Aluminum gutter guards for your home are a great idea. After all who likes to clean gutters? But gutter guards actually have great significance to the pest control industry beyond just keeping leaves out. Here’s why
Pests in gutters
There are many pests that breed, take shelter and move around in gutters, but the most common are mosquitoes and wasps. In fact, gutters for these pests are likely to be the perfect place to spend their time. Of the two, the mosquito is the pest that is most significant and benefits most from clogged gutters or poorly flowing gutters. The reason is that their life cycle depends on water.
Mosquitoes and clogged gutters
If your yard has a lot of mosquito activity you may look around the yard and see lots of places where they may be coming from. The most prolific area most often missed by homeowners and professionals alike is your gutter troughs. Think about the mosquito life cycle for a second. It starts as an egg and then progresses through the larval, pupal and adult stage and it’s all contingent upon water. There are different types of mosquitoes, but all have this same common denominator. Some mosquitoes make rafts that float on the water, others lay their eggs on damp surfaces and still others lay eggs in areas that will flood. So, if your gutters are clogged or holding water mosquitoes can definitely complete their life cycle inside them.
Wasps inside gutters
As a pest control company that can install aluminum gutter guards for your home we have a unique take on why they’re so important. This view on gutters is needed when talking about wasps.
Over the years our company has removed thousands of wasp nests. Many of these nests originate in the gutter area. The most common type of wasp found in gutters would be the paper wasp. They build their nests at the drip edge and then expand into the gutter. This nesting can take place in both covered and uncovered gutters alike. In fact, hooded style gutter guards make for an almost perfect void. Once inside wasps are hard to remove because their exact location is hidden from view.
The best gutter guard is also the simplest
If you do a search on Google for gutter guards you’ll get no shortage of results for your request. When I was planning this post I did keyword research and every gutter related keyword ranked extremely high. In laymen terms, loads of people want gutter guards; but which one is the best? This question is answered differently depending on who you speak to, but here is my two cents.
A gutter guard at it’s most basic should not allow leaves, debris or pests into the gutter and it should be affordable. It’s that simple.
Introducing Gutter Rx
Here is how it stacks up to the basic criteria.
- Leaves and debris: Leaves are obvious, but what a pine needles? Gutter Rx works great for that. As for debris and roof particulate once inside, it washes away as the gutter is no longer clogged
- Pests: The holes in Gutter Rx are small enough to allow water in, but not birds or wasps. Also, since they’re no longer clogged mosquitoes can’t complete their life cycle in them
- Affordable: It’s less expensive then most all other professionally installed products
Above right is a picture of our product the Gutter Rx. It works great and accomplishes the three basic functions that a gutter guard is for. It’s installed on both 5″ and 6″ gutters and when installed properly it will make the entire gutter one functioning piece.
Gutter guards shouldn’t cost a small fortune, but they should work. Gutter Rx by Envirocare Pest Control fits fills this need.