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HEAT TAPES & CABLES on Roofs for Ice Dams
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WATER BARRIERS, EXTERIOR BUILDING
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More Information

Gutter cap or helmet (C) D Friedman Gutter Caps & Shields: Do They Work?
InspectAPedia®  -      

  • Gutter caps to avoid gutter cleanouts
  • Gutter shields or "helmets" to avoid having to clean gutters - do they work
  • Installation details to permit gutter inspection and cleaning where gutter shields or hats or helmets are installed
  • Questions about choosing, installing, and using caps or shields or screens on Roof gutters & at downspouts

This article explains gutter shields, caps, or "helmets" and we describe circumstances in which these attempts to avoid gutter cleanout chores do not work. This article series discusses how to choose, install, diagnose & maintain roof gutters & downspouts, & roof drainage systems to prevent building leaks and water entry.

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers nor with topics or services discussed at this website.

© Copyright 2012 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use page top links to major topics or use links at the left of each page to navigate within topics and documents at this website. Green links show where you are in a document series or at this website.

Gutter Caps, Gutter Shields, Gutter Hats or Helmets for Reducing Gutter Clogging & Overflowing: Do They Work?

The gutter "caps" shown below are appealing to building owners who are sick of cleaning their gutters. These products claim to eliminate the need for gutter cleaning. The theory is that leaves and debris are washed over the solid plastic (or metal) of the gutter cap (photo below left) while water runs into the gutter through the slots (photo below right) in the gutter cap.

Gutter Cap or helmet (C) D Friedman Gutter cap or helmet (C) D Friedman

Also see GUTTER SCREENS. And if you are looking for information about the caps used to close the ends of metal gutters, see GUTTER END CAPS.

Watch out: our experience with using solid gutter "caps" or "helmets" to avoid gutter cleaning has not been quite so good. We have observed these problems with solid gutter caps:

  • In heavy rain the rate of water flow is so fast that water simply spills over the roof edge onto the ground below - as if there were no gutter installed.
  • At buildings where roof debris may include small particles, especially pine needles or hemlock fir tree droppings, these fine materials rapidly pass through the gutter cap slot and clog the gutter below. Our photos below show gutter cap clogging problems on a roof located below a hemlock tree. We found that the gutter was itself nearly full of debris and of course was clogged.

    The building owners, thinking their gutter problems had been solved forever when they installed these gutter caps, had never inspected the system to see if it was working, but they had noticed that their basement water entry problems continued unabated.
Gutter cap or helmet (C) D Friedman Gutter cap or helmet (C) D Friedman

If you are going to try using this type of gutter shield product be sure that you

  • Insist that the caps be installed with easily-removable sections to permit future gutter inspection and cleaning
  • Inspect the gutters for clogging at least once a year, starting at the gutter-downspout connection
  • Watch the gutter and gutter shield or cap performance during heavy rain to see if roof runoff is simply overshooting the gutter and spilling against the building

Questions & Answers regarding this article

Questions about choosing, installing, and using caps or shields or screens on Roof gutters & at downspouts .

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

GUTTERS & DOWNSPOUTS - see detailed links at page left

  • Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education including the ASHI-adopted Home Inspection Training Program (home study course), publications such as the Home Reference Book, report writing materials including the Horizon report writer, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

  • Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
  • Building Pathology, Deterioration, Diagnostics, and Intervention, Samuel Y. Harris, P.E., AIA, Esq., ISBN 0-471-33172-4, John Wiley & Sons, 2001 [General building science-DF - ** Particularly useful text **
  • Dampness in buildings, Diagnosis, Treatment, Instruments, T.A. Oxley & E.G. Gobert, ISBN 0-408-01463-6, Butterworths, 1983-1987 [General building science-DF]
  • Home Reference Book - Carson Dunlop The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 2010, $69.00 U.S., is available from Carson Dunlop, and from the InspectAPedia bookstore. The 2010 edition of the Home Reference Book is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. InspectAPedia.com ® author/editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume.
  • GO TO Carson Dunlop's Home Study Course Information - How to Become a Home Inspector: Carson Dunlop's nationally recognized Home Study Course,
selected by ASHI the American Society of Home Inspectors and other professionals and associations.
This website author is a contributor to this course.Carson Dunlop's Home Study Course for Home Inspectors can be examined online at that company's website. More about home inspector education and other educational materials is organized at InspectAPedia.com at Home Inspector Education.
  • Certainteed Weatherboard fiber cement siding and trim products - see certainteed.com/ or see certainteed.com/resources/sidingandtrimspecsheet.pdf
  • "Flashing: the plain solution to leaky walls", Thomas E. Remmele, Manager, Technical Services, Sto Corporation, Building Standards, November/December 1999 p. 21-25.
  • "Weather-Resistive Barriers [copy on file as /interiors/Weather_Resistant_Barriers_DOE.pdf ] - ", how to select and install housewrap and other types of weather resistive barriers, U.S. DOE
  • ...

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