LeafFilter Pros and Cons
As a company that used to sell and install LeafFilter (beginning in 2008), we can say it was a great product. It was one of the best micro mesh gutter guards available back then. But times have changed, and despite all its advertising and hype, there are plenty of other gutter guards on the market to consider first.
If and you’re looking for an alternative that will keep away clogs and water damage over the long haul, contact Gutter Guards Direct for a free evaluation and estimate. We work with customers in Ohio, eastern Indiana, northern Kentucky, Tennessee, southern Michigan, and western Pennsylvania.
A Brief History of LeafFilter
No gutter guard is perfect, despite what we hope or expect. We all want to think that adding a gutter guard to our gutters is going to be a silver bullet. We’ll never have to climb a ladder to clean off the tops of the gutter guards again. Every leaf and helicopter that falls from our trees will magically jump off. It’ll be like Teflon. Until it’s not.
LeafFilter was THE first micro mesh gutter guard on the market. Invented by Alex Higginbotham, LeafFilter was the first big evolution in the gutter guard market in decades. Long dominated by solid gutter covers, such as GutterHelmet and LeafGuard, LeafFilter was a new and refreshing way to tackle the leaf and debris problem.
LeafFilter was the first gutter guard to completely encapsulate gutters. Gone were wide slots and large holes that would allow in everything from shingle granules to pine needles. It was replaced by a very fine stainless steel, micro mesh screen that sat over the top of a PVC frame.
That was Alex’s genius, and LeafFilter was a great first-step that fundamentally changed the gutter guard market.
Problems with LeafFilter
It wasn’t lost on Higginbotham that making a gutter guard from plastic wasn’t a good idea. Known as Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC), it’s a relatively thick plastic that can easily be extruded. It’s used in many household goods ranging from exterior siding to car seats for babies. The problem with plastic is that it expands and contracts to a much higher degree than metal.
The UV light generated from the sun is way stronger than a plastic gutter guard, so Higginbotham had to make provisions to allow LeafFilter to work properly. Essentially, it had to be installed in a way that maintained its ability to expand in the heat and contract in the cold. Not installing it properly would cause the frame to warp. If LeafFilter wasn’t installed to the inventor’s specifications, it might fail.
Another issue that became apparent with time was that because LeafFilter sits pretty flat inside the gutter, it is more shelf-like. If the goal of installing a gutter cover is to shed as much of the leaves and debris as possible, a gutter guard that installs flat inside the gutter is not a good option.
It may work fine if trees are some distance from your house, but most people who install gutter protectors, the opposite is true — trees are close to the house.
A plastic gutter guard that is subject to unusual amounts of expansion and contraction, combined with the possibility of leaves and debris building on top of it, highlights that it’s not a great long-term solution for most homeowners.
Highly Variable Pricing of LeafFilter
The home improvement industry is rife with shady characters and tactics. While the perception is that many of these companies are in business to help you, the reality is that most are in business to help themselves.
How can a gutter guard cost $100 per foot only to be sold for $15 per foot? It’s not logical. In what market can you get an 85% discount?
Can you get that on a house, a car, a washing machine, a pack of light bulbs, or your favorite pizza?
Generally speaking, heck no!
So why is it that a plastic gutter guard that likely has a cost of $2-$3 per foot can cost 33-times that much?
It can’t and shouldn’t, but it doesn’t stop the company from trying to extract as much money from homeowners as possible. And that’s a problem. It’s a company problem as well as an industry problem. If the sole objective of the company is to get you to part with your hard-earned money, how could they possibly be looking out for your best interests?
Our belief is they can’t. It’s a conscious strategy on the part of the company to charge as much money as possible for their product. They don’t discriminate. Old or young, the company mandate is to overcharge when and where possible.
But it doesn’t always work. Not everybody is a chump, and not everybody appreciates those tactics. In some cases, the sales reps are quickly shown the door. In the old days, homeowners might even call the cops in order to get someone to leave. But most of the time today, the company simply drops its price. It drops and drops and drops.
$100 drops to $50, then $35, then $25. If that doesn’t work, on the way out the door, the rep — knowing that he or she won’t get paid for losing a sale — might throw a Hail Mary and drop it down to $15. What’s the harm. He won’t get paid, but he’ll get another lead to live another day.
Absent that, the sales rep will be looking for another job.
Quick summary of LeafFilter problems
LeafFilter was the first micro mesh gutter guard on the market. Made from plastic to prove a concept, it is still made from plastic today. The problem with plastic is that it expands and contracts. Designed to sit relatively flat inside the gutter, it is prone to collecting leaves and debris on top of the cover, which means that you’re more likely to have to clean it off every once in a while. The cost is all over the map. Start high and drop if and when you have to. For everyone who pays the artificially inflated prices, many others pay less. Sometimes way less!
Pros of LeafFilter
When installed properly, LeafFilter can keep leaves and debris out of your gutters. The micro mesh is generally tight enough to keep virtually everything out of your gutters. And that’s a good thing. We’ve installed it. We’ve tested it. And we can vouch for it. In many situations it’s not half bad.
Best LeafFilter Alternatives
The same guy who invented LeafFilter in 1999, invented a better mousetrap — MasterShield — in 2005. MasterShield offers a similar, but improved micro mesh screen that contains copper to prevent the build-up of algae, lichen and moss — three elements that afflicted LeafFilter.
Mastershield is made from roll formed aluminum instead of extruded plastic, so it’s not subject to the same expansion and contraction issues as LeafFilter.
MasterShield is designed to slide under the first course of shingles to provide a forward slope that more easily sheds leaves and debris than LeafFilter, which installs relatively flat inside your gutters.
So, is LeafFilter a good gutter guard, and should you get it?
When you’re looking for gutter guards, you have more choices today than ever. If you’re comparing LeafFilter to all the other gutter guards on the market, it is a premium priced product that will provide mediocre performance. Sure, it’ll keep leaves and debris out of your gutters, but will it last long enough to pay off the high price that the company charges?
MasterShield, on the other hand, was invented by the same guy who designed LeafFilter. MasterShield is a vastly improved gutter protection system that offers the physical characteristics for success and is priced more reasonably than its older sibling, LeafFilter.
MasterShield was the top performing gutter protection system we have ever tested, easily outperforming LeafFilter and its rivals.