Home Depot Gutter Guard Reviews (2024 Homeowner’s Guide)
Here’s an overview of our Home Depot gutter guard review:
- EcoWatch Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
- State Availability: Nationwide
- BBB Rating: A+
- Average Cost: $-$$
If you’ve been researching gutter guard options, you’ve probably wondered if the DIY gutter guards you can buy from Home Depot are any good.
Gutters are critical for protecting your home. They route runoff away from your foundation, which helps avoid structural issues, foundation leaks, moisture accumulation, pest infestations and much more.
What you might not know is that keeping your gutters clean and free of clogs and blockages is just as important as having a gutter system in the first place, since overflow from plugged, improperly functioning gutters can cause severe property damage over time as well. Gutter guards are a key home improvement for keeping debris out of your gutters, ensuring that they drain freely.
In this guide to gutter guard solutions, we’ll discuss the options you have at Home Depot, how well they work to prevent clogs, their pricing, warranty coverage and more. This information should help you decide if the Home Depot gutter guards with DIY installation are best for your home or if you’d be better off with a professionally installed solution.
Home Depot Gutter Guards at a Glance
As you probably know, Home Depot is a home improvement store that carries a massive range of products empowering homeowners to complete DIY projects around the house. The store carries a variety of gutter guard options that you can install yourself, allowing you to save quite a bit of money on a professional installation.
These DIY options offer ease of installation and a process that typically doesn’t require lifting and doesn’t damage roof shingles, so the products are unlikely to void any existing gutter or roof warranties.
Similar to other home improvement stores like Lowes, Home Depot carries many options for gutter guards. These include foam gutter guards (also called filter gutter guards), screen gutter guards, mesh gutter guards, brush gutter guards and reverse-curve gutter guards (also called surface tension guards).
Home Depot also carries stainless steel micro mesh gutter guards, which are relatively uncommon to find at a home improvement store. These options typically come with a manufacturer’s warranty, but there usually is no performance warranty since you’ll be installing them yourself.
Home Depot does offer professional installations for some products, which sometimes come with a workmanship warranty.
Overall, Home Depot is a decent place to get gutter guards, especially if you’re looking to save money. However, the options available won’t work quite as efficiently as those offered by professionally-installed gutter guards.
Facts About Home Depot Gutter Guards
- EcoWatch rating: 3 out of 5 stars
- Material: Plastic (PVC), foam, brush, aluminum, stainless steel
- Warranty length: Varies from 0 to 25 years
- State availability: 54 states and territories
- BBB rating: A+
- Average cost: $0.50-$2.46 per linear foot (depends on the product)
Advertisement
This site receives compensation from some of the companies featured in this listing, which may impact where and how products appear. When you click “Get Quote,” you will leave This Old House and will be connected with partners of Home Service Quotes, who may contact you with information related to your inquiry. This listing doesn’t feature all companies, products, or offers that may be available.
LeafFilter
Save 12% plus $250 off on gutter guards for your home. Seniors and Military save an additional 10%.
Average cost
Pros
- Made from sustainable materials
- Materials are recyclable
- Positive customer reviews
- Has green initiatives
- Competitive pricing
Cons
- Not DIY-friendly
Home Depot Pros and Cons
Pros:
+ Many options available for DIY installation
+ Relatively inexpensive
+ Some options have warranties
+ Professional installation available for some products
+ Mostly positive reviews for many products
Cons:
– Some gutter guards have no warranty
– Not as good as professionally installed gutter guard systems
– Requires your time to perform installation
– No performance warranties for DIY options
Home Depot Gutter Guard Review
Gutter guards are crucial pieces of equipment that protect your home from costly damage. We understand the importance of properly-functioning gutter guards, which is why we assess companies who offer them based on numerous criteria.
Below, we’ll discuss the most important factors we consider when reviewing Home Depot gutter guard systems and how each plays into our overall rating.
Products
Home Depot provides a range of DIY options for homeowners looking to install their own gutter guards. It carries screen gutter guards, mesh gutter guards, brush gutter guards and foam gutter guards, as do many other home improvement stores.
It also offers DIY solutions for micro mesh gutter guards, which are far less common in the DIY space but offer the best solution for efficiency and affordability.
Home Depot’s most popular gutter guard options include:
- Gutter Guard by GutterGlove products
- Amerimax Titan Aluminum Mesh Gutter Guard
- Amerimax Lock-in Metal Mesh Gutter Guard
- Best-1 Gutter Guard (micro mesh)
- GutterFoam Foam Filter Gutter Guard
- GutterBrush Max-Flow Filter Brush Gutter Guard
This is an excellent representation of the different types of gutter guards available, and it provides homeowners with quite a few viable options for gutter protection.
These gutter guards are available in different materials and offer varying durability and pricing. The most affordable gutter guards from Home Depot are made of foam or PVC, which is reasonably durable but can warp with prolonged exposure to sunlight, high temperature and high humidity levels.
The best durability comes from gutter guards with aluminum frames and stainless steel micro mesh screens. The brush gutter guards available also have excellent durability.
The type of gutter guard you purchase from Home Depot will dictate its efficiency. For example, foam and brush gutter guards are considered entry-level options that will help reduce gutter clogs but won’t prevent them entirely.
The screen, mesh and reverse-curve gutter guards will perform slightly better, but the micro mesh options will provide the highest level of efficiency.
How Home Depot Gutter Guards Work
Regardless of the style of gutter guard you choose, they all work the same way; they’re designed to let water flow through the protective layer — whether that’s made of bristles, PVC, stainless steel mesh or solid PVC with a reverse curve — while stopping debris from getting caught in your gutter system.
The mechanism for trapping debris varies, but all types block leaves and sticks from clogging your gutters, while the best gutter guards stop smaller debris as well like pine needles, leaf fragments, roof grit and pollen.
Since Home Depot offers mostly DIY gutter guard options, the process of getting protection for your gutters is relatively straightforward.
All the available choices can be found on the Home Depot website. Some options are available immediately for delivery or store pickup. Other options, like Gutter Guard by Gutterglove, need to be ordered for delivery to your home or for in-store pickup.
Either way, you need to purchase the lengths based on the perimeter of your home (plus an extra five to ten percent for mistakes and lengths you’ll need to cut for going around corners) — then install them based on the manufacturer’s instructions. The installation process shouldn’t be too lengthy or complicated.
Warranty Coverage
The warranty coverage for the gutter guards available from Home Depot varies based on the product and the manufacturer. The warranties typically range from around two years up to 25 years, and most of them cover manufacturing defects only.
If your product fails because of a problem in the manufacturing process, you can get a free replacement or compensation for the materials you purchased. Of course, the products with 25-year warranties are generally a better option for obvious reasons.
One of the downsides of DIY gutter guards is the general lack of a performance warranty.
When you opt to go with a professional gutter guard installer — like LeafFilter or MasterShield — you typically get a warranty for the actual product holding up but also for how the gutter guards perform. The company can guarantee that the product is installed properly, so it has no issue guaranteeing that the product will work as intended.
With a DIY installation, you could install the gutter guards improperly, so companies are far less likely to offer a performance warranty. Even those that do offer one — like the Amerimax Titan gutter guards — won’t cover issues caused by improper installation, and proving that the product was installed properly is challenging.
Home Depot also offers professional installations for some of its gutter guard products. If you opt to have one of Home Depot’s providers install your gutter guards, you might be offered a performance warranty from the company.
You’re also more likely to be able to prove that the guards were installed properly, so you could take advantage of the manufacturer’s performance warranty in that case as well.
Home Depot Gutter Guard Installation
If you choose to install your Home Depot gutter guards yourself, the installation process will depend on the specific product you choose.
For example, if you opt for the GutterBrush Max-Flow Filter, you’ll simply place the brush in your gutters, cutting or bending the product when you get to any corners.
Installing the GutterFoam gutter guards is as simple as cutting the foam to length with a utility knife and then popping it into place, being sure to tuck one side of the foam under the front lip in the outward-facing edge of the gutter before pushing the back side down to secure it in place.
The Amerimax Lock-In gutter guards work in a similar way to the foam guards, while some other options require screwing the covers into your fascia or existing gutters.
Here’s an example of an installation:
The process is even simpler if you choose to have one of Home Depot’s gutter guard installers complete the process for you. You’ll just need to speak with a sales representative in the store, schedule the installation and then wait for the provider to install your gutter guards.
Home Depot Gutter Guard Cost
Home Depot’s gutter guards all have different costs per linear foot, with some options being more than triple the cost of others.
Prices range from $0.50 per linear foot to $2.46 per linear foot. For a 1,000-square foot house, you can expect your price to fall between $110 and $550, or an average of approximately $350.
Remember, it’s best to account for 5-10% more material than you think you need to account for mistakes and offcuts. In general, the gutter guards from Home Depot are very affordable, as the average cost per linear foot for gutter guards with a professional installation is around $8.
Availability
One of the most significant upsides to opting for gutter guards from Home Depot is the wide availability. Home Depot has just under 2,000 locations across all 50 states, so most homeowners will have no issue getting gutter guards from their local store — although as described above some choices need to be ordered for in-store or home delivery.
You can purchase your gutter guards from the Home Depot website and have them delivered to your home or a specific store for pickup.
Home Depot Gutter Guard Reviews
There are lots of reviews for Home Depot in general on the internet, but the reviews for the individual products offered matter more in terms of your installation experience and how well your gutter guards function. Since Home Depot offers a wide variety of gutter guards for DIY installation, the reviews of the products offered vary quite a bit.
One of the most popular products, the GutterGlove gutter guards, maintains a five-star overall rating, even with thousands of reviews posted. Most of the reviews mention how easy the product is to install and how well it works to keep debris out of the gutters.
Some of the negative reviews complain about debris still getting through and water spilling over the sides of the gutters and collecting next to the home’s foundation, especially during heavy rain. No gutter guard is perfect, so some issues are expected, and these can be caused by improper installation.
Another of Home Depot’s top gutter guard products — the Amerimax Titan gutter guards — maintains a four-star overall rating.
Positive reviews mention how well these gutter guards work and how durable they are, even in cases of extreme weather. Some of the negative reviews cite how frustrating they can be to install and how the shape lets leaves and other debris collect on top, which necessitates frequent cleaning and allows some water to flow over the gutter entirely.
Again, no gutter guard is ideal, so there will always be some downsides to any DIY product.
Below, we’ll include some reviews of specific gutter guard system products from Home Depot to help you get a feel for what to expect when installing these on your home.
“[These] were easier to manage/install than I originally thought. The construction is very sturdy but lightweight. I’m confident they will last, but [they are] light enough to handle safely on a ladder or while on the roof. These gutter guards slid into place with no issue. I installed over 184 feet with multiple inverted and outward corners. With these gutter guards installed I won’t be on the roof or on the ladder cleaning out leaves, sticks, or anything else for that matter from my gutters.”
— J Dubs via HomeDepot.com for the GutterGlove Gutter Guards
“These work great. Had them for years. Previously, I had the wire mesh type. Wire mesh is too restrictive. The wire mesh I had worked for 3 years only then water just ran over the top. They never clog up. I get no algae or any build-up. I’ve had them on for 7 years plus. Never seen water overflow ever. It’s great having these on because they do work. These perforated type gutter guards are the best.”
— Charles via HomeDepot.com for the Amerimax Titan Aluminum Gutter Guards
“Had Home Depot install new gutters and these gutter guards three years ago. The guard sits inside the gutter, not over the top. Subsequently, fir needles, cedar cones and leaf debris still collects and just sits on top of the screen. At least twice a year you will be on the roof using a leaf blower to remove the mess. Further, where the gutter goes around an inside corner the debris can get so deep that water simply runs over the top and not into the gutter at all.”
— Jet via HomeDepot.com for the Amerimax Titan Gutter Guards
Final Thoughts & Our Recommendation
The gutter guards from Home Depot are a great value, costing significantly less than professionally-installed gutter guards. However, there are some downsides that might not make the savings worth it for you.
First, you’ll have to complete the installation yourself in most cases, although there is the option of a professional installation from Home Depot’s service providers. Second, you typically won’t get a lifetime warranty or a performance warranty, and the general performance won’t be as good as the high-quality products that are professionally installed.
That being said, the gutter guards available from Home Depot are a great option if you want to go the DIY route. Many of the options are durable and perform well provided you install them according to the manufacturer’s directions.
They aren’t quite as efficient as the micro mesh gutter guards you can get from professional gutter guard companies, but based on the positive customer reviews for some of the products, many of them work well enough, especially given the lower cost.
If you do decide to purchase gutter guards from Home Depot and install them yourself, we suggest going with the GutterGlove guards, which are highly rated on Home Depot’s website and are easy to install and known to work reasonably well.
Company Information
- Company name: Home Depot
- Company type: Home Improvement Retailer
- CEO: Edward Decker
- Year founded: 1978
- Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
- State availability: Nationwide
- BBB rating: A+
FAQ: Home Depot Gutter Guards
Below, we’ll answer some of the most common questions we see about Home Depot and the gutter guards it makes available to DIYers.
Home Depot offers a variety of gutter guard options for homeowners to install themselves, so the prices vary based on the specific product you choose.
The price per linear foot ranges from $0.50 to $2.46. For a 1,000-square foot home, you’ll need around 220 linear feet, which would come out to between $110 and $550, or about $350 on average. We recommend buying around 10% more than you need to account for mistakes, so plan on $130 to $600 total.
Yes, absolutely! Unlike products from professional gutter guard companies like LeafFilter, the gutter guards from Home Depot are meant to be installed by homeowners.
They involve an easy installation process that includes laying your gutter guard in your gutter or snapping them into place in most cases, although the specific instructions will vary based on which product you choose.
Most guards will easily fit standard rain gutters, like five-inch gutters and K-style gutter systems. In any case, most homeowners should have no issues installing gutter guards from Home Depot, especially if they’re experienced in DIY work.
Yes. All gutter guards — even the professionally-installed ones — will need at least an annual cleaning. Hiring a specialty gutter guard company to install your guards will usually mean only one cleaning a year is needed.
The leaf guards available from Home Depot are less efficient overall, so you should count on doing gutter cleaning (or having a service do it) between two and four times a year to minimize debris buildup and clogging.
Any gutter guards you buy from Home Depot that have manufacturer defects can be returned for a refund or replacement within 90 days, provided you have the receipt. If your product is opened but undamaged, Home Depot might accept the return, but there is no guarantee.
If you opt for a professional installation from one of Home Depot’s partners, you cannot return your system or get refunded for the service.