I need to replace my gutters and was thinking about going with those louvered rain deflectors instead. The main reason is that my downspouts exit onto my driveway so they get in the way and in barely/near freezing weather I end up with pools of ice on the driveway. I just don't know if the rain deflectors do a decent job or not.

Thanks in advance,
Tony

 

I am also considering these. They're called rainhandlers. A coworker has them and says they're fantastic. They disperse the rain into droplets vs. channeling it off. I was looking for something to kind of "shoot" the rain away from the roof; nothing really does that. I'm like you though - I don't have anyplace to direct guttered rainwater TO that won't cause further problems (I am in the process of expensive foundation repairs now because structural engineer 5 years ago recommended drip edges vs. gutters -- WRONG!). Another factor is my house is 3 stories tall with a steep-pitched roof so ongoing gutter maintenance is a problem. I saw on another forum where a few folks said rainhandlers "don't work" -- my coworker says otherwise. She loves them, and so do her plants and shrubs. Also installation is simple and quick. I am looking for a contractor now to get pricing but you can easily DIY. Anyway, considering the cost and headaches associated with gutters, I'm 90-95% certain I'm going with rainhandlers, but I would really like to hear others' experience with them, positive or negative. Thanks!

 

OK,IF YOU HAVE A STEEP ROOF WITH A LOT OF VOLUME RAIN,OR ICE AND SNOW,STICK WITH TRADITIONAL GUTTERS AS THE RAIN HANDLERS WILL BE laying on the ground in the spring,we did it for 3 customers (we didn`t like/only thing they wanted),short story is all 3 later(within 1 year)purchased regular 5" "k" style gutters from us,and some use a leave shedding system like "e-z shield
bottom line-I think you`d be wasting your money

 

Well, that is a quandary. We rarely have snow or ice here, however I do have huge trees. I hadn't thought about falling limbs, or the fact that leaves will probably get stuck in the darn things (just like gutters). Thanks for sharing your advice and experience! Anyone else out there???

 

In my case I have a single story with fairly shallow roof slope. I live in Michigan so I don;t consider it a large amount of rain, but we do get snow so the snow pile-up would add weight that may cause problems. Any other thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks