I’m Kayla, and yes, I’ve spent too many Saturdays rinsing out gross, wet leaves. I put up my own DIY gutter guards. I tried different kinds on different parts of my house. Some were great. Some were… not.
I live in western Oregon. Big maples out front. Two tall pines in back. Rain is heavy in fall. Pollen strings in spring. Pine needles all year. If your yard sounds like that, this’ll help.
My Setup (So You Know Where I’m Coming From)
- 1950s ranch, single story
- 5-inch K-style aluminum gutters
- About 140 feet of gutter, plus a small detached garage and a tiny shed
- Downspouts at corners; one ugly inside corner over the porch that always floods
Gear I used: a 24-foot fiberglass ladder, drill, tin snips, gloves, safety glasses, and a garden hose for testing. I also used a painters’ helper—my teen, who charges in pizza.
What I Tried (Real Products, Real Mess)
Front gutter (street side): Amerimax Snap-In vinyl guards. I grabbed the white ones from Home Depot. Cheap and fast to cut.
Back gutter (pine side): Raptor Micro-Mesh stainless steel guards. Ordered the 5-inch kit. It came with screws and a magnetic bit.
If you’re curious about the hard numbers and lab tests, This Old House’s in-depth Raptor Gutter Guard review breaks it all down.
Garage: GutterBrush. Think giant bottle brushes. I slid them into the gutter runs.
Shed: Frost King foam inserts. It was a small roof, so it felt low risk.
Why mix and match? I’m stubborn. And I wanted to see what held up to different junk.
Install Notes You’ll Actually Use
- Ladder safety first. I tied mine off to a deck post because I’m clumsy. No shame.
- Clean the gutters before you start. I used a scoop and hose. Wear gloves. It’s nasty.
- Test with a hose after each section. You’ll spot leaks or bad slopes fast.
- Don’t force guards under shingles if it lifts the shingle edge. I did that once. Water crept under during a storm. I had to redo that run and tuck to the drip edge instead.
- Inside corners need extra love. I added a small splash guard there. It stopped the porch waterfall.
If you’re already the type who rigs up a DIY irrigation system to keep the lawn green, you’ll breeze through a simple hose test on the gutter run.
How Each One Did (Short and Sweet)
Raptor Micro-Mesh (back):
- Blocked pine needles the best. Like, 95% stayed out.
- Heavy rain was fine. Water hugged the mesh and flowed in.
- You do need to brush pollen off in spring. I used a broom on a pole. Quick job.
I first got the idea to give it a shot after reading Bob Vila’s field test of the Raptor Gutter Guard, and my results match up pretty closely.
Amerimax Snap-In (front):
- Super fast to install. I cut with tin snips and snapped them in.
- Leaves stayed out. But those maple helicopters? Some slipped through the slots.
- In a huge storm, water sometimes overshot the gutter. I fixed this by lowering the front lip a hair and adding two more hangers for better pitch.
GutterBrush (garage):
- The easiest install. I literally stuffed them in.
- Perfect for big leaves. But oak tassels got stuck and looked like a wet wig.
- I shook them out twice last fall. Took ten minutes.
Foam Inserts (shed):
- Great for a season. It rained, they drained.
- By summer, seeds sprouted. I had tiny plants in my gutter foam. Cute. Not ideal. I tossed them and called it a lesson.
That little experiment reminded me of the time I experimented with DIY foam insulation spray—sometimes you learn more from the messes than the wins.
Cost and Time
- Amerimax Snap-In: About $2 per foot. I did 60 feet in two hours, solo.
- Raptor Micro-Mesh: About $3–4 per foot. I did 70 feet in an afternoon, with a helper.
- GutterBrush: Around $3–4 per foot. 30 minutes for the whole garage.
- Foam: Cheapest. Also the first to fail for me.
Will a pro be faster? Yep. But I saved a chunk and felt proud. Also very dirty.
The Good Stuff I Didn’t Expect
- Quieter rain. Micro-mesh softened the drip noise on the back patio.
- Fewer mosquitoes. No standing water in the gutters after storms.
- My downspouts stopped clogging weekly. Monthly check became seasonal.
And you know what? I got my Saturdays back. Not all of them, but most.
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Things That Bugged Me
- Pine needles still sit on top of the mesh and need a quick sweep.
- Vinyl guards can warp a bit in summer heat. Mine bowed near the porch after a heat wave. I added a screw every two feet. Fixed.
- GutterBrush collects weird stuff in spring. It’s not bad. It’s just gross.
- Foam turned into a garden. Funny once. Then dumb.
My Mistakes (So You Skip Them)
- I overlapped panels the wrong way at first. Water hit the seam and dripped. Overlap so water flows with the lap, not against it.
- I didn’t add a downspout strainer at the worst corner. Should’ve done it day one. Cheap little part. Big help.
- I tried to tuck mesh too far under shingles. Don’t do that if your shingles are stiff. Use the front lip bracket and keep the shingle flat.
Quick Tips That Actually Help
- Wear cut-proof gloves. Micro-mesh edges bite. Ask me how I know.
- Add two extra hangers in long runs. Guards add a bit of weight and wind catch.
- Hose test every 10 feet. It saves cussing later.
- If you have heavy pine, go micro-mesh. If you have big leaves, brush or snap-in might do.
Who Should Try DIY
- One-story homes or safe ladder spots.
- Folks who can spare an afternoon and a calm brain.
- Yards with a clear leaf “type.” Know your enemy. Needles or leaves?
Who should call a pro? Two-story roofs, steep pitches, or if you dread ladders. No shame there.
For anyone in that camp, Service Center Team offers turnkey gutter guard installs that keep you safely on the ground.
Final Take: Would I Do It Again?
Yes. With tweaks.
- I’m keeping Raptor Micro-Mesh on the back. It beats the pines.
- I’m keeping Amerimax on the front, but I might swap the worst 20 feet near the porch to micro-mesh before the next big storm.
- GutterBrush stays on the garage. Easy and good enough.
- Foam? Gone. We had a tiny tomato plant growing in it. Cute, but no.
Could you do this in a weekend? For sure. Start with one run. See how it behaves in the next rain. Adjust. That’s the part people skip, and it’s the part that makes it work.
If you’re tired of scooping black slime every fall, DIY guards help a lot. They won’t make your gutters magic. But they turn a dreaded job into a once-in-a-while touch-up. And that, honestly, felt like a small win I could hear every time the rain came down and didn’t flood my porch.