The 5 Best Gutter Guards for Metal Roofs (2024 Guide)
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While asphalt shingles are designed to slow water down and make its impact on your home’s drainage system less intense, metal roofs are sleek and allow water to flow into your gutters quickly. Not all gutter guards are equipped to handle the increased water flow from metal roofs. To help you find the best gutter guards for metal roofs, we’ve researched professional guard installers and DIY gutter guards by reading their warranties, service offerings, and customer reviews. We also installed and tested a dozen gutter guards to evaluate performance. We found that products featuring a micro-mesh screen, such as LeafFilter, perform the best due to their ability to filter heavy rainfall.
Top 5 Best Gutter Guards for Metal Roofs
What Homeowners Need To Know About Metal Roofs Before Choosing a Gutter Guard
Picking a gutter guard that works on a metal roof is difficult due to its intense water runoff. Here’s a quick rundown of what to know before installing a gutter guard on your metal roof.
How Much Do Gutter Guards for Metal Roofs Cost?
Metal roofs come with unique challenges for gutter and gutter guard installation. Due to their steep slope, increased water flow, and complex structure, you’ll need gutter guards designed to accommodate metal roofs. This typically means custom and more costly installations.
Estimating the price of gutter guard installation is difficult, especially for systems that require non-standard work. Professional gutter guard providers require you to schedule an at-home inspection to receive pricing, even for standard roof and gutter systems. As metal roofs are more unique, prices vary widely from project to project.
Based on national averages, you can expect to pay between $900 to $1,550 for a standard micro-mesh gutter guard installation and $1,150 to $4,300 for a reverse-curve gutter guard installation. Customers for major brands such as LeafFilter report higher prices.
The price to install DIY guards is lower than a professional installation because you’re bypassing labor costs and fees. Here’s a quick pricing rundown for the DIY brands featured above, including the cost to cover a 200-foot gutter system.
Gutter Guard Brand | Cost per Unit | Cost per Linear Foot | Cost per 200 Feet |
---|---|---|---|
Raptor (5-inch standard pack) |
$124.99 (48 feet) |
$2.60 |
$624.95 |
Raptor (super 6-inch pack) |
$149.99 (48 feet) |
$3.12 |
$749.95 |
Amerimax lock-in guard |
$66.25 (75 feet) |
$0.88 |
$198.75 |
What Factors Should You Consider When Choosing a Gutter Guard for Metal Roofs?
Metal roofs, while longer lasting and more durable than traditional asphalt shingles, come with unique challenges for your gutter and gutter guard systems. Below, we’ll look at important factors to consider when purchasing a gutter guard system for metal roofs.
Are There Gutter Guards That Shouldn’t Be Used on Metal Roofs?
Two kinds of gutter guards should be avoided on metal roofs: those that can’t filter water well and those with materials that conflict with your roofing.
Most gutter guards can handle moderate amounts of rainwater, but some designs experience overflows when exposed to the heavy runoff associated with metal roofs. The worst offenders are foam, low-quality reverse-curve, and perforated screen gutter guards. We recommend choosing mesh, micro-mesh, and high-end reverse-curve guards for metal roofs.
Another unique issue associated with metal roofs is conflicting materials. Some metals have chemical reactions with other materials that can cause faster corrosion. For example, when galvalume (a common metal roof material) is exposed to copper (a high-end rain gutter material) and an electrolyte (such as salt in the air), a corrosive reaction occurs. This reaction will wear down the galvalume metal and lead to a shorter roof lifespan.
We recommend consulting a roofing contractor before installing gutters or gutter guards to learn more about the materials that may be incompatible with your roof.
Should I Choose DIY or Professional Installation?
Professional and DIY gutter guards each have benefits. DIY guards are cheaper and easier to replace but take longer to install. Professional installations will be costlier but more convenient. Professional installation comes with other benefits, such as additional gutter service offerings and long-lasting warranties.
We typically recommend hiring a professional gutter guard company to install gutter guards for your metal roof due to the complexities associated with this roof type. While professional gutter guards will cost more than a DIY installation, you can avoid numerous pitfalls, such as conflicting metals or ineffective guard designs.
How Do Regions and Climate Impact Gutter Guards?
Climate can affect the performance and lifespan of both your roof system and gutter guard. Areas that experience heavier rainfall will require a guard that can handle heavy rainfall—even more so if you have a metal roof. If you live in a colder region, note that micro-mesh systems may experience ice dams. You can counteract this problem with products such as heat tape.
FAQ About the Best Gutter Guards for Metal Roofs
Can you use gutter guards on metal roofs?
Yes, you can use gutter guards on metal roofs. However, some guards perform more poorly than others, especially those that cannot handle large amounts of water.
When is the best time to clean gutter guards on metal roofs?
The best time to clean your gutter guards on metal roofs is at the end of fall and spring. These seasons produce the most debris, and cleaning at the end of spring and fall removes the most debris at once.
What gutters work for metal roofs in heavy rainfall?
Mesh, micro-mesh, high-end-reverse curve, and brush gutter guards work for metal roofs in heavy rainfall. Screen, low-quality reverse-curve, and foam gutter guards are prone to overflowing and should be avoided for metal roofs.
Our Rating Methodology
The This Old House Reviews Team backs up our gutter guard recommendations with a detailed rating methodology to objectively score each gutter guard product and provider. We conduct research by reviewing product specifications and provider website information, speaking with customer representatives, and analyzing customer reviews. We then score each provider against our review standards for gutter guard design, customer support, the quote process, services, and reviews to arrive at a final score on a 5-point rating scale.
To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.