Raptor Gutter Guard Stainless Steel Micro-Mesh Sample Pack (Does not Include Full Length Sections)

I have over 200' of gutters around my house perimeter, with a combination of live oak, water oak, and magnolia trees dumping leaves. The oak flower in the Spring is particularly pernicious and the water oak leaves can get through the small openings in many types of gutter guards. Moreover, squirrels like to run along my gutters and from past experience will push in most of the low budget types of guards. I've tried them all, which led me to this type. These are completely successful keeping roof particles, oak flower, and water oak leaves out of my gutters. Once installed a simple brushing removes any debris that manages to accumulate on top of them (a mail in coupon nets you a free brush). They are also considerably more rugged than the plastic or aluminum mesh ones I've tried previously. Professional reviews and Consumer Reports all favor this type of gutter guard, both for functionality and for durability. I can attest that they live up to the hype and make an attractive installation. The cost is a bit more than $2 per foot, but is a fraction of what a professional installation would cost. Each package has 12 4' (actually 47") sections. Each section is formed as a stainless steel fine mesh screen sandwiched between two aluminum rails, one of which has a T cross section to butt nicely against the front lip of the standard 5" gutter. The construction quality is impressive. The package includes about 50 self-tapping screws and a nut driver socket.The sections are surprisingly rigid, a testament to the quality of the mesh. Difficulty of installation depends on your gutters, easy for gutters attached to a fascia board in standard fashion, more difficult if you have to bend up the the back of each guard to fit your particular gutter installation. Trimming requires a hacksaw to cut through the rails, and either heavy scissors or tin snips to cut the mesh. Fortunately, trimming is only needed where you reach the end of a gutter or around a corner. You also need a drill to install the screws. The mesh has been formed to have small ridges, which helps water sink into the gutter while making the mesh rigid. A small amount of mesh extends off each end for closing off the gap between sections, probably the weakest aspect of the design since the overlap can catch debris.My experience in installing these is that it is non-trivial but straight forward. Bending the mesh as described in the directions slowed me down, a lot. Over 100' of my installation is non-standard, with gutters attached under a 1x2" bumper on the fascia board. That meant I had to bend up the back edge of each section close to the back rail so I could attach it to the bumper. The bending requires some muscle because the mesh is tough stuff. It worked, but is an example of the kind of creative modification needed if your gutter is not a standard installation. A pamphlet comes with the gutters that suggests bends to fit a number of non-standard installations, one of which is the one I just described. If you find yourself a few feet short as I did, you can order single 3' sections of the same gutter from Home Depot for a comparable price.This is a 5 star product because it is effective, durable, and rugged. My only criticism is that it would be nice if the company devised a neater way to join sections rather than just overlapping the screening.

Had these installed for 2 years, ordered about 7 boxes. These fit great, no issues, still need to brush off pine needles here and there. Always remember to do the slight bend when installing.Speaking of which, our new roof was installed 2 years after I installed these, and the roofers easily removed the old shingles, added the new around these and the shingle warranty not impacted at all. These are low maintenance, no issues, and easy to install, and have no negative impact on old or new shingles.Great product, saved us THOUSANDS of dollars instead of having some professional outfit install their own gutter guards. Probably the best home upgrade I have done myself, and best purchase from Amazon. Also- when these are on sale, load up for your gutter project!These have lasted through all weather conditions in Wisconsin, rain, ice, snow, melting snow/ice. Sure some dripping over the gutters, but that is expected with the amount of snow/ice in late winters here. The gutter guards typical melted first and stayed clear for melted snow and ice to drain off roof into gutters.

I really like these gutter guards for the price and value. I've had them for over a year and they are holding up well and doing their job. I would have given 5 stars if the aluminum ends weren't varying lengths and they included joiners between sections. I thought I'd share my mod to address those two things and give you an option for installing these.SEE PICTURES1) Even up the ends of all gutter pieces - Use a saw with a metal blade to cut the aluminum only (I used a table saw with a sharp blade, a jig saw will also work). Then use a tin snip for the mesh, it will give you a cleaner edge.2) You will need to create dividers from strips of plastic panel joiners. These 8' plastic strips are inexpensive and can be found at big box stores near the 4x8 panels. These will insure a nice clean seam between gutter guards that won't allow debris to get inside the gutter.3) Divider process: Cut the straight pieces to the width of the guards (5 3/8?). With the wide side upwards, use a Dremel to make a straight cut 3/4" across it and then two more cuts along the spine of the divider. Repeat for the other end. The corner dividers are a little trickier. It is a similar process but done with 45 degree angles. You will need to measure carefully. My picture will show what you are going for in terms of the layout. Note: I later removed the spine on the outward edge (circled) so that it lays flat on the gutter corner (that is not necessary for the straight pieces).4) Installation of the straight pieces is fairly easy and moves right along if you have cut clean edges on the mesh. Start at one end of the rain gutter and screw down the furthest edge and the middle of the guard. Leave the closest edge to you loose so that you can lift and slide on the plastic divider. Lifting it also helps when sliding the next gutter guard into the divider. Once the two pieces are joined, put a screw on either side and another screw in the middle of guard number two. Continue working your way to the corner. The corners can be a bit more finicky to work with but it's the same process and comes out nice and clean.