Gutter Guards in a Central Arkansas Downpour: What 51 Inches a Year Asks of Them

Conway collects about 51.19 inches of precipitation a year, so a gutter guard has to pass water as well as stop leaves. Conway Gutter Pros, a gutter service based in Conway, Arkansas, installs gutter guards in Conway, Greenbrier, and Vilonia. Its Conway crew handles every job, dispatch, and quote itself. Anyone weighing Conway gutter guard installation should start with the water, because a guard has to match the rain before it matches the trees.

Which Gutter Guard Handles a Conway Downpour Best?

In This Old House's heavy-rain review, micro-mesh guards handled heavy rainfall best, and reverse-curve guards overflowed most easily. Screens also passed heavy rain well but let small debris into the gutter. Pine needles drop each fall and oak and pine pollen arrive with spring rain, so the debris question matters as much as the flow.

What 51 Inches of Precipitation a Year Means for Conway Gutters

Gutter guard installation in Conway answers to a climate that averages 51.19 inches of precipitation a year, on about 94.7 days, in the 1991-2020 normals listed on Wikipedia's Conway page. May is the wettest month at 5.57 inches, followed by April at 5.43 and March at 5.25.

Spring rain overlaps with spring pollen. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service says oak catkins release millions of pollen grains every spring. An Arkansas allergist told KATV that pine pollen coats surfaces in March and April. This Old House notes that spring pollen can coat guards and reduce water flow.

The annual total matters less than the hardest hour. A gutter overflows when water arrives faster than the gutter, the guard, and the downspouts can pass it.

Reverse-Curve Guards: Where the Downpour Wins

A reverse-curve gutter guard on a Conway house is a solid hood with a rounded nose. Family Handyman says water clings to the curve and flows into the gutter while leaves slide off. With no holes in the surface, seeds and needles have nowhere to stick.

The weak point is heavy rain. Family Handyman writes that in major downpours the water may overcome the surface tension and shoot over the top along with the debris. This Old House reached the same result in testing: reverse-curve guards "don't handle large water quantities well." Its heavy-rain review describes water that kept overshooting the gutter and puddling on the ground. It advises skipping the style where rain is heavy.

Small debris is the second weak point. In This Old House's hands-on test, pine needles and seeds sometimes still fell into the gutter past a reverse-curve guard. The style suits homes with little runoff and large debris. Heavy runoff and fine needles are what it handles worst, and Conway yards can have both.

Screen and Micro-Mesh Guards in a Central Arkansas Storm

A mesh gutter guard on a Conway house is a perforated or woven panel that lets water drop through while leaves and twigs ride across the top, and micro-mesh is the finest weave. Standard screens generally cope with heavy rain. This Old House found, though, that they "aren't great at blocking smaller debris, like pine needles or shingle grit."

Micro-mesh has much smaller openings, and This Old House ranks it best for heavy rainfall. For pines it recommends openings of 275 microns or smaller, since needles that slip through wider guards break down and interlock into mats. After two weeks of testing and several heavy rains, Bob Vila's reviewers found that a micro-mesh guard "stopped everything," asphalt shingle granules included. The tradeoff is fitting: This Old House found micro-mesh hard to install because it needs a precise fit, especially on pitched or uneven roofs.

Brush, Foam, and Ridged Guards: When Debris Causes the Overflow

Brush, foam, and ridged guards on Conway gutters fail in a storm less from the water than from what sits on them or inside them. Bob Vila says debris tangles in a brush guard's bristles, and in its pine-needle test larger debris "like leaves or seed pods" collected on top. Sweetgum balls are seed pods, and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture says their "ball-shaped pods litter the ground."

Foam inserts have a different problem. This Old House found that foam degrades after a few seasons, holds moisture, and wears out faster in humid or rainy climates. Its heavy-rain review says large quantities of water can overwhelm foam once dirt builds up. Bob Vila's reviewers saw debris collect on the ridges of a ridged guard and warned that it could eventually push water over the top.

What Gutter Guard Overflow Looks Like Near Stone Dam Creek Trail and UCA

Gutter guard overflow in Conway is water leaving the gutter instead of entering it. In a downpour it shows as water shooting past the front edge and puddling on the ground below. Debris sitting on top of the guard after the storm is the other clue.

Stone Dam Creek Trail begins on the University of Central Arkansas campus, and a 2022 underpass beneath South Donaghey Avenue extended it south. A house near the campus or along the creek faces the same test as every Conway roof: the guard has to pass the water first.

Gutter Size, Roof Pitch, and Downspouts Decide the Rest

Gutter capacity in Conway rests on the gutter's size, the roof's pitch, and whether the downspouts run clear. This Old House's heavy-rain review says a guard cannot raise a gutter system's water capacity. Steeper roofs send rain into gutters faster, so a guard must be tilted correctly or a downpour spills over.

Clear downspouts matter before any guard goes on. Bob Vila's install steps say to clean the gutters thoroughly and check the downspouts so nothing is trapped under the guard, then run a hose to confirm water flows toward a downspout. Family Handyman puts it plainly: "Don't forget the downspouts."

Conway Gutter Pros also cleans gutters, and every cleaning includes flushing the downspouts at no extra charge. The homeowner does not need to be home for a cleaning; gate or yard access is enough. Conway Gutter Pros says homes under oaks, sweetgums, and pines usually need gutter cleaning two to three times a year, in spring and late fall, which is why guards come up.

Gutter Guards and Heavy Rain: Common Questions

Can a gutter guard stop a gutter from overflowing in heavy rain?

Not by itself. A guard adds no water capacity to undersized gutters and cannot clear a blocked downspout. In testing, reverse-curve designs overflowed most easily.

Do gutter guards mean never cleaning gutters again?

No. This Old House says guards "reduce gutter maintenance, but they don't eliminate it entirely." Its guide suggests cleaning micro-mesh once or twice a year, screens two to four times, and brush or foam three to four times.

Does Conway Gutter Pros charge for a gutter guard quote?

Quotes from Conway Gutter Pros are free. The price depends on the house.

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