Leafless in Seattle Case Studies: Replacing LeafFilter with MasterShield Gutter Guard
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MasterShield with revised inside corner detail
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LeafFilter after pulling the clogged top off. See? not clogged (even though no water was getting in, they consider this to be performing "as advertised."
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MasterShield blends in very nicely with the gutters at this Bothell home
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MasterShield was done in a dark color to blend in with the roof in Bothell, WA
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Now that their gutter guard is at an angle, the needles can slide off instead of piling up on the leaffilter like they were before
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Another comparison of MasterShield vs the previous LeafFilter that was failing
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New gutter protection installed in Bothell, Washington
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See that reflecting pond on the surface below? How much fun do you think it was for this little old lady to climb up and sweep her LeafFilter gutters?
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The dam created by this diverter on the LeafFilter system really causes problems because the debris piles up and forms a sponge. All the water that saturates it will soak into the roof sheathing.
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LeafFilter, totally plugged by roof oils in Bothell, WA
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The lack of a real drip edge on LeafFilter makes it pretty ugly as it ages.
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Here's a look under the pile of fir needles on LeafFilter. You can see in this spot they tried using a bigger mesh. It didn't help.
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More roof oils sealing the leaf filter shut. There is not a self cleaning function on Leaffilter, but there IS on MasterShield.
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The Leaffilter shelf in action, or lack thereof
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Closeup of the shelf effect of having a virtually flat LeafFilter
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A failing gutter guard system in Bothell, WA
Challenge
The owners originally had LeafFilter's gutter guard installed because they saw it was rated number one by a consumer rating agency, but as you can see from these photos...it fails, epically. All the debris simply sits on top, blocking the filter and causing water to cascade right over the edge. Is the gutter TECHNICALLY not clogged? Is it TECHNICALLY not failing according to their performance guarantee?
Solution
To fix this, we had to completely start over. We removed and recycled the LeafFilter gutter guard, cleaned out the gutters, and then installed MasterShield (which actually works for fir needles). We were thankfully able to salvage the gutters after simply reworking them, and now this nice little old lady has what she thought she was buying the first time around: gutters she doesn't have to go up and sweep off.
Project Summary
Inspected by: Jim Singleterry
Installed by: Raul
Installed by: Bruno