Finding guards for your gutters when you don't know the make or model

Question

Several years ago I let the guy who pressure washed our house convince me to take out the gutter guards. I have come to deeply regret this decision. My gutters are constantly clogging, and I'm terrified of heights, so now every 4 - 5 months I have to muster the courage to get up on an extension ladder and de-clog our gutters.

I want to replace the guards but we threw them away back when he took them off. There is no brand or name of any kind anywhere on my gutter system, at least that I can find. They are tin/metal white gutters approximatey 4.5 inches wide (measured from the two points below):

Is there a way to tell what the make/model of my gutter system is, so that I can buy the right guards for it? If not, do they make "universal" 4.5" gutter guards that should somehow snap into my system? If not, is there any generic/universal solution here that would result with my gutters being guarded against leaves and sticks?

Answer 1

You have fairly typical 5" aluminum or steel K-style gutters (virtually nothing is actually tin in the modern world). Almost any generic gutter guard should work.

I have oak trees and the simple perforated plastic panels work beautifully and they're super inexpensive. They slide under your shingles and slip onto the outer gutter edge, so size isn't critical. Unless you have conifer needles, that's what I'd suggest.

If you do have needles, look to the solid surface type.

Answer 2

There's no way to tell the make, but there's a way to tell the profile and the size of the gutter.

Basically, there are several different gutter manufacturers, and several companies that manufacture gutter machines. Those are all very similar if not exactly the same in a lot of cases.

1. By measuring the gutter hanger you have, you'll know if you have a 5" or 6" gutter, as those are standard gutter brackets (you have 5" because of your approximate dimension of 4.5" at the end cap).
2. That end cap is an stamped product, with a standard "R" (right side) marking, which leads me to believe its a standard seamless K-style gutter.

It's called seamless because its manufactured from a coil, so it can technically be made to infinite lengths.

Gutter installers typically have a machine and will cut to fit on site. Other companies will do cut and drop on site so you can install the gutter yourself which is pretty cost effective. However, if you can't find anything locally and need it shipped, you'll normally get them in 10' or 20' lengths, as those are standard skid sizes for freight companies to ship products on.

K-style gutters, like any other gutters can be custom manufactured with slight modifications, and by looking at a picture alone without the end cap would not be possible to say with 100% certainty what you have, however, what makes possible to tell yours is a standard seamless 5" k-style gutter is the end cap and hanger size.