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Gutter guards are a must-have for homeowners that live in more extreme weather climates or who have overhanging trees. With so many companies and styles to choose from, it may be difficult to know what the best fit for your home is.

In this article, we have reviewed leading gutter guard companies and ranked the top five gutter guards by rain resistance, size compatibility, available colors, warranty and Better Business Bureau grade/accreditation.

Gutter Helmet tops our best gutter guards of 2022 list because of its excellent rain resistance, 100% gutter compatibility and best-in-class warranty. Gutter Helmet’s anti-corrosive surface protects against salt water, acid rain and can handle up to 22 inches of rain per hour so your gutters will stay clear no matter your environment.

The product’s triple lifetime warranty means your gutters are protected as long as you live in your house and for the next homeowner too. Because Gutter Helmet is installed over your existing gutters, the product is compatible with any size home and any type of gutter. Installation is also quick and easy.

Unlike competitors, Leaf Guard’s system actually replaces the whole gutter with a patented one-piece design. Designed to “get it and forget it”, Leaf Guard protects your home from water damage caused by gutters clogged with leaves, insects and pollen.

With a transferable lifetime warranty and on-site perfect-fit installation, Leaf Guard will let you avoid rotting fascias, damaged foundations and flooded basements and you won’t have to clean your gutters quite so frequently ever again.

If you’re looking for well-reviewed, top-rated, all-American gutter guards, All American Gutter Protection might be a good fit. All American Gutter Protection’s micro-mesh gutter guards are designed to fit any existing rain gutter and should keep your gutters free of clogs and leaves for the lifetime of your home. With an easy-to-use online estimate calculator and thirty different colors to choose from, AAGP’s gutter guards have become an industry standard for a reason.

While Gutterglove’s micro-mesh design is simple, its gutter guards are inexpensive and easy to install. Gutterglove claims the product can handle up to 150 inches of rain per hour—a number that will likely never be tested in the field as the world record for rainfall in one hour was twelve inches, set in 1947.

This company offers both professionally installed products and DIY products made of stainless steel and aluminum for durability and longevity. Designed to fit any size rain gutter, Gutterglove boasts thousands of satisfied customers and an expert U.S.-based support team ready to help answer any question. Gutterglove’s DIY products are available at many stores including Home Depot, Lowes and Amazon so you can get started on your DIY gutter guarding product as soon as you’re ready.

If you’re looking for a simple, affordable gutter guard from a well-trusted and reviewed company, Gutter Guards America may be a good fit. Its micro-mesh gutter guard is designed to fit any gutter while performing in even the harshest of weather conditions. Gutter Guards America will professionally clean and seal your existing gutters and downspouts, or install new gutters if necessary, before installing their top-rated micro-mesh system.

Though the gutter guard only comes in one color, Gutter Guards America offers a 100% money-back guarantee and a lifetime transferable warranty.

Depending on the type of material of your gutter guard, you may need to maintain, repair or replace your gutter guard within a few years or sooner. Higher-end materials will help your gutter guards last longer, which means you’ll have less gutter issues down the road.

Measuring your roof and ensuring you know exactly how much material you need will ensure that you buy the right size gutter guards.

Do you care if your gutter guards are visible from the ground, or do you prefer your roof to look as streamlined as possible? Answering this question will hopefully give you more “insight” into whether a gutter guard is for you and which type you should get.

Gutter guards are popular add-ons during installation and come in various types to choose from. The gutter guard cost spectrum includes PVC covers on the low end and surface tension helmets on the upper end. Despite the initial expense, gutter guards can help homeowners save money and time in the long run.

Gutter guard installation cost is also dependent on if you are doing it yourself or hiring a professional.

Gutter guards come in four main types and styles differentiated by ease of installation, cost and materials. The top five companies we covered above all offer one of two types—mesh screens or surface tension helmets—but for those homeowners ready to install their own gutter guards there are also PVC covers and foam inserts.

PVC Covers are an incredibly economical way to protect your gutter from clogging. Because these guards simply snap to fit on almost all styles of gutter, the products are easy for a DIY-er to use. However, with affordability comes a reduction in quality—PVC gutter covers do not last long, especially in harsher environments where branches or hail may easily cause damage.

Foam inserts offer another easy and affordable option for DIY-ers hoping to protect their gutters from debris. The foam is simple to install: homeowners cut the foam to the desired dimension and then insert the pieces into the gutter. The foam inserts are easy to replace in sections which makes regular cleaning and maintenance straightforward, but these products are not designed to last and disintegrate in a few short years.

The most common and economical professional gutter guards are mesh screens. These steel or aluminum micro-meshes will filter out leaves, twigs and larger debris. The screens are durable and long-lasting and can be DIYed, but are more commonly installed by professionals. Depending on the company, the mesh screens come in a number of different colors to match your roof or existing gutter styles.

Gutter Helmet, our top reviewed gutter guard company of 2022, offers a surface tension helmet designed to hang over the gutters, protecting them from debris while only letting water fall into the gutter itself. These helmets are the gold standard for gutter guards due to their low-maintenance and incredibly long-lasting durability. Surface tension helmets should only be installed by professionals and are more expensive than other styles of gutter guards, but the quality more than makes up for the initial upfront costs because of the potential for decades of use.

To choose the best style of gutter guard for your home, you should consider these four factors:

If you’re a seasoned DIY-er and are ready and willing to stand ten feet up on a ladder for a weekend, you may be interested in installing your own gutter guards. The best styles for DIY installs are the foam inserts or PVC covers, as both are quick and simple to fit to your existing gutters. If DIY is not your forte, or you prefer to let the pros spend the day high on a ladder, professionally installed gutter guards may suit your needs better. When choosing a professional company, you’ll likely want mesh screens or surface tension helmets—the cost of installation of other, lesser products is likely not worthwhile.

Another important consideration when choosing the style of gutter guard that best fits your home is the type of debris your gutters are prone to. For example, PVC covers work great when only dealing with leaves and pine needles, but may quickly be damaged by larger branches. Foam inserts will block larger pieces of debris but can still be clogged by smaller debris like pine needles. Surface tension helmets and micro-meshes will effectively block and filter almost any debris, but are more expensive than other styles.

Similar to the type of debris that your gutters may be clogged by, the environment that you live in can determine which type of gutter guard is best. Micro-mesh screens and PVC covers are both designed to handle multiple feet of rain per hour, but can be damaged by significant ice and snow. If you live in blizzard-prone areas, your best bet may be surface tension helmets which snow and ice will slide right over.

Affordability is also a major factor when it comes to gutter guards. Different styles can vary greatly in cost. PVC covers and mesh screens are cheapest, costing as little as $0.60 to $0.80 per linear foot, but mesh screens require a more complex installation and so may cost more to set up.

Foam inserts are a bit more expensive at a minimum of $2.50 per linear foot, but may be necessary for an environment with larger debris types. Surface tension helmets are the most expensive to install with a starting cost of $3.50 per linear foot. You get what you pay for though—gutter helmets are designed to last much longer than any other type. Advertisement THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT EDITORIAL CONTENT. Please note that we do receive compensation for any products you buy or sign up to via this advertisement, and that compensation impacts the ranking and placement of any offers listed herein. We do not present information about every offer available. The information and savings numbers depicted above are for demonstration purposes only, and your results may vary. Compare Quotes From Top-rated Local Gutter Installers Select a State To Get Started With Your No Commitment, Free Estimate Find a Gutter Installer

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While the upfront expenses of installing gutter guards may seem high, the long-term benefits to homeowners make this choice a no-brainer. Gutter guards quickly pay for themselves in terms of maintenance time, the protection offered to your home and by reducing the need for regular gutter cleanings.

The main reason homeowners install gutter guards is to reduce how often gutters need to be cleaned and maintained. With gutter guards installed, cleaning may go from three to four times a year to once a year or even once every other year.

Installing gutter guards doesn’t only save you money and time on gutter cleaning, it actually protects your home from water damage, mold, mildew and even fire. Clogged gutters can cause water to spill into your roof or pool at the base of your home, both of which can cause leaking. Water damage to your roof, or elsewhere in your house, will cause mold and mildew to grow inside your home which can be dangerous to your health.

This mold and mildew can also grow inside a clogged gutter. Finally, if your gutter collects leaves, twigs and other combustible debris, it can become dangerous in a wildfire situation after drying out. Gutter guards stop these organic, flammable materials from gathering, thus protecting your home from fire risk.

Gutter guards are also a great way to stop various animal and insect pests from gathering in your gutters and damaging your home. Rodents, birds and even snakes may make homes in an unguarded gutter and water-clogged gutters can offer a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects.

Cleaning a gutter full of pests can also be an unpleasant experience. While perhaps a rare and exciting way to get an adrenaline fix, discovering a snake while 10 feet or more up on a ladder is probably not something most of us feel like doing by accident.

To determine the best gutter guard company ranking, the Forbes Home Improvement editorial team analyzed third-party data on a dozen major companies, with each product’s star rating determined by evaluating a variety of metrics, including:

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While gutter guards are not a magical or foolproof solution to perfectly protect your gutters from clogging and debris, experts agree that gutter guards drastically reduce the frequency of gutter cleanings.

Most gutter guards are designed to work even in extreme weather situations. Our top five companies ranked above all say their products can handle 22 inches (or higher) of rain per hour. Since the record for rainfall in a single hour is 12 inches, set in 1947 in Missouri, this is more than enough to handle even the worst rainstorms. As climate change increases the severity of storms, perhaps this might be tested sometime soon.

While gutter guards protect your home from clogged gutters and water damage, they can cause a few problems. Gutter guards protect your gutters from gathering debris that may clog them, but debris might gather on the edges of your roof on top of the guards instead. This may also worsen ice and snow build-up on your roof. Properly maintained gutter guards, especially those cleaned and inspected before the winter season, are still a better investment than having unprotected gutters.

Gutter guards themselves do not cause ice dams. Ice dams most often occur when leaves, dirt and debris build up in unmaintained gutters, causing water to stay stagnant in the gutter and eventually freeze. This is why regular maintenance is so important when it comes to your gutter and gutter guard performance.

Experts do not recommend keeping gutter guards on while cleaning your gutters. If you absolutely cannot remove them, you should avoid using any high-pressure water tool and to focus on using your hands and a water hose on a low setting.

The company that tops our best gutter guards of 2022 list is Gutter Helmet due to its excellent rain resistance, 100% gutter compatibility and best-in-class warranty.

Chauncey grew up on a farm in rural northern California. At 18 he ran away and saw the world with a backpack and a credit card, discovering that the true value of any point or mile is the experience it facilitates. He remains most at home on a tractor, but has learned that opportunity is where he finds it and discomfort is more interesting than complacency.

Samantha is an editor who covers all topics home-related including home improvement and repair. She edited home repair and design content at websites like The Spruce and HomeAdvisor. She also has hosted videos on DIY home tips and solutions and launched multiple home improvement review boards staffed with licensed pros.