Waterfall gutter
protection may
work well if there are only large-leaf trees present
on your property. However, if you have pine needles,
maple leaf “helicopter”, oak tassels,
small leaves, shingle grit…. This type of debris
may clog the water-receiving channels of Waterfall
as well as pass through the product and into your
gutters.
The Waterfall website denies that debris can
clog the channels of its product claiming “wind
will blow it out” eventually. We don’t
believe this claim. Neither do homeowners like
Sidney Brookes who installed the Waterfall system
on his home and was quoted in the Home Improvement
section of RealCities.com
Sidney’s experience
is what we, too, have found to be the case with
Waterfall: it definitely
requires cleaning. Because of the introduction
of LeafFilter™ to the market place, homeowners
such as Mr. Brookes will no longer have to be satisfied
with the partial
performance of products such as Waterfall. Cleaning
slots IS easier than cleaning the entire gutter,
but such an advantage loses its significance if
you own a two-story home and have to climb 30-40
ft ladders to accomplish “slot-cleaning”.
LeafFilter™ doesn’t have “slots” that
require periodic cleaning.
The following Q&A was posted on the Waterfall
web site (April 17, 2002) and again, seems to indicate
the manufacturer’s lack of knowledge of nature,
and lack of knowledge of the performance of its
own gutterguard on a rainy day.
Q. Will the Waterfall system keep pine needles,
Douglas firs, seeds, etc. out of the gutter?
A. Yes. Most debris enters the gutters when it
is dry outside. Leaves fall and are blown by the
wind into the gutters.
Waterfall’s answer is very far removed from
the reality most homeowners and gutter installers
experience with debris entrance into gutters and/or
gutter-guard products. HUGE amounts of debris are
carried into gutter and/or gutter-guard products,
such
as Waterfall, during wet, rainy days by water adhesion.
Far more debris will enter a gutter on a rainy
day than on a dry day. Almost any reverse curve
gutter guard will shed debris on a dry day; it
is rainy weather that leads to their failure. If
you’d like to test this premise, scatter
small debris on Waterfall and add
water… the real question may then become:
Can they keep anything out of a gutter or out of
their own channels?
As for Waterfall’s claim that seeds and
fir needles won’t enter their product, we
will just comment that homeowners, gutter-cleaners,
and gutter installers have found that claim to
be extremely erroneous.
* By the way, Waterfall first states that wind
will blow debris OUT OF its product… is this
the same wind that they later state blows debris
INTO the gutters? That is one crazy wind!
Waterfall doesn’t offer a “performance
guarantee”, only a material defect warranty.
They simply state the product’s plastic material
won’t fade, crack, or peel for 5 years. That’s
it! No promises, backed by a guarantee, that your
gutters won’t clog. Waterfall doesn’t
even offer a free gutter cleaning if they allow a
clog to occur (as do the other reverse curve products
they compare to). We do think Waterfall offers a
cheaper way to reduce gutter cleaning when compared
to many “high-end” reverse curve products.
Still, you shouldn’t trust in Waterfall’s
ability to prevent clogs or eliminate gutter cleaning
more than its manufacturer does.
LeafFilter™ gutter protection
NEVER allows a gutter to clog. |
