Dear Glenn: I'm getting to the age where I have no business climbing up on a ladder to clean the leaves out of my gutters anymore and my kids have left the nest and live out of the community. I've used screens from the hardware store, but they don't work well.I've had proposals from both Gutter Helmet and Leaf Guard representatives. Do you prefer one over the other (cost is not a consideration), or is there another system you would recommend ?

-- John, Waterford Township

Dear John: Both the Gutter Helmet, (888) 4-HELMET, and Leaf Guard, (800)532-3482, systems are very good. My personal choice would be a system that did not attach into the roofline. For more information, go to my Internet Help Site, www.MasterHandyman.com , and type "gutter Protectors" in the search engine. My May 8, 2004, article "Gutter systems guard against leaves, but they'll also need cleaning" reviews 10 different systems.