Never Clean Your Gutters AgainGutter Guard Installation in Des Moines, IA

Installing heat cable and guards in the right order

These two products are frequently sold together and frequently installed in the wrong sequence. Heat cable is meant to keep a channel of meltwater open through ice, and it works by being where the ice is: in the gutter, in the downspout, and often zigzagged along the roof edge. A guard covers the gutter. Put the guard on first and the cable ends up sitting on top of it, where it warms the guard surface and does very little for the trough underneath. Put the cable in first and clip the guard over it, and the cable is in the right place but now unreachable if a section fails, which they do. The workable arrangement is to run the cable so the serviceable parts stay accessible, usually meaning the roof-edge run sits above the guard while the downspout run goes in before the guard is fitted. It is a small planning matter that decides whether you can fix one of these systems in five years without dismantling the other.