CONFIDENTIAL COMPETITIVE GUTTER GUARDS REVIEW: PRODUCT B
(A One-Piece Gutter & Hood System)
Background:
Product B is marketed by The Englert Corporation of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The primary business of the Englert Corporation, as listed on their website (www.englertinc.com) is metal roofing, gutters, coil coating and portable roll-form equipment. Englert does not list Product B as a primary business, does not manufacture Product B products and does not control the quality of the final product or installation. Englert markets the Product B brand name and manufacturing equipment to independent franchised dealers who purchase gutter coil stock and pay a per-foot royalty fee to Englert. Product B products are actually field-manufactured on the job site. The quality of the product, as well as all machine adjustment and maintenance, is dependent upon the ability and level of training of each operator.
Gutter Helmet Comparative Information:
Gutter Helmet is manufactured and marketed by SEMCO Southeastern Metals, a Gibralter Industries Company. All GutterHelmet products are manufactured at the company factory near Memphis, Tennessee. This facility features state-of-the-art equipment, a fully equipped test laboratory, and a dedicated staff of Gutter Helmet professionals, including engineering,manufacturing, quality control, customer service and warehouse logistics. Gutter Helmet production and quality iscontrolled and monitored from the initial specification of raw materials to the final delivery and
installation by professional dealers.
Market Information:
Product B’s sales strategy is to market their product as “The Gutter That Never Clogs.” Product B dealers are franchised, with large up-front dealer fees used to launch major promotional campaigns. Product B has a two-tiered pricing structure, marketing to new-home construction builders at deeply discounted wholesale prices, and to homeowners at substantially higher retail prices. High equipment costs often result
in a single dealer serving several markets, scheduling installation routes far in advance.
Product B Marketing / Product Claims
Claim #1: Product B is the #1 Clog-free Gutter, Guaranteed!
The Facts:
- Product B is the ONLY one-piece gutter / gutter cover combination, so this is a true
but misleading claim. For every Product B gutter system installed, three Gutter Helmet systems are professionally installed over existing, full-size gutters. This easily positions Gutter Helmet as the #1 gutter protection system.
- Product B does not claim to keep debris out of gutters. Dealers promise that gutters
will be cleaned free of charge if they are properly installed and maintained and if the original Product B installing dealer is still in business!
- Product B dealers routinely price their gutter systems to pre-pay for clean-out service calls according to the type of tree present. In heavy leaf / pine regions, gutters are priced higher because greater levels of service are required for clean-out services.
- The Product B design features a continuous 5/8” vertical opening. Vertical openings
will not prevent falling leaves and debris from entering the gutter. On Gutter Helmet, the patented ‘nose-forward’ position protects a continuous 3/8” water opening, meaning there is no vertical opening to allow leaves and debris to enter.
Claim #2: Product B is the only seamless gutter protection system available.
The Facts:
- This is NOT a true statement. Product B, Product A and a few smaller companies
all roll-form seamless gutter covers from common gutter coil stock on the job-site.
While there are definite advantages to a seamless gutter, there is absolutely no
functional advantage to a seamless gutter cover. In fact, there are many definite disadvantages to a seamless cover. Disadvantages include:
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1. Falling branches and ladder placement cause dents and damage to all gutter protection systems, including Product B and other competitors. Repair of a two-foot section of damaged Product B requires total replacement of the entire gutter run at
great expense. Gutter Helmet repair requires the simple, inexpensive replacement of a five-foot section.
2. A seamless one-piece cover cannot be opened for cleaning (see point 2 on claim #1 above).
3. Field-manufactured product quality is dependent upon consistent machine maintenance and adjustment in all weather conditions, and on the ability and training of the operator.
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- Gutter Helmet panels are designed with an overlap ‘step’ so that installations appear seamless when installed over full-size gutters, yet have the functionality and convenience of five-foot panels.
Claim #3: Gutter Helmet Installation will de-laminate shingles and void roof warranties. Because Product B installs on the fascia, your roof warranty is protected.
The Facts:
- A completely false statement. Gutter Helmet samples and instructions were recently sent to the major roofing manufacturers. Letters received from the Technical Service Directors of these companies state “Our (GAF™) limited warranty against manufacturing defects remains in full force and effect when this product is installed with our shingles.” and, “… Gutter Helmet products, when installed per the manufacturer’s application instructions, do not void the Celotex™ Limited Warranties.” Certainteed™ provided verbal approval, but would not provide a reference letter. Owens Corning™ would not return calls.
- While it is true that Product B does not de-laminate shingles or void roof warranties,
it is also true that Gutter Helmet does not de-laminate shingles or void roof warranties. Most homes have several roof penetrations for vents, A/C equipment, skylights, etc;
and shingles are installed with over 5,000 roof-penetrating nails. These roof additions
and penetrations do not void warranties. A Gutter Helmet under-shingle installation of
120 feet requires only 26 fasteners, all of which are sealed with a poly-butyl sealant to permanently protect the integrity of the roof. These sealed fasteners do not de-laminate shingles and will not void
a roof warranty.
- Product B does install directly onto the fascia, but fascia mounting often creates severe problems that are not present with full-size gutters. The bottom edge of a roof features an applied drip-edge designed to install in combination with full-size gutters. Rainwater flows over the shingles and backward towards the fascia (via water surface tension). The drip-edge protects a home by channeling this rainwater away from the fascia and into the gutter. But on a Product B system, damaging rainwater is often trapped between the gutter and the fascia. Installers apply a seam of caulk along the upper backside of the gutter to try to prevent water damage, but water that finds its
way behind the gutter through cracked or missing caulk causes fascia rot and damage.
Claim #4: Product B can handle up to 21 inches of rainfall per hour (in calculated lab tests).
The Facts:
- This is an outrageous claim. Twenty-one inches of rainwater falling on a 1,800 square foot home in one hour equates to more than 25,000 gallons of rainwater.
To handle 25,000 gallons of rainwater, gutters must drain about 420 gallons every minute. The capacity of a Product B gutter on an 1800 sq. ft. home is only 66 gallons, and that is only if the home has continuous gutters on all four sides! For this claim to be true, downspouts must completely drain 100% of the maximum capacity of Product B
gutters every 9.4 seconds.
- Product B states that their gutters will not prevent runoff in corners, low and
heavy-flow areas. “In roof valleys where there is a heavy concentration of water,
or at the lowest point of the gutter run such as the corners, some of this water
may overshoot the Englert Product B gutter.”
Facts That Product B Dealers Do Not Want You to Know:
- Product B gutters are undersized and do not meet the building code rain capacity requirements of many cities.
The capacity of one foot of Product Bis 0.39 gallons of rainwater, while the capacity of one foot of standard 5” gutter is 1.20 gallons. This
means that a single gallon of rainwater requires a minimum of 31 inches of Product B gutter, but only 10-inchs of a 5” gutter. The under-sized capacity of Product Bis even greater in areas where 6” gutters are common.
- The capacity of one foot of standard 6”gutters is 1.80 gallons, or one gallon of rain requires 6.7 inches of gutter (vs. 31
inches of Product B). Stated simply, a 5” gutter handles more than three times the maximum capacity of a Product B gutter, while a 6” gutter handles more than four and one half times the maximum capacity of a Product B gutter! *** UPDATE*** In a few of the newer markets, Product B dealers field-manufacture gutters on a new, ‘large-capacity’ machine designed to help overcome the many shortcomings of the original under-size gutters. The new profile increases the rain trough size to 4.5”wide x 2.5”high.This new, ‘large-capacity’ profile is still 31.84% smaller than a standard 5” gutter!
- Product B systems require at least 50% more downspouts than standard gutters.
To compensate for undersized gutters, more downspouts must be installed, and each downspout must be oversized to help accelerate drainage.
- Product B installation costs are misleading.Most homeowners do not know or understand the total length of gutters needed for their home (linear footage). Gutter Helmet systems install over existing gutters with a known, measurable length.Product B dealers remove the original gutters and re-measure, adding the length of all new downspouts into the total footage requirement. On average, ten feet are added for each downspout, and because theProduct B system has a capacity of only one-third to one-fourth that of full-size gutters, at least 50% more downspouts are required. This means that Product B may quote a lower PER-FOOT cost than Gutter Helmet, but 60 to 80 additional feet of downspouts are usually required for a Product Binstallation. Most Product B dealers charge the same per foot cost for downspouts as for the gutter itself, vastly inflating the overall installation price.
- Product B dealers remove (and destroy) a homeowner’s existing full-size gutter
system and replace it with an under-capacity gutter, even if existing gutters do not
need replacing. This removal / replacement forces a homeowner into a permanent
Product B system and dealer dependency, even if the homeowner is dissatisfied
Summary:
Every Gutter Helmet sales counselor has a responsibility to understand and share the superior product features provided by the expert installation of a Gutter Helmet system.
- Gutter Helmet features the exclusive and patented PermaLife™ coating that resists fading, chalking and corrosion. Product B calls its coating Castleclad™, but it is in fact
a polyester coating.
- Gutter Helmet features a textured surface that performs 60% better than Product B’s smooth surface;
- Gutter Helmet features a unique nose-forward position with no vertical openings.
Product B has a vertical opening that permits leaves and debris to enter.
- Gutter Helmet features the strength of patented 50-gauge brackets, adding strength
and support to both the gutter and the Gutter Helmet system.
- Gutter Helmet is a full-sized cover that handles the heaviest rainfall, fastens to existing, full-size gutters to carry even the heaviest rains away from the house foundation and landscaping.
- Full-sized gutters can be pitched to provide maximum drainage in the smallest gutter run possible. Product B gutters are formed with a single, continuous run that must be pitched high to low, appearing ‘crooked’ on a consumer’s home and requiring more downspouts.
- And…Gutter Helmet provides the best warranty in the industry, a lifetime, transferable warranty on material and performance
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