ONE-PIECE GUTTER PROTECTION SYSTEMS ARE A FLAWED SYSTEM!                                          

What exactly is a one-piece gutter protection system?

A ONE-PIECE gutter protection system is a gutter unit which is made from one piece of material, which replaces your existing gutters with a hooded gutter system fabricated as one solid run of gutter extending the length of whichever side it is on, end to end.  

There are companies out in the market today pushing a product on the consumer, known as a One-Piece Gutter Protection System! The problem is the undersize and shape of the product. (Not to mention the fact that it is a ONE piece gutter system from end to end on a run of your home, which produces its own issues). 

Okay, so you need new gutters and you want gutter protection as well, so you call a company like Leaf Guard to come out and show you there system. It is what they don't tell you that really hurts you and your home, not to mention your pocketbook in the long run. For one thing, the system is not cheap by any means, but what are you getting for your money is the question at hand? What if you don't need new gutters? What if you only need gutter protection? 

A LITTLE INDUSTRY STANDARD INFO: Size Matters!!

You see, on a normal "K-style" residential gutter system the gutter is formed to a certain size box to be able to capture "X" amount of water coming off of the roofing system of any home. Typically the average size on a residential home is "5-inch" gutters. This measurement is taken at the opening at the top of the gutter. This is the standard size of a gutter in the USA today.

The next size up, of course, is "6-inch". Typically this is what a homeowner would upgrade to when the size of gutter they currently have is not doing the job. The "6-inch" K style gutter is also called a commercial size but is used in the residential side more often. Other sizes are custom made "7-inch" and "8-inch" guttering, typically used in commercial size jobs. Very rarely used in residential applications.

The K style gutter is the most used product for collecting water from the roof and diverting it to where you want it to empty. While there are other styles, used, this is the "GOTO" product of most builders today. 

You see this is what they don't tell you about there product compared to what they are trying to replace. The gutters on your home are bigger than what they want to sell you as a one-piece system.   The "5-inch" gutter, which is the smaller of the two, holds approximately 38% more water than what the one-piece system holds. Why? Well, the size difference, of course. Let me show you. 

The front of the one-piece system only goes up to 2.5 inches, that is where the water will spill out, once it reaches full capacity. Unlike the 5" gutter which has a height, front and back, of 3.5 inches. Now, which do you                       

The other side of the coin is the Leaf Guard one-piece system, when put next to a "6-inch" gutter will actually fit right down inside the bigger gutter, showing you just how small the one-piece system really is. The 6-inch gutter is just a mere one inch bigger than the smaller 5-inch gutter but you can see how much both industry-standard gutters are to the one-piece system. Crazy Right?

Then you get into the explanation that the one-piece system's size doesn't matter because they use a larger downspout, (drainage pipe) to offset the undersized capacity, and they try to sell you on how effective this is on allowing the water from your roof to drain out faster and therefore never having an issue. I really don't think so!!

Size absolutely does matter on the trough that is able to hold the water, drainage is important as well.

Another issue with the one-piece system is its inability for pitching the run of gutter on the home. Industry-standard gutters are pitched towards the downspouts or drain to allow the water to flow faster and empty quicker, thus controlling the water. On the one-piece system, you cannot do that. It is a solid run from one end to the other, and so stiff it cannot be pitched as needed to help with the control of water. So not only does size matter but flexibility also plays a part in how well your drainage system works. 

Another downside is when you purchase the one-piece system, you have to get rid of your larger industry-standard gutters. Now that doesn't make sense replacing a larger more capable system with something smaller, however, they will try to convince you that size does not matter.  What do you think?

Okay, now let's talk about damage. Say, you bought the one-piece system on your home, and let's say your gutter run was 60 feet, end to end, and then a tree limb falls on one end but only the top or curved hood is damaged? You still have to replace the whole run. Yep, that is right. THE WHOLE RUN, all 60 feet. It's not cheap and quite a hassle to replace. 

 

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The choice is yours, we are just trying to help you from making a costly mistake. By the way, the above pictures are from a home where we replaced the whole house with industry size gutters, six-inch to be exact and added a gutter protection system that would go over those gutters instead of this undersized, expensive, oversold product.