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Why a Wildlife Company Installs Gutter Guards

Short answer: Water is what creates the holes. A gutter that overflows repeatedly soaks the fascia board behind it, the fascia softens, the soffit connection opens up, and that opening is exactly where squirrels, raccoons, bats, and birds get into an attic.

We arrived at this service from the wildlife side rather than the home-improvement side. After enough attic jobs where the entry point traced back to a decade of gutter overflow, fixing the gutter became part of fixing the problem. If you are having roofline exclusion work done, doing the guards at the same time is the cheapest they will ever be, because the ladders and the crew are already there.

Which Guards Actually Work

We will be straight about this, because the category is full of overpromising. No gutter guard is genuinely maintenance-free, and anyone selling that is overselling. What a good guard does is turn a twice-yearly clean-out into an occasional check, and keep the gutter functioning through the storms that would otherwise overflow it.

Micro-mesh systems are what we recommend in most South Jersey situations. Fine stainless mesh over a rigid frame keeps out pine needles and shingle grit as well as leaves, which matters here given how much of the region sits among pines and mature oaks. Reverse-curve systems shed leaves well but can be defeated by heavy rain and by needles. Foam and brush inserts are inexpensive and tend to become the clog themselves within a couple of seasons, holding debris and moisture right against the fascia, which from our point of view is worse than no guard at all.

The other half of the decision is the condition of what the guard is being fitted to. There is no point mounting a guard system on a fascia board that is already soft, and we will tell you that before quoting rather than after.

How Acorn Does It

Inspect the Roofline First

Same inspection we do for any exclusion job: fascia, soffit returns, drip edge, rake boards, and every gutter run. We are looking at whether the boards are sound and whether there are existing entry points, because those questions decide what happens before any guard goes on.

Repair What the Water Already Did

Soft or rotted fascia is repaired or replaced, and open soffit returns are closed properly with steel and hardware cloth where animals have been getting in. This is standard roofline and fascia work for us and carries the Acorn Seal-Tight Warranty.

Clear and Correct the Gutters

Gutters are cleared and checked for pitch and secure hanging before guards go on. A guard fitted over a gutter that does not drain properly just hides the problem from view, which is the worst of both worlds.

Fit the Guards

Guards are installed to suit the roof and the debris load, without disturbing shingles or voiding a roof warranty. On houses under mature oaks or pines we specify accordingly, because the debris here is needles and catkins as much as leaves.

The Honest Note

If your gutters are sound, your fascia is sound, and you have no wildlife history, guards are a convenience purchase and we will say so. Where they genuinely earn their money is on a house that has already had an entry point caused by water, or one where the gutters are hard to reach and therefore never get cleaned.

Gutter Guard Installation Near You

Overflowing Gutters and Soft Fascia?

One roofline inspection covering the gutters, the boards, and any entry points, with the repairs warrantied and the guards fitted while we are up there.