At some point in your life, you’ve known what it feels like to be a little backed up. It’s not fun. While there are several over-the-counter helpers to get you cleared up, it’s safe to say that preventing the feeling from happening in the first place would have been the most ideal of situations. Bunged up gutters aren’t pretty either. Leaves, twigs and garbage can very easily find their way into your gutters, causing runoff water to sit. This resting water can weigh down your gutters, act as a breeding pool for bugs or if you live in cooler climates, freeze and really cause problems. Cleaning out gutters, the typical solution, can be a gross, tedious and an unfortunate weekend job.
So, like your body, preventing constipation is what we should aim for, right? We stumbled across a new product called Smart Screen, – it’s like bran for your abode! It’s both clever and simple – you just install the all-aluminum Smart Screen on your existing gutter and it lets water in but filters the junk out. The design of the Smart Screen also increases the strength of your gutters while preventing debris from accumulating and blocking water flow. Leaves and other typical gutter cloggers are left up top where they can continue to go wherever the wind takes them. Those who collect water through a RainBarrel get the added bonus of water that is free of leafy junk.
While fall leaves in your gutter are admittedly not a big concern this time of year, wouldn’t you rather deal with the install now, in the nice warm weather, than on a chilly autumn day? Thought so. If you’re in the US, you need to contact Smart Screen directly for a quote (it’s very new!). In Canada, it’s available at Canadian Tire where a 20’ system retails for $59.99.
