.
