snow proofing your gutters??

coley

With all this snow falling and then sliding off my roof taking guttering down and some facia and downpipe too I've started looking at preventative measures.
We have seamless guttering which bends and deforms but unfortunately doesn't pop back like pvc or plastic.
In Jan this year the guttering bent but didn't come off and we could push it back into reasonable shape.
This time around not so lucky - parts have come off along with fascia and one swan-neck from the downpipe. And the pieces that didn't come off are well bent out of shape and some fixing nails have been pulled out.

There seem to be two types of solutions out there - snow guards - which are spikes on the actual roof and break up the snow as it melts and falls through - or at least stop it sliding and accumulating in one blanket.
Or gutter guards which are foam inserts for the gutters that allow water in but not snow/debris. Another gutter guard I saw looked like a slate but had micro holes to allow water in - but there would be no "end" for the snow to catch on - it would just slide off. Although I wouldn't want to be outside under it when it fell off!!!

Anyone any experience in Ireland with these kind of systems? or any recommendations?
thx
-Coley.

coley

Just to update here - got my gutters repaired last month and had these extra clips installed. Time will tell how well the gutters survive if we get another harsh winter.
The clips hook under the outer lip of the guttering and then screw into the fascia underneath at the back.
-Coley.

Gulliver

How about putting a soil heating element in the gutter to help melt the snow?

Something like this?

It should be safe enough as it's low voltage.

gears

Or maybe something made for the job like this http://heatedroofsystems.com/