<p>Got the word my brick and slate southern colonial house needs new gutters. Many in the area have copper and I really like the look on the old houses. Anyone have any opinion on them and how much more are they than the usual seamless aluminum? Also what about leaf guards? Any good ones out there?</p>
<p>Gutter helmet does a good job with the leaf guards, I am not sure about copper gutters. It is amazing to me why anyone would still not have leaf guards on there gutters, as it is very annoying and dangerous to clean out them.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Copper - My impression is that they are crazy expensive, so if you find out otherwise go for it, because they look expensive to me! They look pretty garrish at first, but tarnish pretty quickly.</p></li>
<li><p>We have leaf screens with mixed results. Had some nasty oak pollen that got hung up on the screens and needed to be cleaned off.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>We have a fake copper roof and gutters with a 50-year warranty. We got a standard powder-coated metal roof and gutters in a color called “old penny”. I feel certain you could also get the corroded copper green if that’s the look you mean. We ruled out real copper because it corrodes unevenly and sometimes “bleeds”–leave corrosion streaks on the facade (as well as costing a fortune). A metal roof costs somewhat more than good shingles but is much safer in fire-prone areas and lasts much longer on average. It’s also lighter and easier to install. It makes a different sound than a standard roof in the rain, but I like it a lot.</p>
<p>Our gutters are filled with an expanded foam product that leaves everything on top. When we had the windows washed by guys who also do gutters, they just used a leaf blower to blow all the pine needles off, and we haven’t had overflowing gutters since the filling was installed.</p>