The Cheapo Gutter Protection System

We all know what water damage can do to your homes exterior, but it really hurts when the water makes its way into your house.

The exact thing just happened to me and caused me to pull up roughly 200 Sq/ft of hardwood floor to dry out my basement.

I really did not want to spend thousands of dollars on a gutter guard system and being a resourceful (cheap) guy it I knew deep in my gut I could come up with a much cheaper system.

This is the system I came up with. Now this system comes with all the usual disclaimers attached and as always, take any info dredged from the internet with a cautious eye. So far it is working fine but time will be the ultimate judge.

Let get on to it.....

Start out with a product called Gutter Guard, If you can't find the exact brand I'm sure you can find others I'm sure stores like Home Depot have others Basically its a 6 in wide by 20 ft long with plastic mesh.

 

 

 

 

 

The way this is supposed to be used is would not work with me as I have hidden gutters and they are much wider then conventional gutters. So I had to create a new system.

So I came up with this..

 

 

Roll the mesh into a tube as described below, you can use either Zap Straps or twist ties if you are stuck. This will create a tube that is about 1 1/2" wide. Just make the the length of the gutter you are protecting. ****another good idea is to put the wire mesh bulb in the drain hole as this help keep the leaves out.

 

NOW WHAT!!!!

 

Well the next part is pretty easy , just place the tube in the gutter and secure it down somehow, I just used metal strapping I had lying around as this was an after thought for me.

 

 

 

The whole concept is based on the thought that as long as there is at least a tunnel leading to the drain hole then then I should be able to avoid more overflowing gutters. Of course the best method is just keeping them clean. I was caught this year unprepared. I have many broad leafed trees that did a major dump during a wind storm and they completely filled some of my gutters, water streamed down the wall and right into a basement door.

 

Hopefully this little tip may help, I don't claim to be an expert on gutters but this was a very cheap system and hopefully it may help you also.