FROST KING Wedge Downspout Screen

These work well to keep Pineneedles out of our drains. The first set lasted seven years we just replace them.

This unit was a bit narrow but it still works. I am pleased that it is keeping the line open.

Beware - these downspout guards made my situation worse. I could see the pile up of leaves accumulating on top of the guards. They do not work as advertised.

I bought these for my gutters many years ago for the simple reason that it was the only type of strainer in the store and I didn't want to drive around looking for others. I have been very pleased with them. Being plastic, the don't rust out as my previous ones did. I have a seasonal house so I clean the gutters out in the fall and various other times during the spring and summer. Yes, the bottom part of them can clog, so the last half inch or so of water in the gutter may not go down but the advantage to these strainers is that when there is a heavy rain, the crud washes up and over the wedge and accumulates behind it. You do need to have space behind the downspout for that to work. When I clean out the gutters after being away for 6 months, I find quite a bit of crud behind the wedges and some crud at the bottom but most of the wedge is clear and doing its job.

Actually, I assembled and installed this downspout guard after the worst of the fall leaf season, so I can't perfectly say how it works. But, logic tells me the following. . . Was easy to assemble and appeared like a better idea than the wire guards I had been using. The wire guards clog almost instantly -- you still have to get up to clear the guard. I then bought a 10' Stihl gutter cleaning tube kit for my Stihl blower because I don't trust myself always being on a ladder. My roofing contractor told me I wouldn't be perfectly happy with any gutter guard system he had seen in service. So, this product is my latest try at finding something that helps. The design is pretty novel. It appears like even a handful of leaves may not be enough to clog it. We'll see when we get into the fall leaf season. I have two sweet gum trees near the house and the leaves and balls keep me constantly vigilant. All I can say so far is this. . . This product appears to be a better choice than the wire guards one pushes into the downspout area.

Does the job of keeping leaves from clogging downspouts. But you still need to clean your gutters.

I was really disappointed in these. They may work for some but of the 4 I bought, 1 ended up in the trash and the other three were installed with a lot of difficulty. There are a couple problems with the design. First, if your downspout is right at the end of the run, the wedge won't work because the part that fits in the downspout is not at the end of the wedge. You can remove this part, but then nothing is holding the wedge in place. Next, if you have a mounting nail above the downspout, its extremely hard to install the wedge. When I tried to "flex" one in, the plastic just cracked. For others, I removed the nail and put the wedge in, however, the wedge is tall enough that it may not allow you to put the hanger nail back in the same spot. I ended up moving mine.The idea is good, but the engineering not so. The item should be more flexible and account for how a lot of gutters have been installed.

Works well, kind of a pain to put together but works well