Do gutter guards with a screen work?
What counts as a screen guard
Screen guards are panels of perforated aluminum, expanded steel or plastic grid with openings large enough to see through. Most snap into the gutter's front lip and rest against the fascia or the drip edge, and many come in short sections you overlap and trim.
How to judge one before you buy
- Metal beats plastic. Plastic screens soften, warp and turn brittle under Georgia summer sun.
- Stiffness matters. A screen that bows under wet leaves collects more of them.
- It should fasten down. Loose drop-in screens shift or blow out in storms. Look for screws at the front lip.
- It should not go under shingles. Lifting the bottom course breaks the shingle seal.
Where they fail
Needles slide into the holes end first and stick. Spring oak tassels and maple seeds lodge on and in the grid. Grit and pollen fill the smaller openings. Over time a screen can become a mat that sheds water over the front instead of letting it in.
Keeping them working
Look at them twice a year: after the spring tassel and pollen drop and after the late fall leaf drop. Brush off the top, and pull the sections over the downspout outlets to clear anything that got under them. If you are clearing screens as often as you used to clear the gutters, it is time for a finer guard. See gutter sizing, seamless gutters and guards and the Georgia roof maintenance checklist.