Gretna, Nebraska
Keep the Platte's cottonwoods out of your gutters.
Gretna has been one of the fastest-growing towns in Nebraska, spreading southwest toward the Platte River about a 20-minute drive from the Elkhorn plant. That river valley is the tell: Gretna homes sit closer to big bottomland trees than almost anywhere else in the metro, and those trees are heavy droppers.
LeaFree® is about a 20-minute drive from the plant.
What does the Platte River valley drop on Gretna roofs?
The Platte bottomland is cottonwood and silver maple country. Cottonwood is the classic Omaha-area nuisance tree: it throws cottony seed by the drift in early summer and sheds twiggy debris all year, and mature silver maples add thousands of spinning seed helicopters every spring. Newer Gretna subdivisions also plant a lot of pin oak and honey locust, which drop tassels, small leaflets, and acorns. On an open gutter all of it collects and rots. On a solid hood it rides over the edge and falls to the ground.
Many Gretna homes are recent builds with steep pitches, multiple valleys, and long runs, the kind of roof that concentrates a lot of water at a few points. That is the case for the LeaFree High-Flow panel, whose pill-shaped vents take in the heavy, focused flow a valley delivers, while the flex-bend seam custom-fits whatever pitch your builder used. Acreage homes closer to the river, with old trees overhanging the roof, see the biggest day-to-day difference.
Gretna gutter questions
We are near the Platte with big cottonwoods. Can LeaFree keep up?
Yes. Cottonwood fluff and seed are exactly what overwhelm open gutters and mat into mesh. A solid LeaFree hood gives the fluff nothing to catch on, so it dries and blows off while water follows the curve into the gutter, rated for 12 inches of rain per hour.
My new Gretna build has lots of valleys and a steep pitch. Which panel?
Roofs with valleys and steep pitches concentrate water, so we usually spec LeaFree High-Flow with its pill vents at those points and the standard hood elsewhere. We decide panel by panel when we measure, so the system is fit to your roof rather than the other way around.
Do you cover the newer subdivisions south and west of town?
Yes. Gretna is about a 20-minute drive from the plant, and we install across the newer developments as well as the established parts of town and the acreages toward the river.