We did our research for gutter guards on the internet and found that AsktheBuilder.com had a review of gutter guards. To make the long and short of it, he chose MasterShield for his home. We've got oaks and maples, a real problem in the spring. I remembered that my neighbor, who's an architect, put guards on his house a few seasons ago and when I asked him about what he had picked, it just happened to be the same thing as AsktheBuilder. He chose it cause it cause it had this fine microfilter made of stainless steel and liked its engineering from the rest. I figured he knew what he was talking about, and had MasterShield installed. Like that other person says, well worth the investment.

I did lots of research on gutter guards during DS's latest remodel. I think what you go with, if anything, is determined by the number and type of trees in your area, the amount of rain, wind, snow and ice you have thruout the year, the type roof you have, and how often the gutters need cleaning. In DS's case, the gutters would only need checking every 2 years. I talked with several gutter installers and most were willing so sell us whatever we wanted, but they also honestly shared the 'problems' with several of the systems. With hard downpours the overshoot is definitely a problem and if large leaves stick to the top surface of guards, they just add to the problem! If there are small holes in the cover, twigs and seeds tend to get caught and then sprout. And, as you've mentioned, some types of installation can compromise the roof. GutterStuff is used a good bit in our area and is more economical than some of the other designs, but we still worried about the foam catching debris & seeds. After figuring overall costs vs what he would pay someone to clean the gutters, DS decided not to install any type of gutterguards. Here is a link that might be useful: gutterstuff

we have liked Leaf Relief the best, cause you can get it in 10 ft long sections as well as 4 ft somethin sizes... It is aluminum....we installed it ourselves on our house we sold last year.... I bought that from a siding distributor... in that town There is a good video I saw on everythinggutter.com .. (no afflliation). just homeowner DIY mostly, here...)Those take a screw in the back too.... But "Leaf Relief" does not. For this old house bought "Sure Flo" It is cheaper from the manufacture. I just bought a whole box . UPS just delivered it. Each pc is about 4ft 6 inch... 50 pieces come in a box the web site said. only SOLD by the box.... I ordered it with a check thru the mail... came pretty fast too. we saved several dollars for each sections rsther than go thru a dealership driving 30 miles each way... Not sure if it will work on our standing seamroof we had installed over a year ago. The yahoos( a certain religious group member that dont drive) that did the work, did not quite put it up right... we did not know but the guy used us as guinea pigs... He had never installed that brand before.. My husband had to watch him closely. he wanted to put screws thru the face of the roof.... Because he did not order enough or the right starter strips...etc.... the roof mfg guy told us not to let the roofer do that.. He came in a truck, rolled out the pieces here in the driveway.... Boy was that scarey. cause the guy( roofer) had to go out and buy a big hay tarp to cover the roof overnite after the regular shingle tear off. and rain was expected...Course we had to insist too... so we might just have to end up and use "Gutterbrushes" like we had years ago at former home.. (Uh, we sold those to our brother -in law... LOL) cause the roofer did not leave the same edge that goes into the gutter... not even...DUH.... In some places Hubby had a time ,reinstalling the gutterguards that were here with the old regular shingled roof...He said he could barely get his hand in between the roof edges and gutterboard in places. Of course the Yahoo did not tell us that reinstallin the gutterguards was not part of his job... Just a saying yall jean

Honestly I don't believe gutter guards are your answer as they almost always eventually fail and when they do you can't get to your gutter to clean them out. I replaced my 3 inch gutters with 5 inch seamless gutters and 6 x 4 downspouts. That took care of a huge portion of my issue as my gutters can flow freely and clean themselves out. I have a 80% + reduction of junk in my gutters and haven't cleaned them in two years since I replaced them. I know you want a cheaper fix but I don't believe one exists. If your gutters are installed with the screw/nail high enough you could look into this http://store.irobot.com/irobot-looj-330/product.jsp?productId=13081876&cp=2878870&parentPage=family I used it when I was working for a handyman and in the gutters it fit it was the best thing. You set it in the gutter and let it go. Move your ladder to the other end and by the time you get up there your gutters are clean and you just need to move it around the next corner. In a house with nice long gutter runs it is a beauty. Otherwise I would call up some local handyman or talk to the kids in the neighborhood, if your rural then the neighbors with the kid old enough to drive, and see if you can work out a good deal.