I work on ladders often so I have experience with gutter guards. Anything made out of plastic will fail. They will get crushed sooner or later by the weight of snow or warped by the heat of the sun. Gutter topper is a huge waste of money in my opinion as the gutters will often not collect the rain water or snow melt. The only gutter guards that I've seen that work and I'm not sure of the name but they are made out of steel mesh and coated with black plastic. They are only suitable with 5 inch gutters and asphalt composition roofs. In some situations they will not fit properly. Also, in general, the trees in the area need to have large leaves that will blow away and they work best if the trees are not hanging over the house. Gutters still often need to be cleaned and it can be a real headache with guards installed. Gutter guards of any type can also lead to problems such as getting water sliding behind the gutters because debris builds up between the roof and guard. This can lead to damaged soffit or fascia which are expensive repairs.

Following is a repost. Have experience with Leafguard, Gutterhelmet, and gutterguard. Have found them to all work well. What your friend says is true, but a clogged gutter will run over a LOT more. I have not found overrun to be an issue with any of them. My preference is Gutterguard, but it is the most expensive! Has the largest profile to the gutter and can move the most water with the fewest downspouts. The covers are about 10' long segments which can be replaced individually if needed. Gutterhelmet does a fine job but must be fitted under the second row of shingles. A plus for it is it can fit on current gutters, thus not as expensive. It also has a bit of a different look, which we did find to be a problem. Leafguard does fine but due to the smaller profile gutter, it requires more downspouts. Without enough downspouts, it can overflow during extremely heavy rain. Valleys can be a bit problematic with any of them, but a diverter can be added to help in that area. Currently I have Leafguard on the front of our house, and Gutterguard on the back. The front, done some time ago, has short runs. When we did an addition and reroofed the back we decided to go with Gutterguard as there were some 70' runs where I only wanted a downspout at each end. First installed the helmet about 9 years ago, never have cleaned a gutter since. Have also tried just about all the other ones that clip on and don't work, and were a waste of time and money. Paul

I had some gutter guards (expanded sheet metal grates) at one time. The "helicopter" seeds used to get snagged in the mesh so I removed them and went without any guards.

I used the Home Depot type that handymac describes for many years--they worked fine. I rarely had to go up and do any cleaning--when I did, it was so easy. I had one side tucked under the shingles, and the other side clipped to the edge of the gutter. Before that I had the similar type but without the extra mesh, and those allowed the locust leaves, maple flowers and maple seeds in. When I got new gutters I unfortunately got permanent gutter covers--don't know a brand name, flat perforated metal. The holes are small, and don't seem to let anything through, but because they sit flat on the gutter (actually tilt down slightly toward the wall) debris piles up and packs under the shingle overhang, so I have to climb up twice a year to clean it even though nothing is actually in the gutter itself. I had ice dams for the first time, too, after these were installed. Of course the guy who nstalled them won't return my calls about his "guarantee" that I wouldn't have to clean.