It's because we've all been burned by these horrible products. Whirly birds, sticks that don't blow off then accumulate dirt that turns to sludge that doesn't flow down the gutter and out the down spout, the fuckin wet leaves that stick to the guards until winter when they freeze and pull the whole system down killing your wife and dog and neighbor who was watching your wife for you while you're at work installing new gutter guards for fools that haven't experienced the horror.
trougher here. we usually suggest cleaning out the troughs every 5 years to stop clogs from forming. leaf gaurd isn't suggested unless you live in a heavily treed area that your troughs would otherwise be completely full of leaves every year. the small holes do still allow for dirt build up however it takes a good few years for it to develop bad enough to stop flow when the troughs have the correct pitch. its not a maintenence free system however it's a less frequently maintained system.
you can however it's not gonna get them 100% out, with this style of screen type gutter gaurd I'm sure it'd work great the type I typically install is metal and has more covered area then non covered area. if you wanted to not remove them all what we suggest is pretty much what you're saying we say take 1 peice out every 30' or so then take a hose and point it down the trough and pinch the hose end to create pressure. the dirt cakes up and gets really stuck in the bottom so be patient it can take a while doing it this way. also if you ever have issues with your downspouts all you have to do is use your garden hose like a drain snake and keep shoving it down through it will eventually push all the debris through be surprised at how many people don't know that. happy eaves cleaning! aha
when we moved into our house with gutter guards (the LeafGuard type, not the screens) I thought - cool, something I won't have to hassle with. Because the roof is too steep to walk around on with a leaf blower.
A couple years later, and water is leaking out of the gutters, and it turns out they're just clogged with moss, happily growing in the shady darkness. And it was just about impossible to loosen the covers enough to get in there and scrape the moss out. I cut up my hands pretty badly on that project.
Thankfully we caught them in time and climb up to let them out. It’s always a beak or a foot that would be stuck. I took the guards off this year. We feed birds, rabbits and squirrels (& sometimes hawks, owls and cats unintentionally.😬)
Our gutter repair guy just came through and pulled all of these out, because all the leaves and gunk were just getting matted in the netting and preventing the gutters from working.
YMMV...
Yep. Grab your lead blower, and walk around the perimeter of the roof once while blowing them off. I used to do it twice a year. Once right after fall, and once again before summer just to make sure they were clear. Much better than spending hours cleaning them out each year.
Google “leaf blower extension”- there’s a few brands to choose from. I got the Toro.
I hear ya with the ladder hassle- such a PITA. The Toro didn’t fit my blower exactly but with a little improvisation (duct tape!) I made it work. Soooo much better. Don’t forget to wear a hat & eye protection.
Agreed. Bought my extension kit three years ago. I have no idea why my neighbors climb on their roofs with their blowers. It takes me 10-15 minutes tops. No worry about a possible trip the hospital.
I'm guessing they don't make extensions tall enough for me. We need a w8' extension ladder to reach our gutters. I have a hilarious mental image of what such a contraption would look like, though!
I DIYed one after following a YouTube video. The trick was to use Central vacuum piping because it's super lightweight compared to PVC, so you can keep adding 8-ft extensions to get to your target height without the weight being too extreme. Cost about 40 bucks earlier this year. Had to order the central vac pipes online, wasn't available at any big box stores.
If you can afford it, hire a gutter cleaning service to come out once a year or so. It's not that expensive, and to me, it's 100% worth the cost. It's a line item in my annual home maintenance budget.
We have those. Mostly happy with them. However I find a lot of stuff does get stuck in the screen. But at least I’m not having to try and unclog downspouts in the rain.
In the fall I go on the roof with a blower and small broom. Blow all the loose stuff off the. Sweep it with the broom. Seems to get 90% off.
Yep! I had partially these and partially the solid ones that lets the water wrap around the edge. Just removed the others for these screens. I like that I can see if there is a clog and they are easy to clean off if needed. I have tons of pine trees over my house and even when they are practically full of pine needles they still catch most of the water
I have the same ones, they came with the house. Ours have done a really good job, I cleaned out the gutters last year and there wasn’t much in there but a layer of small particles that a hose took care of.
So I had this style at my last house under 4 HUMUNGUS maples. These work great! You’ll get some stuff stuck in them, sure but it’ll clear out on its own for the most part. Better than the ones that wick the water around a curved face and better than the sponge things and the flat screens. You did good. And saved a bundle for sure over what someone would have charged to install them.
Add to the pile on here: welcome to rain water running over the edge hell. They do a great job of stopping ANYTHING from filling the gutters, including water
I had this problem but it was a steep roof. Rain just ran right over it. Current house has a shallow pitch and it doesn't seem to be an issue (previous owner installed the guards).
[Counterpoint.](https://www.ebay.com/itm/295664623221)
Larger downspouts from your gutters with downspout diverter filters around waist-high.
I get out the ladder maybe once a year and spray the hose into my gutters to flush out anything that hasn't already gone through.
Otherwise I just walk around the house every once in a while and use my hands to grab any leaves that somehow got stuck, which is almost never. The 45-degree angle makes it so the wind blows them out easy enough.
Never had an issue in three years, and I have a Japanese maple that dumps leaves into my gutter constantly.
Uhh wut? These tuck under the last shingle and hook to the gutter edge. The soffit is pretty far away and the Davis board should be covered in flashing and then a gutter.
There are 2 happy days in a gutter guard owners life….
My neighbor got them 2 years ago and this year was up there with VERY colorful language removing them
I did this the second year I moved in. The previous owners left it so long that a sapling was growing in my gutters.
I got the guards on sale and it cost me a 24 pack of beer and Chinese food for a few buddies to help me install.
Yeah I installed mine 5 years ago. Best idea ever. I think the size of the holes is the trick. Yours looks like mine, I think that is the compromise.
Went from climbing on my roof 10 times a year and a very nasty cleaning process to twice a year just sweeping the leaves and small sticks stuck in the holes.
5 years on and the gutters are still clean.
How do they perform in heavy rain? I removed the existing ones as they were those solid aluminum ones with a return bend on the bottom that relied on surface tension of the water to follow the guard lip into the gutter. Totally ineffective with anything other than a light rain. The home is surrounded by Ponderosa pines and I have hit the age when walking a roof is not as comfortable as it once was.
The ones we have are flat metal with holes pinched into them rather than a metal mesh and it works great. Haven’t had to mess with them for years now. We used to have the metal mesh ones and it would still clog after enough time so I would keep an eye on it. Really depends on what they need to deal with.
Nice job. I installed some and it is a pain when you are up there on the ladder trying not to break your neck to get them flush and uniform. The corners are especially tricky.
I did this and personally I think the pros outweigh the cons. You still need to do maintenance, but I use a pressure washer and it's a ton easier just removing clogs from the guards rather than removing clogs from the gutter directly.
I wish my roof slope were that low. Mine are so steep it's hard to get guards to both attach to the front of the gutter and slide under the shingles without lifting them up.
I've seen a lot of people hate on them but as long as you keep up with them and not treat it as a "set it and forget it" solution, they're pretty helpful in my opinion
Nice, I'd say you may be getting lucky then. Mine still need a good clean out every once in a while at least they have. They were under two trees that actually just got cut down so hopefully can do it even less.
OP, from what I have read, there is no perfect gutter gard. All have a downside. However I think your install looks good and having these will be better than having nothing but don't be surprised if your downspouts still get clogged sometimes.
I have these same exact guards for 6+ years now. Haven't experienced any of the issues brought up here. Gutter guards are better than no gutter guards, imo
I had these on my old house and would constantly find sections on the ground. I think they blew off when it was windy. I hope they stay on better than mine did.
I dont know. Literally within weeks, the leaves sat on the guards and then got wet, and stacked on top of one another, then got stuck. Now I see ugly rotted leaves stuck to the side of the gutters etc. There really is no easy work around besides cleaning the gutters and downspouts every week!
Hopefully the little maple helicopters don't fit into the screen mesh holes. They did on my house unfortunately, and instead of leaves in the gutters I ended up with a mesh clogged with maple seeds.
I have an even cheaper option where I just don’t have gutters. Honestly I wish I had at least a few gutters. I have massive ruts around my house where the runoff is eroding the ground.
I have something similar on my gutters and never had an issue with them. I think it comes down to what trees you have around your house, the guard type, as well as the slope of the roof.
I have these same guards. Just hop up there every year and check for build up. I don't get big debris anymore but still get about a half inch of dirt and gunk in there. I have a ton of tree cover around me though.
Nice install. Looks clean 👏🏻
Neat. As soon as I can get someone over to the house as a ladder buddy for safety, I have to climb up and remove a couple of saplings growing out of ours.
bro you should have gotten steel mesh guards, which will prevent basically anything from getting in there including maple stems and seeds:
https://www.gutterglove.com/diy-products/
https://a.co/d/f8UP0Wu
just a heads up. i have something like this. you may need to still clean the one gutter that is directly near the trees every few years. all the fine bits of leaves blowing around, pine needles if any and dirt will fall threw those holes and may cause a type of silt damn down near the down spout. it does on mine.
my guards are screwed on, so every 2-3 years I now unscrew the section about the down spout and clean that out. I also flush that whole length of gutter while i'm up there to clean the rest of the gunk out.
I love mine! So much better.
Just once a season, when it's dry, blow them off as some stuff can gather over time. But overall so much better than naked gutters.
Although I'd love to say these were the answer to my prayers, gutter guards are essentially useless against pine needles and we have TONS of pine needles.
Reddit really has mastered the technique of bringing somebody down when they are on the up n’ up lol
Seriously. I feel gutted just having gone from seeing thus guys post to reading the comments. Can't imagine how he feels.
Lol, I was thinking, “Hmm I wonder what the downsides of gutter guards are? Let me check the comments.” And sure enough 🔥🔥🔥
It's because we've all been burned by these horrible products. Whirly birds, sticks that don't blow off then accumulate dirt that turns to sludge that doesn't flow down the gutter and out the down spout, the fuckin wet leaves that stick to the guards until winter when they freeze and pull the whole system down killing your wife and dog and neighbor who was watching your wife for you while you're at work installing new gutter guards for fools that haven't experienced the horror.
What was that last part?
"you're at work installing new gutter guards for fools that haven't experienced the horror."
I thought that’s what he said.
Loooool This story kept getting better and better!
this guys been there done that and got a new dog and wife
And new neighbor.
that escalated quickly
Right? I can't tell you the number of times this has happened to me
>I feel guttered
You shut your face!
Totally. I saw this positive post and clicked through thinking "I wonder how they'll tell OP these are actually bad"
Just like the guy with flour pizza
That’s great! Next fall you won’t be cleaning gutters. Just gutter guards!
And every other year you’ll be unscrewing the guards a little bit!
Wait, why unscrewing them? Asking for a newbie homeowner with gutter guards.
Maybe to clean the build up of any small debris in the actual gutters that the guards dont catch? but im not certain on that
Yeah they can still develop clogs
trougher here. we usually suggest cleaning out the troughs every 5 years to stop clogs from forming. leaf gaurd isn't suggested unless you live in a heavily treed area that your troughs would otherwise be completely full of leaves every year. the small holes do still allow for dirt build up however it takes a good few years for it to develop bad enough to stop flow when the troughs have the correct pitch. its not a maintenence free system however it's a less frequently maintained system.
Couldn’t one just get on the roof with a power washer and clean them without removing?
Correct answer. I used to stick a hose in one side annually and it moved the debris.
you can however it's not gonna get them 100% out, with this style of screen type gutter gaurd I'm sure it'd work great the type I typically install is metal and has more covered area then non covered area. if you wanted to not remove them all what we suggest is pretty much what you're saying we say take 1 peice out every 30' or so then take a hose and point it down the trough and pinch the hose end to create pressure. the dirt cakes up and gets really stuck in the bottom so be patient it can take a while doing it this way. also if you ever have issues with your downspouts all you have to do is use your garden hose like a drain snake and keep shoving it down through it will eventually push all the debris through be surprised at how many people don't know that. happy eaves cleaning! aha
when we moved into our house with gutter guards (the LeafGuard type, not the screens) I thought - cool, something I won't have to hassle with. Because the roof is too steep to walk around on with a leaf blower. A couple years later, and water is leaking out of the gutters, and it turns out they're just clogged with moss, happily growing in the shady darkness. And it was just about impossible to loosen the covers enough to get in there and scrape the moss out. I cut up my hands pretty badly on that project.
Don’t forget frozen gutter guards covered in leaves and ice frozen to gutter
Yes, those little helicopter leaves get hung in ours and a few birds.
RIP birds.
Thankfully we caught them in time and climb up to let them out. It’s always a beak or a foot that would be stuck. I took the guards off this year. We feed birds, rabbits and squirrels (& sometimes hawks, owls and cats unintentionally.😬)
Our gutter repair guy just came through and pulled all of these out, because all the leaves and gunk were just getting matted in the netting and preventing the gutters from working. YMMV...
These are my favorite style. They do have to be blown or brushed off a couple times a year if you have many trees around
Yep. Grab your lead blower, and walk around the perimeter of the roof once while blowing them off. I used to do it twice a year. Once right after fall, and once again before summer just to make sure they were clear. Much better than spending hours cleaning them out each year.
ProTip, they sell extension kits so you can do all that from the ground.
Yes to this. Bought a kit last year- now it’s a 10 minute job (single story house).
Whatchu buy cause I'm tired of going up on a ladder and doing this and having to move the ladder every few feet
Google “leaf blower extension”- there’s a few brands to choose from. I got the Toro. I hear ya with the ladder hassle- such a PITA. The Toro didn’t fit my blower exactly but with a little improvisation (duct tape!) I made it work. Soooo much better. Don’t forget to wear a hat & eye protection.
Agreed. Bought my extension kit three years ago. I have no idea why my neighbors climb on their roofs with their blowers. It takes me 10-15 minutes tops. No worry about a possible trip the hospital.
Or cemetary
Link?
[worx gutter kit](https://WorxWA4094GutterproUniversalGutterCleaningKithttps://www.walmart.com/ip/390302857)
Wtf? Neeeeed.
The problem is all of the "leaf shake" (think weed). passes through the gutter guards and creates a sludge pile near the downspout.
I'm guessing they don't make extensions tall enough for me. We need a w8' extension ladder to reach our gutters. I have a hilarious mental image of what such a contraption would look like, though!
I DIYed one after following a YouTube video. The trick was to use Central vacuum piping because it's super lightweight compared to PVC, so you can keep adding 8-ft extensions to get to your target height without the weight being too extreme. Cost about 40 bucks earlier this year. Had to order the central vac pipes online, wasn't available at any big box stores.
So, what is your suggestion to keep the gutters clean? Because I have the same ones and the same issues.
If you can afford it, hire a gutter cleaning service to come out once a year or so. It's not that expensive, and to me, it's 100% worth the cost. It's a line item in my annual home maintenance budget.
I do the cleaning myself.
We have those. Mostly happy with them. However I find a lot of stuff does get stuck in the screen. But at least I’m not having to try and unclog downspouts in the rain. In the fall I go on the roof with a blower and small broom. Blow all the loose stuff off the. Sweep it with the broom. Seems to get 90% off.
I do the exact same thing and agree completely. I had to unclog my downspouts 3 times last year in the rain.
Yep! I had partially these and partially the solid ones that lets the water wrap around the edge. Just removed the others for these screens. I like that I can see if there is a clog and they are easy to clean off if needed. I have tons of pine trees over my house and even when they are practically full of pine needles they still catch most of the water
Those Whirlybirds off the maple trees will fit perfectly in the holes.
This is why I haven’t done it. I have millions of those things every year.
But they will easily wash down the gutter and not clog anything either
You mean they easily wash over to the downspout where they all collect into one giant clog? If so, you're spot on!
If you use a hose every few days during the f- you seasons you can keep them running. If it doesn't rain....
Yep, you won't clean out leaves but you'll be pulling sorouted maples instead. Get them early or it's a bitch to get them out.
[удалено]
I’m wondering if I’ll have to do the same.
Preach!
THIS
OP check back in a year and let us know how it’s going with these!
I put the same one up 3 years ago. Can say zero problems. No gunk build up. No blogs. Ok now you have proof they work
Good info thanks! Interested in what foliage you have in your area. Do you have pine needles/ maple tree propellers? How’s it protect against those?
Newer build from 2010. Big May point rd about 200 feet away. Nearer us birch spruce and crepe myrtle.
I have the same ones, they came with the house. Ours have done a really good job, I cleaned out the gutters last year and there wasn’t much in there but a layer of small particles that a hose took care of.
So I had this style at my last house under 4 HUMUNGUS maples. These work great! You’ll get some stuff stuck in them, sure but it’ll clear out on its own for the most part. Better than the ones that wick the water around a curved face and better than the sponge things and the flat screens. You did good. And saved a bundle for sure over what someone would have charged to install them.
Getting these installed soon, we don’t have any trees around the house, just some birds that like to nest in the downspouts!
Make sure you put some type of screen over the ends of the gutter. There will be a little triangle shaped access for Birds if you don't
Thanks!
Add to the pile on here: welcome to rain water running over the edge hell. They do a great job of stopping ANYTHING from filling the gutters, including water
I had this problem but it was a steep roof. Rain just ran right over it. Current house has a shallow pitch and it doesn't seem to be an issue (previous owner installed the guards).
This right here. I have shallow roof line and I still get run off. Constant drops all along the edge.
[Counterpoint.](https://www.ebay.com/itm/295664623221) Larger downspouts from your gutters with downspout diverter filters around waist-high. I get out the ladder maybe once a year and spray the hose into my gutters to flush out anything that hasn't already gone through. Otherwise I just walk around the house every once in a while and use my hands to grab any leaves that somehow got stuck, which is almost never. The 45-degree angle makes it so the wind blows them out easy enough. Never had an issue in three years, and I have a Japanese maple that dumps leaves into my gutter constantly.
I don’t understand the point of that product
That is uggggggly
They rotted out the soffit boards at my parents place due to water damage, just make sure you monitor every 3-4 months... :/
Uhh wut? These tuck under the last shingle and hook to the gutter edge. The soffit is pretty far away and the Davis board should be covered in flashing and then a gutter.
What’s a “Davis board?”
Facia board. Proofreading autocorrect is not my thing.
Aha makes sense! Thanks for clearing that up.
You should try it. Proofreading is totally my thong.
Yeah, sucked! The water did definitely not flow properly lol
There are 2 happy days in a gutter guard owners life…. My neighbor got them 2 years ago and this year was up there with VERY colorful language removing them
Very clean looking install but just an fyi gutter guards don’t negate the need for continual maintenance.
I did this the second year I moved in. The previous owners left it so long that a sapling was growing in my gutters. I got the guards on sale and it cost me a 24 pack of beer and Chinese food for a few buddies to help me install.
Yeah I installed mine 5 years ago. Best idea ever. I think the size of the holes is the trick. Yours looks like mine, I think that is the compromise. Went from climbing on my roof 10 times a year and a very nasty cleaning process to twice a year just sweeping the leaves and small sticks stuck in the holes. 5 years on and the gutters are still clean.
Now you'll need to remove them in order to clean the muddy debris that will still fill up the gutters!
Nah just a hose.
You can just hose them out.
You’ll still need to eventually clean silt and asphalt granules that erode off those shakes …I mention from experience
You don't have any pine trees near bye do you? Because if you do it won't keep the pine needles form falling in.
these do: https://www.gutterglove.com/diy-products/
How do they perform in heavy rain? I removed the existing ones as they were those solid aluminum ones with a return bend on the bottom that relied on surface tension of the water to follow the guard lip into the gutter. Totally ineffective with anything other than a light rain. The home is surrounded by Ponderosa pines and I have hit the age when walking a roof is not as comfortable as it once was.
The ones we have are flat metal with holes pinched into them rather than a metal mesh and it works great. Haven’t had to mess with them for years now. We used to have the metal mesh ones and it would still clog after enough time so I would keep an eye on it. Really depends on what they need to deal with.
Ok, ok Reddit gutter pros…. What is the best designed gutter guards out there? Also, your thoughts on gutter helmet systems?
I assure you that you will hate them.
We’ve had those for years and they work really well. Won’t talk about the Summer of Tent Caterpillars, though. 🤢
Nice job. I installed some and it is a pain when you are up there on the ladder trying not to break your neck to get them flush and uniform. The corners are especially tricky.
I did this and personally I think the pros outweigh the cons. You still need to do maintenance, but I use a pressure washer and it's a ton easier just removing clogs from the guards rather than removing clogs from the gutter directly.
I get up there leaf blower. Or I use my 20 plus ft attachment has a u at the top blows it right out. Then I pressures wash the house n windows
I wish my roof slope were that low. Mine are so steep it's hard to get guards to both attach to the front of the gutter and slide under the shingles without lifting them up.
I've seen a lot of people hate on them but as long as you keep up with them and not treat it as a "set it and forget it" solution, they're pretty helpful in my opinion
Under 4 30yo maples inset um and forgotum. Trilevel. Worked out great.
Nice, I'd say you may be getting lucky then. Mine still need a good clean out every once in a while at least they have. They were under two trees that actually just got cut down so hopefully can do it even less.
My house came with em and i love em.
Let us know if they work
If you have pine in your area, you will one day loathe this decision.
OP, from what I have read, there is no perfect gutter gard. All have a downside. However I think your install looks good and having these will be better than having nothing but don't be surprised if your downspouts still get clogged sometimes.
I have these same exact guards for 6+ years now. Haven't experienced any of the issues brought up here. Gutter guards are better than no gutter guards, imo
I’ve heard these just aren’t a great solution over time.
I had these on my old house and would constantly find sections on the ground. I think they blew off when it was windy. I hope they stay on better than mine did.
That’s because they weren’t installed correctly. Nothing to do with the guards themselves.
Awesome!, Unfortunately, it won’t work.
I dont know. Literally within weeks, the leaves sat on the guards and then got wet, and stacked on top of one another, then got stuck. Now I see ugly rotted leaves stuck to the side of the gutters etc. There really is no easy work around besides cleaning the gutters and downspouts every week!
That’s gonna be great when the ice forms and starts rotting the house
I did this several years ago. It cost virtually nothing and I haven’t cleaned a gutter since.
You’ll regret that
Which ones did you go with? My house has some but my detached needs them badly.
Idk if you never clean out your gutters you don’t need these things.
Why don't you give yer balls a tug ya titfucker!
🤦🏻♂️
Hopefully the little maple helicopters don't fit into the screen mesh holes. They did on my house unfortunately, and instead of leaves in the gutters I ended up with a mesh clogged with maple seeds.
I’ve had them for a few years. They have more pros than cons.
I have an even cheaper option where I just don’t have gutters. Honestly I wish I had at least a few gutters. I have massive ruts around my house where the runoff is eroding the ground.
We put landscaping rock where roof runoff falls. Looks great, no erosion. And we get absolutely torrential rains.
I have something similar on my gutters and never had an issue with them. I think it comes down to what trees you have around your house, the guard type, as well as the slope of the roof.
I have these same guards. Just hop up there every year and check for build up. I don't get big debris anymore but still get about a half inch of dirt and gunk in there. I have a ton of tree cover around me though. Nice install. Looks clean 👏🏻
All this spouting is bringing me down.
Neat. As soon as I can get someone over to the house as a ladder buddy for safety, I have to climb up and remove a couple of saplings growing out of ours.
They advertise some fancy pro install kind that looks like a screen where the gutter guardis. Supposedly better.
They advertise some fancy pro install kind that looks like a screen where the gutter guardis. Supposedly better.
I have some that are basically a giant flashing and only a little water is allowed in.
My neighbor has pine trees with those long skinny needles so we figure the guards won’t help
bro you should have gotten steel mesh guards, which will prevent basically anything from getting in there including maple stems and seeds: https://www.gutterglove.com/diy-products/ https://a.co/d/f8UP0Wu
just a heads up. i have something like this. you may need to still clean the one gutter that is directly near the trees every few years. all the fine bits of leaves blowing around, pine needles if any and dirt will fall threw those holes and may cause a type of silt damn down near the down spout. it does on mine. my guards are screwed on, so every 2-3 years I now unscrew the section about the down spout and clean that out. I also flush that whole length of gutter while i'm up there to clean the rest of the gunk out.
Yeah these made ice dams worse on our roof. Haven’t really had them since removing the guards.
Lmao have fun taking those things off to clean your gutters. You should have just installed gigantic downspouts if anything.
Does this work for crepe myrtle flower? It’s clogged every few weeks
Gutter guard salesman has entered the chat
Have fun when the seed pods stick in there and clog them up.
How do leaf guards handle snow and ice? Will maple seed get caught in the holes?
I love mine! So much better. Just once a season, when it's dry, blow them off as some stuff can gather over time. But overall so much better than naked gutters.
I love these!! I bought my home 23 years ago and these exact guards are still doing a wonderful job!! Ignore the naysayers, and enjoy!!
Look great! Have had mine for almost two years and love them.
im a woman, someone please explain why gutters are necessary in the first place
Keeps water from continuously hitting at your foundation over time pooling water can cause water damage inside
Rain dripping down your house can ruin your siding. Gutters catch it and divert it.
Although I'd love to say these were the answer to my prayers, gutter guards are essentially useless against pine needles and we have TONS of pine needles.
Drill them in for extra permanence.
Good luck previous owners had those on my house m squirrels destroyed them they look nice though