It would have to be an extreme situation. Not even grain of sand comes through standard IG2™ micro mesh with its 0.0041 inch (0.1mm) opening size holes. However some dirt, such as dust does come through. Now, whether gutter will get clogged under installed IG2™ micro mesh or not, it will depend on whether running water inside of that gutter will periodically flush that gutter clean to avoid clogging. This is the nature, and it applies to every gutter guard. The bigger the opening the more dirt may get through, so more running water is needed to periodically flush the gutter. Under installed standard IG2™ micro mesh, it is practically impossible to reach big enough dirt accumulation to clog the gutter.

Yes, in two so far known circumstances:

1. Under roof high flow areas, this is why IG2™ High-Flow-Area mesh is designed to handle those areas. Many types of asphalt shingles do release some kind of tar, which clogs IG2’s micro pores. According to our constant research data since early 2005 it happens only at high flow areas. IG2™ High-Flow-Area mesh does not have this problem.

2. Under thick yellow Loblolly Pine pollen, this covers everything, home, car and even pets. It also affects IG2™ performance. This pollen can be easily removed from IG2™ by power washing. Garden hose with narrow stream nozzle also does a fairly dissent cleaning job, however brushing is not effective. When you have such pine on your yard consider power washing IG2™ every 2-3 years.

IG2™ High-Flow-Area mesh is specifically designed to be installed under high-flow areas. It has 10 times larger holes then standard IG2™ micro mesh. Those holes are still very small; however more dirt can get through. Since it is installed only under small high flow areas, that "high flow" has no problem to constantly flash and clean the gutter there.

There are some chances. Some very narrow particles may slightly stick into larger IG2™ High-Flow-Area holes. This increases the chance to get enough of stocked in the mesh particles to block the whole area. The worst what we’ve seen so far are very short (approximately 1" long) pine needles falling in pairs. We have such situation on at least one of our projects (installed in spring of 2008) with lots of such needles, and no problems so far. In such situation, we’d suggest to even further increase mesh angle, to minimize chances for anything to stay on it.

This will depend on the angle of installed IG2™. The larger the micro mesh angle, the less chances for accumulations. Overflows due to too large mesh angle are not an issue as long as IG2’s installer is able to slow enough the speed of running water. In most cases water can be slowed down to manageable speed. However you may not like appearance of too much visible bright stainless steel micro mesh. For optimum performance follow provided installation instruction.

Yes! Even standard IG2™ micro mesh can handle large volume of running water as long as it’s installer is able to slow rushing water down–and in most cases it can be slowed down to manageable speed.

We’d say...not easy to install. You must be able to reset position of existing gutters. You must be able to handle long rolled material (remember, IG2™ is designed to be near seamless). And you must pay attention to details. You cannot just "snap" it in and expect it to work. No, it will not work that way. IG2™ can handle even very challenging large valleys, but especially in such areas it must be installed precisely according to provided installation instruction.

We've performed setup tests to see if IG2™ contributes to icicle buildup during winter. We've compared gutters with and without IG2™ installed. (By the way, we are located near Chicago, so our test homes are exposed to very wintry conditions!) Here is the summary of our observations:

• IG2™ does not contribute to any "ice backups", and it does not prevent any "ice backups".
• IG2™ does not cause any icicle buildup on the back of the gutter (next to the roof).
• We've noticed a slight increase of icicles on the gutter’s outside edge, compared to gutters without any gutter protection. This appears to be limited to the first few days after a snow fall. Several days later–once gutters without gutter protection become filled with ice–there is no difference between gutters with or without IG2™.

If icicles are a concern, consider installing an electric heating cable right under the IG2™ mesh. This will enhance water drainage in freezing weather and help prevent icicles from forming.

Ironically no, when InvisiGuard™ was established we did not have IG2™ yet. The name was chosen in early stages of the original IG development.

Not recommended. So far we have not quite good results with IG2™ installed at older cedar shakes. Older roof's wood (such as cedar shake) releases some kind of wood lint. When is wet outside this lint stays on top of IG2's micro mesh in form of mud somehow blocking water entry. When it dries, it stays on the gutter in form of light plaster. Strong wind can remove it, but not always you have a strong wind. We stopped installing IG2™ at cedar shake roofs.

Tip for cedar shake roofs:
If there are no restricted trees we do recommend using original IG and IG2™ combination on such projects: IG goes over gutters with expected higher water flow running through them, IG2™ goes over gutters located under small (narrow) roof areas, with expected very little water running through them.

Keep in mind that water runs much faster on slippery roofs, so you need to take in consideration, that even in not so high flow areas you may need to proceed as high flow areas. It will work as long as you slow speed of running water.

You can install it, but keep in mind that water on flat roofs very often creates "rivers", so such larger "river's" exits must be treated as high flow areas.