Waterfall Gutters

Waterfall gutter protection may work well if there are only large-leaf trees present on your property. However, if you have pine needles, maple leaf “helicopter”, oak tassels, small leaves, shingle grit…. This type of debris may clog the water-receiving channels of Waterfall as well as pass through the product and into your gutters.

The Waterfall website denies that debris can clog the channels of its product claiming “wind will blow it out” eventually. We don’t believe this claim. Neither do homeowners like Sidney Brookes who installed the Waterfall system on his home and was quoted in the Home Improvement section of RealCities.com

Sidney’s experience is what we, too, have found to be the case with Waterfall: it definitely requires cleaning. Because of the introduction of LeafFilter™ to the market place, homeowners such as Mr. Brookes will no longer have to be satisfied with the partial performance of products such as Waterfall. Cleaning slots IS easier than cleaning the entire gutter, but such an advantage loses its significance if you own a two-story home and have to climb 30-40 ft ladders to accomplish “slot-cleaning”.

LeafFilter™ doesn’t have “slots” that require periodic cleaning.

The following Q&A was posted on the Waterfall web site (April 17, 2002) and again, seems to indicate the manufacturer’s lack of knowledge of nature, and lack of knowledge of the performance of its own gutterguard on a rainy day.

Q. Will the Waterfall system keep pine needles, Douglas firs, seeds, etc. out of the gutter?

A. Yes. Most debris enters the gutters when it is dry outside. Leaves fall and are blown by the wind into the gutters.

Waterfall’s answer is very far removed from the reality most homeowners and gutter installers experience with debris entrance into gutters and/or gutter-guard products. HUGE amounts of debris are carried into gutter and/or gutter-guard products, such as Waterfall, during wet, rainy days by water adhesion. Far more debris will enter a gutter on a rainy day than on a dry day. Almost any reverse curve gutter guard will shed debris on a dry day; it is rainy weather that leads to their failure. If you’d like to test this premise, scatter small debris on Waterfall and add water… the real question may then become: Can they keep anything out of a gutter or out of their own channels?

As for Waterfall’s claim that seeds and fir needles won’t enter their product, we will just comment that homeowners, gutter-cleaners, and gutter installers have found that claim to be extremely erroneous.

* By the way, Waterfall first states that wind will blow debris OUT OF its product… is this the same wind that they later state blows debris INTO the gutters? That is one crazy wind!

Waterfall doesn’t offer a “performance guarantee”, only a material defect warranty. They simply state the product’s plastic material won’t fade, crack, or peel for 5 years. That’s it! No promises, backed by a guarantee, that your gutters won’t clog. Waterfall doesn’t even offer a free gutter cleaning if they allow a clog to occur (as do the other reverse curve products they compare to). We do think Waterfall offers a cheaper way to reduce gutter cleaning when compared to many “high-end” reverse curve products. Still, you shouldn’t trust in Waterfall’s ability to prevent clogs or eliminate gutter cleaning more than its manufacturer does.

LeafFilter™ gutter protection NEVER allows a gutter to clog.