Never Clean Your Gutters AgainGutter Guard Installation in Johnston, IA

Downspout strainers are not a substitute

The cheapest thing anyone can do about a clogged gutter is drop a wire strainer into the downspout outlet. It costs a few dollars, and it does one thing genuinely well: it stops a large clump from going down the pipe and jamming somewhere inaccessible underground. What it does not do is keep the gutter clear. All the debris that would have gone down the spout now stops at the strainer and stays in the trough, so instead of a blocked downspout you have a blocked outlet with a full gutter behind it. Many people fit strainers, watch the gutter overflow, and conclude that gutter protection does not work. The two products solve different problems. A guard keeps material out of the trough in the first place; a strainer catches what has already got in. If the whole run is covered properly, the strainer becomes unnecessary, and if it is not, the strainer will not rescue it.