Gutterglove prevents clogged downspouts

When walking out your front door, pulling out of your garage or even walking out onto your patio, feeling like you are passing under Niagara Falls because your gutters are blocked and overflowing is not a pleasant experience.

Pesky leaves, bird nests, pine needles and other debris can wreak havoc on a home's gutters when they are left open to the elements. Debris collects in the narrow channels, builds up and eventually blocks the intended flow of water off the home's roof and through the downspouts.

Robert Lenney had cleaned millions of feet of rain gutters during his career, but had grown increasingly disappointed in the poor performance of the gutter guards he had encountered. So, he set out to create a significantly better system that would be durable and would vastly outlast and outperform all competitors.

Today, his patented design for the Gutterglove Pro gutter guard is so advanced and efficient it continues to impress industry experts.

In fact, Gutterglove has been recognized for two straight years by Consumer Reports as the No. 1 gutter guard on the market. The U.S. military has even selected it to be a key component in its green building renovations of government-owned properties nationwide.

Gutterglove is also used as a first-stage filter for rainwater harvesting systems because its fine steel mesh deflects away leaves, pine needles and even sand from the gutter, allowing only debris-free water to be captured in storage tanks for later use.

Laura Miller of Milwaukee became only the second franchise dealer for Gutterglove in the country after she and her husband, Luke, met Lenney at a roofing expo in Las Vegas in 2004. Today, the Millers cover not only the Milwaukee market but are one of three authorized Gutterglove dealers in the Chicago area, too, and are the largest Gutterglove dealer in the country.

"I have to admit we were skeptical of Mr. Lenney's claims when we met him because we had owned a roofing company for years and had dealt with lots of problems with gutter products like this," said Luke Miller, production manager. "But when we returned home he sent us enough of his product to install it on the whole front of our house where the trees were and I did everything I could think of to abuse the system. I even poured syrup on it to simulate tree sap and it held up to everything I threw at it."

Gutterglove Pro is the most substantial gutter-protection product on the market, Miller believes. It is made with a nine-gauge anodized aluminum frame that is five times thicker than other gutter guard products so it will not weaken or bend. That frame is covered by a micro-mesh that filters out 99 percent of the organic materials that nature drops on gutters because it features 8,100 holes per square inch, he said.

"We advise homeowners to only install it where they really need it. You only install it on the entire house if the house is surrounded by tall trees that are dropping leaves into the gutters," Miller said. "We also have a heated version called IceBreaker that melts snow and ice on the roof edge. It is installed on top of the gutters and is invisible from the ground, so people to have it replace those unsightly heat cables," he said. "It comes with a ten-year warranty and is wired directly into each home's breaker box by a licensed electrician. It is then controlled by a switch from the inside of the home or through your smartphone. We recommend this be installed only where you tend to get icicles."

Miller said the products are also very affordable. "Gutterglove can generally be installed for $14 a foot, while our competitors charge anywhere from $17 to $25 per foot. The heated IceBreaker system costs about $45 per foot, installed," he said.

For more information about having a Gutterglove or IceBreaker system installed in the Chicago and Rockford areas, northwest Indiana or Wisconsin, call (847) 791-8833 or visit www.guttergloveguards.com.