Gutter Guards in Columbia, SC

Loblolly and longleaf pines shed needles all year, with the heaviest drop in fall. Water oaks and willow oaks drop stringy tassels in spring, acorns in late summer and leaves into December. Sweetgums add spiky seed balls. Needles cause the most trouble. They are long and thin, they slide through coarse screens, and once a few lodge in an outlet they catch everything that comes after.

• Stainless micro-mesh. A fine woven mesh on a rigid frame that sits under the first row of shingles or clips to the gutter lip. Needles and tassels stay on top. This is what we install most often under pines.
• Perforated aluminum screens. Cheaper and stiff, but the holes are large enough for pine needles to stand up in. Fine under hardwoods with broad leaves, weaker under pines.
• Foam and brush inserts. Easy to put in, but they hold debris and stay damp, and in our summer heat they break down. We usually do not recommend them.
• Reverse-curve hoods. Water follows the curve into the gutter and leaves fall off the front. They can overshoot in hard rain, which Columbia gets plenty of.

Pine needles resting on micro-mesh

No guard is maintenance-free. On micro-mesh, a thin film of pine pollen and fine grit can build up, and in heavy spring pollen seasons the mesh may need a brush or a hose rinse. Most homeowners can do that from a ladder in a few minutes, or we can.