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I would like to thank We used to climb up and clean out our gutters or they would fill up and overflow but now they stay clean and we don't have any problems with them. The first few years I climed up a time or two and looked inside but they were always clean so now we just don't worry and they work fine. It's so nice, the color matches our roof and you don't even see it's there but best of all no more climbing up and down the ladder. We haven't cleaned them since 1998 and when we had a new roof put on this year the roofers were amazed at how clean our gutters were, they simply put the new shingles over the old ones and Mrs. William Bragg 1:
What are the 2:
We're looking for maintenance free gutters. Are your |
3: How does  turn regular rain gutters into Self-Cleaning Gutters™? |
| 4:Should my gutters be level or should they slope towards the downspout? |
| 5: Are the
panels nailed or screwed to my roof? If not, how are they held in place? |
| 6: What about pine needles that fall year round, won't they get in? |
| 7: How does
work with water catchment cisterns? |
| 8: Will
work with any gutter? |
| 9: Will work with underground drains? |
| 10: Will
turn the tall, narrow, galvanized steel fascia gutters into a self-cleaning
gutter? |
| 11: Aren't your
panels supposed to keep things from getting in the gutters in the first
place? |
| 12: If we already
have the tall narrow fascia gutters that are in good shape and we like
the way they look, is there anyway to make them self-cleaning with ? |
| 13: What about Ice?
How does
handle ice and snow? |
| 14: Does
prevent ice damming? |
Q #1: What are the
panels made of?
A: The
panels are made of the same quality aluminum coil stock as most seamless gutters.
is also available in copper.
Q #2: We're
looking for maintenance free gutters. Are your
Self-Cleaning
Gutters maintenance free?
A: Self-Cleaning Gutters™ turn once high maintenance gutters into very low maintenance Self-Cleaning Gutters™ and are totally maintenance free for perhaps 90% of our customers: ( if ) any maintenance is ever required it can be done very easily and quickly from the safety of the ground. While the inside of your gutters protected with are self-cleaning, (continually washed by the rain drawn in through the louvers), a small amount of maintenance to keep the outside of the front louvers in peak performance is recommended. This small amount of preventive maintenance by the homeowner, which can be done from the ground, will assure peak performance for years to come. We know that most homeowners never do this and many will never need to. In fact I had Self-Cleaning gutter covers installed on my own home in 1997 and have not done anything to clean or maintain them in more than ten years and they are still working fine, so my gutters have been totally maintenance free for over a decade now, but since every home and tree situation may be different we can not promise yours will be totally maintenance free. That is why our promise is that Self-Cleaning Gutters™ turn once high maintenance gutters into very low maintenance Self-Cleaning Gutters™and ( if ) any maintenance is ever required it can be done very easily and quickly from the safety of the ground.
Q #3: How does
turn regular rain gutters into Self-Cleaning Gutters?
A: By using superior engineering to harness two laws of physics, Gravity
and Surface Adhesion. Lets look at Gravity
first. The
self-cleaning system has no openings on top so gravity does not work
against it like it does with the expensive screens,
sponge type or plastic clip-on things with openings on top that you may have
tried. These cheap products are expensive because even though
their price may be cheap, over time they cost more than our quality
system. Why? Because these cheap things don't solve your problem. We all know
that Gravity will win that battle and over time,
any product with holes on top will get plugged and have to be cleaned or replaced.
With
Gravity is working for you -- not against you.
NOTE: The
difference between price and cost.
Price is what you pay for something one time.
Cost is what you pay for something over time.
This is not original but a fact often overlooked.
Now
let's look at how our engineers have harnessed Surface
Adhesion to make gutters protected with
"self-cleaning". The precisely engineered radius on the nose of the
panels use surface adhesion to re-direct the rain from the mostly horizontal
plane (top of the panel with no openings), to the mostly vertical plane
on the front of our panel where two rows of precisely designed louvers re-direct
the rain once again drawing it inside the gutter. Click
here to see surface adhesion in action. Click
here to check out the side view and this question will most likely come
to mind; What will happen in a hard rain? Logic tells me that
the rain will shoot right off -- but it will not. Logic also
tells me that since airplanes are heavier than air they can not possibly fly
-- but they do. Notice also that the opening at the front is
not continuous like other products you may have seen. Continuous openings
invite leaves to follow the rain in as well as small birds to build nests
in your gutter. Instead of a continuous opening,
has two rows of offset louvers that prevent large leaves, pine needles or
other debris from being drawn into the gutter along with the rain or into
what we call "built in traps" just inside
the gutter where some products attach. Unlike some "cheaper punch and
bend" attempts at gutter protection,
has openings sufficiently large enough to capture the heaviest rain while
still rejecting anything that would not wash right on through the down spout.
Thus the "self-cleaning" action. Each time it rains the louvers draw
the rain in and wash the inside of your gutter making them "virtually self-cleaning".
Our superior engineering makes
the very best gutter protection you can own at any price. We invite you to
have
professionally installed on your gutters and watch Gravity
and Surface Adhesion, together
with our superbly designed and quality manufactured panels,
turn your gutters into -- "Self-Cleaning Gutters™."
Q #4: Should my gutters be level or should they slope towards the downspout and if they slope, how much per foot or section? I'm sure some of my gutters are pitched the wrong way now.
A: Many architects and gutter companies recommend a drop of 1/16" per foot (one inch in 16 feet) on gutters for proper drainage while others install their gutters level with the roof and fascia board, which may not be level if settling has occurred. We recommend a slope towards the downspout because the faster flow results in cleaner gutters year in and year out.
Installers should consider roof area, pitch, valleys, length of each gutter run, size and locations of gutters and downspouts, etc. They may also consider the type and location of trees near or hanging over your roof.
Whether your gutters are sloped or level they should quickly drain all of the rain that falls on your roof, completely out of your gutters and away from the foundation of your home. Your gutters should be dry soon after the rain stops. There should never be any standing or still water inside your gutters.... ever. A proper slope combined with our Self-Cleaning system, guarantees this.
Because of these many variables, the installing company should determine the "proper height and slope" of your gutters before installing our
Self-Cleaning system.
Q #5: Are the
panels nailed or screwed to my roof? If not, how are they held in place?
A: NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! Your roof package is not penetrated with nails or screws
at any time during the installation of our
self-cleaning gutter protection system. Roofers and homeowners alike appreciate
the fact that your roof warranty is not jeopardized by installing .
The lower flange of the
panels are designed to be attached to the lip of the 5", 6" or 7"
K style gutter with quality 3/4" 410 series stainless steel screws that
will never rust. We offer these screws unpainted or painted to match the color
of the panels you select. The upper portion of the panel is generally installed
over the starter course and under the first course of shingles and attached
only to the gutter. We do have alternate installation techniques for special
instances such as flat roofs, barrel tile roofs with a bird blocker nailed
in place, slate roofs, metal roofs, etc. Since the
panels are not nailed or screwed to your roof, it is very important that the
gutter is secure since it is the gutter that is holding the
panels in place. We
supply our dealers with the finest quality and strongest hidden hanger bracket with screw attached
that we have ever tested; ask your dealer to show you one of these quality hidden hanger brackets. Each complete
package contains 50 panels, 200 3/4" ss screws and 100 5" hidden
hanger brackets with screw attached. That is everything the dealer needs in the way of material
to turn 150 ft of 5" K style or OGEE high maintenance gutters into very
low maintenance, virtually self-cleaning gutters. If the gutters are
6" or 7" we include the appropriate number and size hidden hanger
brackets with screw attached to make your gutters secure.
panels have no openings on top most needles blow away and the few small
ones that might get in through the openings on the vertical face wash right
away the next time it rains, in a properly pitched gutter. Needles may
build up on the gutter lip and almost block the lower row of louvers before
they fall off on their own. Often the wind will take care of this but if the
wind doesn't blow them away the homeowner can simply brush them off from the
ground using a telescopic pole and brush. No more climbing ladders to clean
gutters protected with
!
work with water catchment cisterns for "Rain Harvesting"? We live where fresh water is scarce
so we capture rain water and store it in cisterns. It's a real problem when
our gutters & downspouts plug up and the rain we need to fill our cistern runs
over the gutter and is lost. If
can really prevent this and capture all of the rain that falls on our roof
it will be a great benefit to us.
is a real blessing in areas where rain water is captured and stored for
later use!
also provides cleaner water entering the cistern. The offset filtering
louvers on the vertical face of the panels acts like a filter keeping large
debris from collecting in the gutter so when the rain enters the clean gutter
it doesn't have to find its way through a bunch of soggy leaves & pine needles
on its way to the cistern. Rain water is a precious commodity not to be wasted,
so whether you live in the hill country in Texas or on an island surrounded
with salt water, you'll be pleased with the way
can deliver all the rain that falls on your roof, right into your cistern.
work with any gutter?
properly installed has been proven to turn the K style or OGEE aluminum
gutter into a self-cleaning gutter no matter the type or location of the trees
around or over the gutter. A simple modification allows the use of our
panels with half round copper or aluminum gutters. While we are aware of
installations with plastic gutters, we do not recommend it.
Q #9: Will work with underground drains?
A: Yes works fine with underground drains so long as they are in good condition and properly sized but we can not guarantee what we can not control and we have no control over underground drains. The homeowner needs to be aware that underground drains are their responsibility.
turn the tall, narrow, galvanized steel fascia gutters into a self-cleaning
gutter? Q #11:
Aren't your 
panels
supposed to keep things from getting in the gutters in the first place?
A: Yes, and they do a great job of keeping out about 97% of the debris that would normally get into the gutters. Still, leaves and debris that are on the roof when it rains hard try to follow the rain in. While large leaves and debris are rejected completely by our offset filtering louvers on the vertical face, some debris, smaller than our filtering louver openings, may follow a heavy rain flow into the gutter, but wash right away in a properly pitched gutter.
Large leaves and debris that are blocked by the filtering louvers from entering your gutter may catch temporarily on the face of the panels and most of this debris falls immediately to the ground. If something does catch there and the wind does not blow the louvers clean within a few days, the homeowner can brush the face of the panels with a telescopic pole & brush to keep the system in peak performance. This can be done from the safety of the ground even on second and third stories and in most cases takes no more than five or ten minutes once or twice a year. In the spring when wet blossoms & seeds are falling is when most people decide if they even need to get the telescopic pole and brush out. Some homeowners prefer to use a spray hose on lower sections. While most homeowners never do anything to maintain the vertical face of the panels , the determining factor as to (if ever or how often) any maintenance should be done to keep the system in peak performance, are the types and location of the trees around your home . In other words, if you have trees right over your roof and gutters, you are more likely to brush the face of the panels than if the branches are not over-hanging your roof. At any rate, it is much easier and safer to spend five or ten minutes once or twice a year, brushing the face of the panels from the ground than to have to climb a ladder to clean out a clogged gutter.
? Or are you suggesting we would have to replace our fascia gutters with
the K style or OGEE to make them self-cleaning?
panels, thereby correcting both problems 2 & 3 .
panel. Since our
panels have a 2" vertical face, the lip at the outside top of the gutter
where our panels attach must be a couple of inches below the roof line so there
is a positive slope away from the roof towards the face of the panels. Since
the fascia gutter with a wing can not be lowered, one can often compensate for
this by raising the back side of the panel & sliding the top portion of our
panels under the second or even the third course of shingles, thereby creating
the positive slope required to direct the rain to the face of the panel. Since
no nails or screws are used to attach this upper portion of the
panel to your roof, this is an acceptable practice with composition shingles.
The main consideration is the pitch of your roof. If the roof in question has
a low pitch, it is very likely that you will not be able to see the top of the
panel from the ground and this is what you want. If the roof has a steep
pitch we do not recommend this approach as the top of the panel would show.
Even though it might work well, we feel that how nice the job looks is almost
as important as how well it works. With our 32 colors we recommend matching
the color of the roof rather than the color of the gutter but if you can see
the top of the panel from the ground it may be objectionable and is not recommended.
Q #13: What about Ice? How does
handle ice and snow?
A: If you had ice and snow before you will still have ice and snow. We don't
do anything to change the laws of physics, but you probably won't have a gutter
full of ice and snow. When the temperature gets to the point where the rain
wouldn't flow out of the gutters if it got in, the face of the panels freeze
over and it is sort of like temporarily closing the door to your gutters.
You'll have icicles
and ice may build up on the top and the face of the panels. In a freeze thaw
freeze thaw situation, a little water may get into the gutter each time before
it re-freezes.
NOTICE: THE HOMEOWNER NEEDS TO BE AWARE THAT THE ICICLES THAT USED TO FORM OVER SIDEWALKS AND STEPS ONCE YOUR GUTTERS WERE FULL OF ICE MAY NOW FORM SOONER AS THE PANELS ARE KEEPING YOUR GUTTERS FROM FILLING WITH ICE AND SNOW. This is a natural consequence of protecting your gutters from clogging. Because the icicles are on the front outside of your clear gutters rather than overflowing from the back of a gutter full of ice, when the bulk of the snow and ice on your roof melts it will have a clean empty gutter to carry that moisture away from your house. If you live in a cold climate, one way to minimize the formation of icicles may be to have the installing company and an electrician install a heat tape protected by a GFCI in areas where icicles might be a problem as above frequently used steps and sidewalks. Generally speaking, icicles are short term and it is the responsibility of the homeowner to determine if the extra cost of installing heat tapes is an option they should pursue.
prevent ice damming?
prevents ice damming but installations in cold climates show that
reduces the likelihood of ice damming. The panels help keep the gutters from
filling with ice that might then come in contact with the unprotected area of
the fascia and roof package.
is not nailed or screwed to the roof so the roof package remains intact
and the roof warranty is not jeopardized. Ice damming is generally caused by
inadequate ventilation and insulation which allows the warm air in the attic
to melt the snow or ice on the roof allowing it to wick back up under the shingles.
The best insurance against ice damming is one of the quality rubberized ice
& dam shields sold by roofing companies, used in conjunction with sufficient
insulation and
ventilation
.""
is a registered trademark of Absolute Gutter Protection,
Woodbury, New Jersey 08096
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