Yearly Archives: 2011

I’ll be honest.  I used to be one of the biggest critics of leaf protection systems.  I thought that they were over-priced, ineffective, ugly, and completely superfluous. Until I bought my own home and cleaning the gutters became my responsibility. I live in a small home; however it’s surrounded by trees.  As pine needles, helicopters, leaves, walnuts, birds’ nests, tennis balls and all sorts of other interesting accessories collected in my gutters, it didn’t take long before they were full of water and overflowing with rancid, brown-colored ooze. So my Saturday would look a little something like this:  Haul the ladder out, strategically and carefully wrestle it around trees, shrubs, electrical meters, decks, and walkways,  begin removing a copious amount of black smelly gutter muck from the gutters and downspouts, and running a garden hose up the ladder to spray out as much of the debris as possible.  (By this time an audience of half a dozen or so neighborhood kids would be standing beneath my ladder, watching with particular interest).  By the end of the process, I’ve been dive bombed by angry, overly protective mother birds, nearly fallen off the ladder, and covered myself from head to toe in gutter muck.  (I suppose it is entertaining for the kids).  Now every time I reach for the ladder, I hear a neighbor kid yell, “HEY EVERYBODY, HE’S GETTING THE LADDER OUT!” It gets worse.  This is a process that requires constant attention throughout the year. To ensure that your gutters are draining properly, they need to be cleaned out on a consistent basis.  It doesn’t take but a handful of leaves (or 1 rogue tennis ball) to clog your downspout outlet.  One clogged outlet could result in a basement full of water or washed out landscaping. Turns out that leaf protection is quite functional and cost effective.  We offer a wide range of leaf protection products, all of them effective, affordable, and zero maintenance products.