Never Clean Your Gutters AgainGutter Guard Installation in Ankeny, IA

What shingle grit does to a screen

Asphalt shingles are surfaced with fine mineral granules, and they shed those granules for their entire service life. The loss is heaviest when the roof is new and again when it is near the end, and every one of those granules ends up in the gutter. Grit is the reason a guard that stops leaves can still fail. Leaves are large, dry out, and blow off a surface. Granules are small, heavy, and abrasive, and they settle into whatever texture the guard has. On a coarse screen they fall straight through and build a layer in the bottom of the gutter that no one sees. On a fine mesh they sit on top, and if the mesh is flat and the pitch is shallow, they stay there and gradually blind off the surface. A guard that sheds grit well is usually one where the mesh is held slightly proud and angled so rain sluices the surface clean rather than soaking through a settled layer of it.