Sunday 9 July 2017

Alu-Rex T-Rex and Gutter Clean vs. Alu-Rex Clip and Guard

I love Alu-Rex. Every year, I install thousands of feet of Alu-Rex T-Rex and Alu-Rex Gutter Clean. It works great with all debris except for pine or spruce needles.

Here are some pictures of the commercial grade Alu-Rex that I buy.




The top picture is of Alu-Rex Gutter Clean. It can be installed with new eavestroughs or with existing. The bottom picture is T-Rex. It can only be installed on new eavestroughs. Both products are quality heavy gauge aluminum. They both can be secured very strongly and will never blow off, collapse or seperate.

However, in the past few years, Alu-Rex has marched out other products which, in my opinion are very substandard and sold through the Big Box Stores. I have seen Alu-Rex products sold at Costco as "Golden Guard"; at TSC Stores as "Clip N Guard"; and Home Depot recently had Alu-Rex "Elements". They are all the same product just with different names. Here are pictures of the products:



How do these compare with Alu-Rex T-Rex or Gutter Clean? Other than being made by the same company, they don't! They are cheap, terrible products. The are made out of aluminum so razor thin I can cut them with scissors! They do not use any screws and so in a wind they shift around, collapse and blow out. In fact, the box of Alu-Rex Elements above was bought at a fire sale price at Home Depot for $6 per 24' box (that's .24 per lineal ft) because Home Depot was clearing out. Now that says something!

I'm not sure why a company like Alu-Rex sells one product that is phenomenal then dumbs down that same product into a poor product like Golden Guard, Clip N Guard, and Elements. I have taken these products off many houses.

The unfortunate thing is that some well intentioned home owners buy these cheap products, they fail and then come to the conclusion that all gutter protections don't work. It is very difficult to sell someone a great product by Alu-Rex when they have already tried Alu-Rex Clip N Guard and it failed. In my personal opinion, Alu-Rex does themselves a great dis-service when they sell these cheap failure prone products.

I know Alu-Rex wants to make a buck. After all they are a for profit business. I do however, believe they should leave it to the commercial suppliers like Gentek, Boncor, Kaycan, Roof Mart, etc.... and then leave it to the professionals to install their product.

That's my opinion on Alu-Rex. It's a great company with a great product. I just think they should stick to their products that actually work.

If you would like a quality product like Alu-Rex Gutter Clean or T-Rex installed on your home, contact The Eavestrough Company at 905-966-2564 or visit our website at www.theeavestroughcompany.com

2 comments:

  1. I found Golden Guard at my local store (April 2023) and they seem to come with screws, does that means they different / more durable than the one you have reviewed?

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  2. Golden Guard is made by Alu-Rex. It is somewhat similar to the commercial grade Alu-Rex Gutter Clean product I install, but not as durable. There are differences in quality. I believe Golden Guard is a thinner gauge metal than Gutter Clean. It also comes in shorter lengths so you have more seams. If you are handy enough, the installation should be the same. However, make sure you miter your corners properly, and support the seams. Also, if you have a bracket that protrudes above the top of the eavestrough, Golden Guard will not install properly. Best of luck.

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