Dayton Gutter Services
Keep leaves, debris and clogs out while helping your gutters flow freely year round.
Gutter guards
We install Shur Flo gutter guards — a low-profile perforated aluminum panel that fits over the gutter opening so water can get in and leaves stay out. It goes on existing gutters that are in sound condition, or with a new gutter system as one job.
What a guard changes is the nature of the work. Instead of clearing a full trough by hand every autumn, you are checking a surface occasionally. That is a real difference, and it is worth having. It is not the same thing as never touching your gutters again, and we will not tell you otherwise.
We fit guards throughout Dayton, Kettering, Centerville and Beavercreek, and the assessment looks at the gutters themselves before it looks at the guard.
Guards are one part of the roofline. We also handle gutter repair, gutter replacement and the full range of gutter services.
Do you need them?
Guards earn their place on some houses and not others. These are the situations where they usually pay off.
How it works
One gutter, in section, with a Shur Flo panel fitted. Select a layer to see what the panel does — and, on the last one, what it does not do.
Perforated aluminum
The panel. Shur Flo is a perforated aluminum panel — a punched sheet, not a woven insert. It sits low across the gutter opening, so from the ground you mostly do not see it. The rear edge slides under the shingle course and the front edge fastens to the gutter’s front lip — nothing lifts the shingles and nothing is driven through them.
Water gets in
Water path. Rain running off the shingles meets the panel and passes straight through the perforations into the trough below. The holes are the whole mechanism — there is no curve to negotiate and no slot at the front edge, so water does not have to cling to anything to find its way in.
Debris stays out
Debris path. Leaves and larger debris are too big for the perforations, so they stay on top of the panel instead of filling the gutter. Air moves both above and below the panel, which dries what has landed there, and normal wind then takes most of it off the roof edge on its own.
The honest limitation
What still gets in. Fine material — shingle grit, seeds, needle fragments — is smaller than the perforations, and it collects in the sheltered strip where the panel meets the shingle line, which is exactly where wind does not reach. It is far less than an open gutter takes, but it is not nothing. That is why a guarded gutter still needs looking at from time to time, and why anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you the advertising rather than the product.
Benefits
All of these are reductions rather than eliminations. That is the honest shape of what a guard does.
The product
Shur Flo is made by US Aluminum, Inc. It is a perforated aluminum panel — a solid sheet with a dense field of small holes punched through it — rather than a woven insert stretched over a frame. Aluminum is what the gutters themselves are made from, so the panel is not introducing a second material at the roof edge.
It fits low and flat. The rear edge slides under the shingle course or drip edge and the front edge fastens to the gutter’s front lip, which means the panel is supported at both ends without anything being lifted or fastened through the roof covering. From the kerb, most people never notice it is there.
The detail we like most is the air. Because the panel is open above and below, debris that lands on it dries out instead of matting down wet, and dry debris is what wind actually removes. A guard that traps damp leaves against itself is a guard you end up clearing by hand.
We fit one product and we fit it properly, rather than carrying four and letting price choose. If Shur Flo is the wrong answer for your roof, we will tell you that at the assessment.
Process
Seven steps. The first four are about the gutters, not the guard — because a guard fitted to a failing gutter is a failing gutter with a lid on it.
Comparison
Every line here is a reduction. None of them is an elimination, and we have not written one that is.
The honest answer
No. No gutter guard completely eliminates maintenance, and any company that tells you theirs does is describing an advertisement rather than a product.
What a guard does is change the size and the frequency of the job. A clear gutter with a panel over it will not fill with wet leaf mass over one autumn, so you are not scooping a trough out by hand twice a year. You are looking at a surface, clearing whatever has gathered in the sheltered spots, and getting on with your day.
Three things keep it from being zero. Small debris still passes through the perforations. Roof grit builds up, especially as an asphalt roof ages. And different trees drop different things, so a house under maples behaves nothing like a house under pines.
Occasional inspection is still recommended, and we will tell you at handover roughly how often and where to look. Saying so costs us nothing except the sale we would have made by pretending otherwise.
Candidacy
Before we fit anything we look at the gutters themselves — overall condition, pitch, fascia, downspouts, existing leaks and loose hangers. Damaged gutters are usually better repaired or replaced before a guard goes on, because the guard adds weight and wind load to whatever is already there.
Guard advertising is all about leaves, because leaves photograph well. On an ageing asphalt roof the debris that matters is grit, and grit is finer than any perforation. Knowing which one you have changes what we recommend and what we tell you to expect afterwards.
Roof inspection
A run that is already bowing away from the fascia is not a candidate for a guard yet. Panels add load, and load is precisely what this gutter has run out of tolerance for. The repair comes first, and then the guard is worth fitting.
Gutter repair
Where a gutter has torn away and taken the trim with it, guards belong in the new installation rather than on the old one. Specified together, the hangers, the pitch and the panels are sized as one system.
Gutter replacementFascia condition is part of the same check. Where the board behind the gutter has softened, see soffit and fascia repair — that work comes before anything new is hung on it.
Local conditions
Southwest Ohio gives a gutter a lot to deal with, and it does it in stages. Heavy spring rain arrives while the maples are still dropping seed. Oak and maple leaf comes down through the autumn. Then the freeze-thaw cycle starts, and a trough that is already packed holds water where it can freeze and add weight the hangers were never sized for. A guard does not change the weather, but it does mean less of the year’s debris ends up in the channel where all of that happens.
The contractor
Interest-free financing options are available on gutter projects, and every installation is covered by the AlphaOne Advantage Warranty.
Yes, with qualifications, and the qualifications are the point. A perforated aluminum guard keeps leaves and larger debris out of the trough, so the gutter stays clearer and carries water better through the seasons when it matters most.
What it does not do is make the gutter self-maintaining. Fine material still gets through, so the job becomes smaller and less frequent rather than disappearing. Our blog post on whether gutter guards really work goes into the longer version.
Yes. Shingle grit, seeds and needle fragments are smaller than the perforations, and some of that material collects in the sheltered strip where the panel meets the shingle line.
It is far less than an open gutter collects, but it is not nothing. Plan on an occasional check rather than a full clear-out, and expect the interval to depend on what your trees drop and how old your roof is.
Yes. Shur Flo is a perforated aluminum panel made by US Aluminum, Inc. — a solid sheet with a dense field of small holes punched through it, rather than a woven insert on a frame.
Aluminum is what the gutters themselves are made from, so the panel is not introducing a second material at the roof edge. It is available in a mill finish, black and white.
Often, yes, provided the existing gutters are sound. The panel needs a gutter that is firmly hung, correctly pitched and fastened to solid fascia, because a guard adds both weight and wind load to whatever it is fitted to.
If the run is already sagging or the fascia behind it has softened, that gets dealt with first — see gutter repair or gutter replacement.
Partly. Needles and maple or ash seeds are much smaller than leaves, and some will pass through the perforations or lodge in them.
What helps is that the panel is open to the air above and below, so what lands on it dries out and normal wind then removes most of it. Under heavy pine or maple cover, expect to check the panel surface more often than a house surrounded by oaks.
No, not entirely, and this is the debris nobody advertises. An ageing asphalt roof sheds grit continuously, it is far finer than any perforation, and it passes through and settles in the trough.
A guard does not change that. If your roof is well into its second decade, granule shed is worth factoring into what you expect a guard to do for you.
Yes. Water passes straight down through the perforations rather than having to follow a curve or find a slot at the front edge, so there is no surface-tension mechanism to overwhelm in a downpour.
The limit in heavy rain is normally the capacity of the gutter and downspouts rather than the panel, which is one reason we check size, pitch and drainage before fitting anything.
They can help at the margin, and it is worth being clear about why. Ice at the eave forms when heat escaping into the attic melts snow on the roof and that meltwater refreezes at the cold edge. Gutters and guards are downstream of all of it — they suffer from ice, they do not cause or prevent it.
What a clearer gutter does is drain meltwater away instead of holding it where it can freeze. The actual fix is attic insulation, air sealing and ventilation, including the soffit intake: see soffit and fascia repair.
It depends on how the guard is fitted, which is why the method matters. Shur Flo’s rear edge slides under the shingle course or drip edge and the front edge fastens to the gutter’s own front lip, so nothing lifts the shingles and nothing is driven through the roof covering.
We cannot tell you what any particular manufacturer’s warranty says — the terms vary and they change. If your roof is still under warranty, it is worth reading the terms or asking the manufacturer before any work at the roof edge.
Shur Flo panels are made for 5″ and 6″ K-style gutters and come in 4 ft and 6 ft lengths, which covers most Dayton-area homes.
Half-round gutters and unusual profiles are a different question. We would look at yours at the assessment rather than assume.
Most single-family homes are a one-day job, including the clean and any small repairs.
What changes the timing is what we find in the first four steps — a run that needs re-pitching, hangers to replace, or fascia to repair before panels go on. We would rather tell you that at the assessment than on the day.
It depends on the length of gutter, the number of elevations, access, and whether any gutter repair is needed first. We do not publish a figure, because a per-foot number quoted before anyone has looked at the house is a guess.
The free assessment ends with a written estimate. Our blog post on what gutter guards cost in Dayton covers what drives the price.
Yes. Foam inserts that have broken down, screens that have collapsed into the trough, and guards fitted to gutters that were already failing all come off as part of the work.
It is worth knowing why the previous system failed before fitting another one, so we look at that rather than simply swapping like for like.
Our workmanship is covered by the AlphaOne Advantage Warranty.
Product coverage is separate and comes from the manufacturer. We go through both with you in writing before you commit, so it is clear which part covers what.
A professional gutter assessment, an honest recommendation on whether Shur Flo guards are worth fitting, and a clear written estimate.
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