Gutter Guards for Super Gutters on Pool Cages

The big gutter your pool cage is fastened to fills with leaves and pine needles. After a hard rain it spills onto the deck or runs down into the screen. Then you are standing on a ladder next to your cage, scooping out wet debris, and wondering if there is a better way.

There is a good chance there is. Super gutter guards and pool cage gutter guards do exist, and pool cage owners ask Rain Storm Solutions about them. The short answer is yes, we put guards on super gutters. The longer answer is that it depends on your gutter, your trees and what the gutter looks like underneath. This guide walks through all three.

What a Super Gutter Is and Why It Clogs

A super gutter is the large gutter along the roof edge where your pool cage or screen room meets the house. The cage’s top beams are fastened to it, which is what makes it different from the gutters on the rest of your home. If you want the full picture of what it does and how it fails, we wrote a separate guide on what a super gutter is and the signs yours needs replacing.

It clogs for the same reason any gutter does, only faster. It sits under a wide stretch of roof, so a lot of what lands on that roof ends up in it. In Spring Hill that means slash pine needles and laurel oak leaves and catkins, which come down all year.

Then there is the water. Building scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in a guide to gutters and downspouts, list overflow as a design problem and advise you to “Provide overflow protection to alleviate the water load during peak rain events” (PNNL Building America Solution Center). A gutter packed with needles has almost no room left for a Florida downpour, so the water goes over the edge. On a house with a pool cage, over the edge means onto the deck, into the screen or down the fascia.

The same guide describes what happens to water that is not carried away. It “can quickly saturate the soil surrounding the building and wick through the foundation to the interior,” and “Once inside, this moisture can lead to a variety of problems, including mold and rot.” That passage is about the building in general, not super gutters in particular. It still explains why a gutter that overflows week after week is worth fixing.

Can a Guard Go on a Super Gutter?

Yes. Guards on super gutters are part of the work Rain Storm Solutions does.

The reason it works is the size range. The owners say ONE Gutter Guard “is designed for both 5-inch and 6-inch gutters or bigger when needed.” A super gutter is bigger than the gutters on the rest of the house, so that “or bigger” matters. The guard is not limited to the common residential sizes.

The makers talk about fit in similar terms. The Lock N Mesh website says “No matter your gutter size, style or roof type, our product will install easily” and says it “Installs Quickly on New or Existing Gutters” (Lock N Mesh). That is the maker’s claim about its own product. What fits your super gutter is something a person has to look at on your house, and we say how that works below.

Two things stay the same as for any gutter guard. The guard sits over the channel and does not replace it, so the gutter underneath has to be sound. And the guard has to suit your trees. That second point is the next section.

Which Guard: ONE Gutter Guard or Lock N Mesh

Rain Storm installs two guards, ONE Gutter Guard and Lock N Mesh. The deciding factor in this part of Florida is usually pine trees.

If pine trees hang over your roof, the guard is ONE Gutter Guard: with pine trees, we cannot offer Lock N Mesh. The ONE Gutter Guard maker is plain about why pines matter, saying on its homeowner page that pine needles “can pass through many gutter guards” (ONE Gutter Guard). A pool cage under slash pines is exactly the case that sentence describes.

If there are no pines, you can choose between the two. Chris explains the differences at the estimate. The roof type is also a factor, and he goes over those options with you at the house.

Our guide on ONE Gutter Guard or Lock N Mesh covers the two side by side. For the full list of what we install and how the work goes, see the gutter guards page.

On warranty, ONE Gutter Guard carries a 20 year performance warranty. The maker’s warranty page says it applies “if installed to our factory specifications,” and that failures from improper installation are excluded (ONE Gutter Guard warranty). That is one more reason the fit gets checked in person, and not guessed from a photo.

Why the Fit Gets Checked at the Estimate

A super gutter is not the same on every house. Cages are different sizes, the roof edge is different, and the gutter itself may be new or may be twenty years old. So nobody can tell you over the phone whether a guard will sit right on yours.

At the free, in-person estimate, Chris looks at the super gutter, the way the cage beams meet it, the trees around the house and the condition of the gutter. He measures, sketches the house and leaves the estimate with you on site. He can also tell you which guard fits your trees and whether your gutter is ready for one.

The ONE Gutter Guard maker says the same thing about its own process: its homeowner page invites you to “Connect with a local expert ready to assess your home’s unique gutter protection needs.” Different company, same idea. A person looks at your house before anything gets fastened to it.

When the Super Gutter Itself Is the Problem

This is the part most people skip, and it is the most important one. A guard is a lid. If the pot underneath is cracked, the lid does not help.

Before you pay for guards, look at the super gutter from the pool deck on a dry day. These signs mean the gutter should come first:

• It sags. Sight along it. A dip in the middle, or one end lower than the other, means it holds water instead of sending it to the downspout.
• It leaks at the seams. Drips from the joints, with stains or algae streaks on the deck below.
• It is pulling away from the house. A gap between the gutter and the fascia board, or screws backing out.
• The fascia behind it is soft or stained. Dark stains, peeling paint or swollen wood along the roof edge.

A guard does not straighten a bent gutter or tighten a loose one, and it hides the channel from view. Once it is covered, you can no longer glance in and see water standing in a low spot.

If your super gutter shows these signs, the plan is a super gutter change out first, then guards on the new gutter. Here is how that job goes. The screen, the aluminum beams, the old super gutter and the downspouts come off. A larger super gutter and new downspouts go on, and the cage is rebuilt and rescreened. We pull the permit. If the wood behind the old gutter turns out to be rotten, we write it up as a change order, and the work and the price change only after you approve it. Most change outs take 1 to 2 days, and the warranty is 1 year, including the cage work.

That order has a practical benefit. Putting the guard on a brand new super gutter means the guard and the gutter start out together. You do not pay for a guard, then pay again to take it off when the gutter underneath wears out.

What Guards Do Not Do: The Upkeep That Is Left

Guards cut the cleaning way down. They do not end it.

Rain Storm’s owners put it this way: “Maintenance-free gutter guards is a myth.” They go over it with customers at the estimate. A rare rinse is accurate. Most of the upkeep is where there is a splash shield, and there is a little upkeep on the pull cage systems.

The ONE Gutter Guard maker says the same on its homeowner page: “There is no such thing as ‘maintenance free’!” The PNNL guide agrees that the debris is the point. It advises you to “Install leaf guard screening to keep leaves, pine needles, and other plant debris from accumulating in gutters,” which is a statement about accumulation, not about the end of upkeep.

For a pool cage, this is a real change. Today you may be on a ladder against the screen every few weeks. With a guard, the job drops to a rinse now and then, and the rest of your cage care looks the same as it does for anyone else. Our guide on pool cage care between rescreens covers the rest of that routine. For the guards themselves, see do gutter guards need maintenance.

Questions to Ask Before You Say Yes

Whoever you talk to, a few questions will show you how much they have looked at your house.

Which guard are you proposing, and why that one for my trees? If you have pines, the answer should be ONE Gutter Guard.

Is my super gutter sound enough to hold a guard for years? You want a straight answer about the slope, the seams and the fascia, not “it should be fine.”

What happens to the debris already in the gutter? A guard goes onto a clean channel. Ask how it gets cleaned first.

Does the warranty depend on how it is installed? Ask to see it in writing. The ONE Gutter Guard warranty depends on installation to factory specifications.

Who is doing the work on the cage side? A super gutter is attached to your cage, so find out who is on site and what license they hold. Rain Storm Solutions is a Florida Certified Specialty Contractor, license SCC131154760.

What to Do Next

If your super gutter is the thing you are tired of cleaning, start with a look. You can text a photo of it to (727) 857-3714 so we know what we are dealing with, but the answer on fit comes at the house. Chris will check the gutter, the cage, the fascia and your trees, then tell you whether guards fit now or whether the gutter should be changed out first. We work in Spring Hill and the towns around it, and we help with HOA paperwork in 55+ communities like Timber Pines and Seven Hills.

The estimate is free and in person, and the price is good for 30 days. Call (727) 857-3714 or ask for an estimate and get the ladder off your pool cage.